• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Clark Faces First Test in Economic Debate

Posted on: Thursday, 25 September 2003, 06:00 CDT

Wesley Clark, a political novice and campaign newcomer, will face his first major test as the 10 Democratic presidential candidates debate the ailing U.S. economy on Thursday.

Clark, a retired Army general who entered the race Sept. 17, is casting himself as the Democratic antidote to President Bush, whose political strength comes from his stewardship of the war on terrorism. Clark's challenge was to hold his own against nine rivals with far more policy experience.

Scheduled to begin at the 4 p.m. EDT close of stock trading, the two-hour debate at Pace University near Wall Street was to focus on economic issues. It was sponsored by The Wall Street Journal and CNBC television.

The other top contenders in a wide-open race are former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri and Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina, Bob Graham of Florida, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and New York activist Al Sharpton are considered long shots.

The little-known Clark grabbed the top spot in some national polls, but he is far behind his rivals in key early voting states. Public polls and private campaign surveys put him in single digits in Iowa and New Hampshire, though he may be faring better in South Carolina.

Kerry and Dean have questioned Clark's commitment to the Democratic Party, noting his past support for Presidents Nixon and Reagan. Clark also has been criticized for flip-flopping on whether he would have voted for the resolution authorizing the Iraq war.

Every candidate is making an issue of the U.S. economy, though they differ on trade and whether to repeal all of Bush's tax cuts - or just those that benefit upper-income Americans.

Under Bush, the economy has lost more than 3 million payroll jobs while the stock market is down trillions of dollars in paper wealth. The federal government, which had a $237 billion surplus in 2000, now faces a $455 billion deficit for this fiscal year.

Gephardt and Dean are alone in promising a total rollback of Bush's tax cuts to pay for health care reforms. Dean also promised to reduce the deficit.

The other major candidates would repeal portions of Bush's tax cuts that favor the wealthy - generally people who earn more than $200,000 a year. But they would leave in place Bush cuts that help middle-class taxpayers, such as credits for parents.

Bush's political team plans to portray any Democratic nominee as a tax-raiser, a strategy Republicans used successfully in 1984 against Walter Mondale - the last Democratic presidential candidate to bluntly tell voters he would raise taxes.

Democrats point to polls that suggest voters are willing to rollback Bush's taxes to pay for other needs. The debate's sponsors released a poll Thursday suggesting that 56 percent of Americans back cancellation of tax cuts for upper-income Americans to help pay for the reconstruction of Iraq.

The poll also showed that Bush's job approval rating had slipped below 50 percent for the first time.

More News in this Category