Democratic Unity on Iraq in Doubt as ’08 Hopefuls Stake Positions

WASHINGTON — Any hopes for unity among Democrats on Iraq may be shattered this weekend when the party’s long line of presidential candidates jostles for the spotlight at its annual winter meeting here.Ten White House hopefuls are scheduled to address the Democratic National Committee on Friday and Saturday, and several of them are planning to use the platform to highlight their positions on the war as a way of distancing themselves from the early frontrunners.The three-day meeting goes through Saturday and is the first forum to feature appearances by all the declared and undeclared candidates for the party’s nomination in 2008. Senators Clinton, Obama, and Edwards are among six hopefuls scheduled to speak today, while Senator Biden of Delaware, Governor Richardson of New Mexico, and a former Iowa governor, Tom Vilsack, are slated for Saturday.The contenders are speaking back-to-back and will have to get to their points quickly. Committee officials have given strict instructions to the candidates to limit their remarks to seven minutes, aides to several campaigns said.The meeting could take on the feel of a convention. Candidates are urging supporters to show up at the Washington Hilton to demonstrate enthusiasm for their campaigns.“There will be signage,” a spokeswoman for Mr. Richardson, Katie Roberts, said. The New Mexico governor also is hosting a “meet and greet” with committee members to line up support.As Democrat after Democrat has rolled out presidential campaigns in recent weeks, Iraq has emerged as the dominant issue thus far, and the only one on which the contenders have diverged significantly. With the Senate debating how to respond to President Bush’s plan to send more troops to Iraq, some candidates have endorsed a nonbinding resolution opposing the policy, while others, such as Mr. Edwards and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, have derided any action that does not force the president’s hand.Aides to Messrs. Biden and Vilsack said yesterday that their speeches would focus largely on Iraq, and Ms. Roberts said Mr. Richardson would touch on the war as well.Mr. Kucinich, who ran as an anti-war candidate in 2004, is slated to address the delegates directly before Mrs. Clinton, and as a long shot already known to many voters, he is looking to make a splash. A source close to his campaign said the congressman would “dramatically point out to the DNC both the opportunity and the obligation they have to end the war in Iraq.”Aides to Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama, and Mr. Edwards, who are considered the early front-runners, would not comment on their planned remarks. Mrs. Clinton’s appearance was thrown in doubt yesterday with the death of President Clinton’s stepfather, Richard Kelley. The senator postponed her first trip to New Hampshire in several years, planned for this weekend, but a spokesman for her campaign, Blake Zeff, said last night that she was still scheduled to attend the DNC meeting on Friday. A memorial service for Kelley is planned for Saturday in Hot Springs, Ark.The speeches on Friday and Saturday will put Iraq policy differences front and center at an event at which the party wants to demonstrate the strengths that led it to victory in the 2006 congressional midterm elections.The war positions among Democrats are varied, to say the least. Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama, and Senator Dodd of Connecticut have called for a cap on troop levels — an idea Mr. Biden sharply criticized Wednesday in announcing his own candidacy. Mr. Vilsack also opposes a cap, a point he will emphasize here on Saturday.Mr. Obama, meanwhile, laid out a more detailed plan this week that includes a full redeployment of combat brigades by the end of March 2008. Mrs. Clinton has opposed a specific timetable for withdrawal other than to say recently that it should not be left for next administration. Mr. Richardson supports setting a departure date this year.None of their proposals, however, go far enough for Messrs. Edwards and Kucinich, who support a much speedier withdrawal of troops.There will be at least one Democrat addressing the meeting who has neither announced a campaign nor formed an exploratory committee: General Wesley Clark. The general’s speech will focus on foreign policy, but he will not announce whether he intends to run for president in 2008, a spokesman, Erick Mullen, said. General Clark, a former NATO commander, unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in 2004.

Democratic Unity on Iraq in Doubt as ’08 Hopefuls Stake Positions

Democratic Unity on Iraq in Doubt as ’08 Hopefuls Stake Positions

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