Six Democrats court key labor vote as anger wells
Originally published in the Charlotte Observer
Posted on Wed, Aug. 13, 2003
Six Democrats court key labor vote as anger wells
MIKE GLOVER
Associated Press
WATERLOO, Iowa - Six Democratic presidential candidates sketched out differences on health care and trade as they competed Wednesday for the backing of organized labor that's key to the party's nomination.
North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt bragged that they've led the fight against trade deals, and they chastised rivals who have supported them. They argued the deals result in American jobs being shipped overseas and wages being driven down.
"There are a lot of Democrats who have never seen a trade agreement they didn't like," Edwards said. "We are Democrats, we are supposed to be the party of working people. We are supposed to be the party that stands up for jobs."
Gephardt said trade-backing rivals should be held accountable by labor in the primary season.
"Some of the other candidates ... will tell you that they would not be for China (trade agreements) or NAFTA without the right environmental or labor protections. Let me tell you," Gephardt said, wagging a finger. "Most of them were for those treaties when they were before Congress."
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry conceded that he had voted for trade agreements during the Clinton administration but said that things have changed since then and he opposes expansion of those agreements. Four of the Democrats supported the original North American Free Trade Agreement, putting them in a ticklish position before the labor group.
"No president can just shut the door on the world," Kerry said. "During the Clinton years I voted for trade, but we have seen a sea change over those years."
Trade is a key issue for organized labor because an effort to expand the North American Free Trade Agreement is pending before Congress.
Florida Sen. Bob Graham said he would push for protections in any trade agreements negotiated with other countries.
"If we are playing by equal rules there is no place in the world that has as competitive men and women ... than we do here. If we have a level playing field we can win," Graham said.
Kerry, Graham and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman all voted in favor of the original NAFTA, but Kerry and Graham argued it's now time for additional protections.
Dean said he supported NAFTA as governor because it was good for his small northeastern state. Now that he's running for president, Dean wants labor and environmental standards added to the accord.
"NAFTA is a disaster in the industrial heartland of the United States, but it is not a disaster" in the northeast, he said.
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich said he would cancel the trade agreement and pull out of the World Trade Organization.
"My first act would be to cancel NAFTA," he said. "Anyone who talks about changing it doesn't know what he's talking about."
Most of the nine-member Democratic presidential field have offered plans to expand the nation's health care system, and they took pains to sketch out differences.
Graham, who wants to expand Medicare to insure more Americans, called his health care plan "affordable and realistic" and suggested that some of his rivals have not met either test.
Graham said that as president he would sign a sweeping proposal offered by rival Rep. Gephardt but said it was "very unlikely" to pass Congress. He said he was concerned it was too expensive.
Gephardt's health care plan is the most expensive of the Democrats, with a price tag of more than $200 billion.
Kerry also took aim at Gephardt, saying "there's no cost control" in Gephardt's plan and "no one believes there is $228 billion to put in that plan." Kerry's proposal has a $75 billion price tag.
Dean rejected suggestions that one solution to solving problems in the Social Security system is by increasing the retirement age.
"I will not increase the retirement age," said Dean, who in the past has said he would consider that step.
"I will create a commission on Social Security and privatization will be off the table," said Dean.
Labor is a key constituency as the Democrats battle over their party's presidential nomination, and six of the rivals trooped through the annual convention of the Iowa Federation of Labor. It's the first of three straight days of candidate forums across the state this week, two sponsored by labor groups.
Only Lieberman, activist Al Sharpen and former Illinois Sen. Carol Mosey Braun opted to skip the forum.
Precinct caucuses in Iowa next January launch the presidential nominating season. Exit polls showed that 26 percent of the voters in the 2000 election came from union households, and about a third of those likely to attend a precinct caucus next January will come from union households.
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