Democrats joust for Iowa's elderly

DES MOINES -- Six Democratic presidential hopefuls yesterday debated Medicare and Social Security in a two-hour exchange that turned alternately testy and sentimental before an audience of seniors, a crucial constituency particularly in early voting states such as Iowa.

The forum, hosted by the AARP, spotlighted issues that recently have emerged as the race's most contested and have sparked clashes between the candidates, particularly former Vermont governor Howard Dean and Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri.

Both Gephardt and Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts criticized Dean at the forum for his comments in 1995 praising a congressional Republican proposal to cut the growth of Medicare spending by $270 billion. Dean says he was supporting cost containment measures that President Clinton ultimately adopted, although Clinton's were less extensive.

"It's why I've had a disagreement with Dean," said Gephardt, who offered some of the most impassioned responses. He faces a crucial test in the first-in-the-nation caucuses on Jan. 19 across the border from his home state. Recent polls have shown Dean leading Gephardt in Iowa.

"It was, in my view, wrong to agree with a Republican suggestion in 1995 to make the budget come out," Gephardt said. "We cannot cut Social Security and Medicare to get the budget straightened out."

Kerry chimed in on the attack, saying, "Fact is in 1995, when [we] were trying to hold on to Medicare, Governor Dean was supporting Newt Gingrich."

Dean retorted, "These guys can't make up their minds whether I'm Newt Gingrich or George McGovern," the Democratic nominee in 1972 who ran against the Vietnam War and was trounced by Richard Nixon. Dean has opposed the war in Iraq.

Three candidates who have polled poorly in Iowa -- the Rev. Al Sharpton, retired general Wesley K. Clark, and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut -- opted not to attend the event.

The elderly vote is crucial in Iowa. Of Iowa's 2.9 million residents, almost 694,000 are over the age of 55, or nearly one-quarter, according to the US census.

Amidst the heated exchanges, the six candidates struggled to distinguish themselves while largely agreeing on major issues for seniors: They were against privatizing Social Security, but for expanding health insurance -- though with varying degrees of coverage -- and containing prices of prescription drugs.

Except for Dean, the candidates who participated -- including Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, former Illinois senator Carol Moseley Braun and Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio -- told personal stories about health care to make their cases to the audience, which included many elderly women.

"My mother was 95 when she passed away about five months ago. In the last few months, she had a very high prescription drug bill," Gephardt said, noting that he was able to help her financially. Other seniors, he said, were not so lucky: "I saw some of her friends were cutting pills in half or doing without."

Kerry also spoke about his parents' health problems. "I lost both my parents in the last few years," he said. "I've had more than my fill of the health care system." He also noted that he had suffered from prostate cancer and recovered.

Dean sought attention instead with edgy Republican-aimed barbs. Saying his election would also result in Democrats winning control of Congress,Dean added, "And we won't have to worry about Tom DeLay. He'll be back in Houston exterminating cockroaches, where he belongs." He was referring to the House majority leader, who owned a pest exterminator business before being elected to Congress.

Candidates have been crisscrossing Iowa in recent weeks with stepped-up pitches aimed at winning the votes of senior citizens.

Last week, Kerry used an Iowa backdrop to announce his prescription drug plan proposal; this week, Dean spanned the southern tier of the state to announce his support for importing cheaper Canadian prescription drugs for seniors. Mildred Meinke, 74, a retired nurse from Kansas City who attended the forum, said she liked Dean's comments, but was leery of all the candidates. "If that $87 billion goes through for Iraq, how are these guys going to deliver all the goodies?"

Sarah Schweitzer can be reached at schweitzer@globe.com.