Kerry goes on offensive in party speech
WASHINGTON -- Struggling to define himself among the leading candidates for his party's presidential nomination, Senator John F. Kerry dropped the usual niceties at the Democratic National Committee's fall meeting yesterday and went on the attack against rivals Howard Dean and Wesley K. Clark, who have fired up public interest more than Kerry recently.
While Dean, Clark, and three other presidential contenders picked apart President Bush's record in their own speeches -- with Clark offering some laugh lines that delighted the hundreds of influential Democratic committee members -- Kerry came to the podium at the end of the day and pounded Clark four times, and Dean at least five times, during a 20-minute speech.
Kerry did not criticize either candidate by name, and his broadsides were not new, but delivering them at a meeting devoted to party unity was striking. Several Democratic committeemen said the move was understandable for a candidate who has slipped from front-runner status and is seeking to draw public attention to his campaign. The audience applauded and gave several standing ovations to Kerry as he defended core Democratic positions.
Constrasting himself with Clark, Kerry recalled how he "stood against" Richard Nixon in the early 1970s and Ronald Reagan in the '80s, and "blew the whistle" on Oliver North, the Marine lieutenant colonel who was a central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal -- backhanded reminders to the audience of Clark's recent admissions that, during his decades of military service, he voted for Nixon and Reagan.
Pointing to Clark's recent emergence as a Democrat and past laudatory comments about Bush, Kerry noted that he has always been a Democrat and squarely opposes Bush.
The Massachusetts senator again reminded the party faithful that he supported Medicare spending in the mid-1990s, when some others -- such as the former Vermont governor -- were defending spending reductions proposed by Newt Gingrich, then speaker of the House. Kerry also denounced the National Rifle Association and said the Democratic party should keep its distance from the gun lobby; Dean received high marks in Vermont from the NRA.
Dean, Clark and many of their supporters had left the DNC forum by the time of Kerry's attacks, so they had no opportunity to rebut them.
Democrats who support Kerry said he needed to sharpen his differences with Dean and Clark, who appear to have strong momentum four months before primary season.
"There are distinctions among these Democrats, and people need to see them," said Dennis Mehiel, who is leading Kerry's operation in New York State. "We ought to consider the commitment of the candidates to the party over a whole lifetime." Clark, in his debut before the DNC leaders, mixed humor and Bush-bashing with recitations of his Democratic beliefs.
"I'm pro-choice, pro-affirmative action, pro-environment, pro-education, pro-health care, and pro-labor," he said. "If that ain't a Democrat, then I must be in the wrong meeting."
Clark had the best line of the day, several Democrats said, drawing laughter and applause with a reference to the contested 2000 vote in Florida, where Bush's brother, Jeb, is governor.
"If you believe the recent poll numbers, George W. Bush will need brothers in 49 other states to take this election," Clark said.
Dean, meanwhile, reiterated his campaign proposals and opposition to the war in Iraq in a speech that several Democrats described as strong but not quite the stem-winder he delivered at the major DNC meeting last winter. At that time, Dean made fervent attacks on Bush and the administration's war planning, becoming the talk of the meeting as a fresh voice for the party.
Patrick Healy can be reached at phealy@globe.com.
