Democrats Disagree on Direction, Leadership of Their Party

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

WASHINGTON – As New York City’s congressional Democrats begin to line up behind candidates competing to take over the helm of the Democratic National Committee, they are disagreeing on where to steer the party in the wake of last month’s presidential defeat.


Mirroring the soul-searching of Democrats nationwide, they are divided over whether the party should focus on rebuilding the liberal base and emphasize social and economic issues, or court centrist voters and focus its message on national security.


One New York congressman has thrown his hat in the leadership ring. Gregory Meeks of Queens told The New York Sun yesterday that he plans to run for the position of vice chairman of the national committee and will be promoting himself at a meeting of state party officials this weekend in Orlando, Fla.


The officials will be interviewing candidates to replace the outgoing chairman, Terence McAuliffe, and to fill five vice chairman positions.


Mr. Meeks said he would like to bring about “structural changes” within the national committee and involve it more heavily in local and state races, as well as build local party organizations, including in Republican dominated areas.


“The DNC cannot be an organization that works just every four years to nominate a candidate for president,” Mr. Meeks told the Sun.


“We can’t allow so many states to go uncontested,” he said.


Mr. Meeks said he will also advocate creation of a “shadow Cabinet” to develop a unified message on the economy, national security, and moral values.


“I can see myself working with governors, mayors, and local candidates … and bring the point of view of members of Congress so we are better organized and coordinated on a message,” he said.


Mr. Meeks declined to endorse a candidate for chairman. That official will be chosen in a February 12 vote in Orlando.


His colleague Eliot Engel of the Bronx said he would be happy if the job went to a New York cable executive, Leo Hindery, or Rep. Martin Frost, a Democrat of Texas who lost his seat in last month’s election.


Mr. Hindery “is a prolific fundraiser, and, like it or not, a reality of being chair of the DNC is you have to raise money,” Mr. Engel said. He described the former head of the YES Network as articulate, intelligent, and likable.


Mr. Frost, who served as head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 1995 to 1998, helped Democrats gain seats in Congress, Mr. Engel said.


Whoever wins the job, the next chairman should “appeal to Middle America” and “not write off the Red States,” Mr. Engel said.


“I don’t think the Democrats can win the election without capturing the center,” Mr. Engel said. The party should follow the policy prescriptions of by centrist Democratic Leadership Council, he said.


His colleague in the Bronx, Rep. Jose Serrano, espoused a different view: Democrats should focus on their base.


“Being low-carb Republicans isn’t going to win us elections,” Mr. Serrano said. “We need to do what we do best: be real Democrats … the party of FDR and the New Deal, the Great Society, Social Security and environmental protection.”


His view was shared by Rep. Major Owens of Brooklyn, who said Democrats can prosper only if they “move in a more progressive direction.”


The rise of a left-leaning movement led by one of this year’s presidential candidates, Howard Dean, would revitalize the party’s fortunes, said Mr. Owens.


The former Vermont governor is among the front-runners to lead the national committee, and Dr. Dean is scheduled to give a speech at George Washington University tomorrow addressing the future of the party.


While a Dean chairmanship would be “great for the party,” Mr. Owens worried that the role of national chairman could keep Dr. Dean “confined” in a way that would prevent him from creating a broader national political movement.


“If you are DNC chairman, you’ve got to respect the fact that you are trying to hold the whole party together, keep the factions in place, and there is a limit to how far you can go out on the cutting edge,” the Brooklyn congressman said.


The critic of the Iraq war would be better off providing leadership “from outside the DNC,” Mr. Owens said, by developing a more “progressive” policy agenda for Democrats to follow.


“We need Howard Dean to create an ongoing, countervailing force to offset the influence of the DLC,” he said.


In addition to Dr. Dean, who grew up in Manhattan, another New Yorker, Harold Ickes, a former chief of staff to President Clinton, has been mentioned as a candidate for party chairman.


Mr. Owens said Mr. Ickes would be a good choice to run the DNC. “He is the kind of competent guy who also understands the process of holding disparate groups together,” the congressman said.


Mr. Owens said Democrats must also act swiftly to address what he called a “drift” of African-American voters to Republicans in last month’s election. He attributed that shift among historically Democratic voters to the appeal of President Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative, which offers government funds to religious groups that offer social services.


“What is driving the black churches is that Bush has promised funding to churches to get things done,” he said, adding that he encountered black ministers “being invited to the White House, going to conferences, and learning to write grant proposals.”


Democrats, he said, must offer an alternative that provides money for “community action programs” that will include funds for churches.


“I want a bigger, more comprehensive program,” Mr. Owens said, describing an idea he plans to promote through the Congressional Black Caucus in the coming months.


Rep. Jerrold Nadler said the next chairman should not be a spokesman for the party, a job best left to congressmen and governors, but “someone who can do very good work on the nuts and bolts” such as collecting and managing e-mail addresses, canvassing small donors, raising money, and keeping in touch with local and grassroots party organizations.


“I want someone who had run campaigns and knows how to do that and make sure that the candidates are taken care of,” the Upper West Side representative said, adding, “Whether the chairman is liberal or conservative is of less import.”


Mr. Nadler said that Messrs. Frost and Ickes “would be good” in the role, but that he did not rule out other potential candidates.


Mr. Nadler called on Democrats “to do something we haven’t done: establish our credibility on national security.”


The Democratic message should be this: “Republicans, because all they care about are tax cuts for the rich, aren’t willing to spend the money to protect us,” Mr. Nadler said.


Democrats should demand that every single shipping container bound for an American port be inspected by an American crew in its originating port, he said.


“Not we will inspect more containers – we will inspect every container,” he said, estimating the cost of such a measure to be in the range of $5 billion or $6 billion a year. “So what?” Mr. Nadler said of the cost.


Similarly, Democrats should argue for securing all uranium and plutonium in the former Soviet Union, “before Al Qaeda picks it up,” at an estimated price of $30 billion.


This year’s Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Kerry, did not speak about the issue “nearly enough” in his campaign, Mr. Nadler said.


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