Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean, whose poll lead going into Iowa’s Jan. 19 caucuses is almost gone, conceded last night he never named a black or Hispanic to his Cabinet when he was governor of Vermont.
During the final debate before the caucuses, Mr. Dean faced harsh questions from fellow candidates, particularly the Rev. Al Sharpton. Mr. Dean has often said he wants to lead a national conversation on race, particularly among whites, but Mr. Sharpton said he’s not qualified.
“It seems as though you discovered blacks and browns during this campaign,” Mr. Sharpton said.
Mr. Dean said that although he didn’t have any black or Hispanic officials on his Cabinet during his 11 years as governor, there were minorities in state government and on his executive staff. He also pointed to black and Hispanic lawmakers who have endorsed him as evidence of his commitment to improving race relations.
“I believe I have more endorsements from both the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus than any other candidate on this stage, and I will take a back seat to no one on my commitment to civil rights,” he said.
But Mr. Sharpton said talking about endorsements didn’t answer the question.
“I think you only need co-signers if your credit is bad,” he said.
The caucuses are a week away, on the same day the nation celebrates Martin Luther King’s birthday. Voters in the District go to the polls tomorrow to vote in a nonbinding primary.
With so little time left, the field of candidates took aim at Mr. Dean, trying to upset his campaign and pull out a victory.
The most recent polls show Mr. Dean with a slight, and slipping, lead. A new MSNBC-Reuters-Zogby poll shows Mr. Dean ahead, with 25 percent support among likely Democratic voters in Iowa, and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri in second place with 23 percent. The poll found Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts at 15 percent and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina at 14 percent, with the other candidates in single digits.
Last night’s debate in Des Moines was sponsored by the Iowa Brown and Black Presidential Forum and televised on MSNBC.
Although Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut took part, he has opted not to compete in the caucuses. Wesley Clark, a retired Army general, also has chosen not to participate in the caucuses, and did not attend last night’s forum.
The debate focused heavily on race and immigration issues, and all of the candidates are on record supporting some sort of broad legalization of the 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens estimated to be in the United States. But some candidates went further.
For his part, Mr. Lieberman said he would support offering driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
“It is obviously better for those immigrants and for the rest of America that they be driving with a license than without a license. And if they have a license, they are more likely to have insurance,” he said.
Last night, in response to a question, all eight participating candidates said they had never hired an illegal immigrant as a day worker.
Each candidate was allowed to ask one question of another candidate, but Mr. Dean refused to follow that format. Instead, he tried to pose a question to someone in the audience.
Moderator Lester Holt told Mr. Dean the forum was not equipped to do that, and that it violated the format agreed to by the candidates.
“Part of this campaign is about change, and it’s about letting ordinary people have something to say about what goes on,” Mr. Dean responded.
But he lost the argument and Mr. Holt gave Mr. Dean a chance to pose a question under the rules to another candidate. Mr. Dean refused and gave up his turn.
Mr. Gephardt, who is closing in on Mr. Dean in recent Iowa polls, posed his question to Mr. Dean, asking him if he would consider a payroll-tax cut and, if so, if it would hurt the Social Security trust fund.
Mr. Dean said the tax cut “is not a bad idea,” but said he wouldn’t touch Social Security’s funds to do it. He also said cutting taxes would take a back seat to balancing the budget.
Of the eight candidates, three — Mr. Edwards, Mr. Gephardt and Mr. Sharpton — directed their questions to Mr. Dean. Both Mr. Lieberman and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun asked their questions of the entire field, while Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio posed his question to Mrs. Moseley Braun.
For his part, Mr. Sharpton also brought the issue of D.C. voting rights to the national audience, arguing that the city deserves statehood.
The entire field of candidates challenged President Bush’s record on jobs and the economy, saying that although the economic numbers show a recovery is occurring, it’s not benefiting everyone.
Mr. Kerry called it a “Bush-league recovery,” saying it’s only helping the rich and isn’t translating down to other Americans.
“If you go across America, it’s not a recovery,” Mr. Kerry said.
The candidates also panned Mr. Bush’s expected announcement this week that he wants to begin a program to land astronauts on Mars.
“Maybe he’s looking for the weapons of mass destruction still. But I think that will be done on Earth as it is in heaven,” Mr. Kucinich said.
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