Iran Not a Pass to White House, Democrats Told

Centrist Democrats heard warnings today against viewing the Iran- contra scandal as “a free pass to the White House” as well as against returning to the party’s big-spending image.

Former Gov. Charles Robb of Virginia opened the two-day meeting of the Democratic Leadership Council by cautioning the group that “not even the most partisan Democrat can take any real delight in our President’s and our country’s very serious situation.”

And Hamilton Jordan, who served as chief of staff to President Jimmy Carter, said Democrats “cannot afford to think events in Washington today are going to hand us the White House.”

As to the party’s image, “It would be disastrous for this party if we go back to the old days of tax and spend,” Rep. Barbara B. Kennelly of Connecticut said.

Political Center Discussed

A discussion of the 1986 elections quickly turned to 1988 and how the Democrats could capture the political center. “The person who gets that vast middle group is the one who’s going to win the election,” Kennelly said.

Six senators, 42 current or former House members and six governors were participating in the conference.

The purpose of the meeting is “to define the challenges and policy choices that we believe should be at the center of the political debate,” Robb said. “It’s also a chance to bring Democrats together--a chance for us to unite behind a common vision for where we want to lead this country.”

The Republicans “are virtually immobilized by the Iranian arms debacle,” Robb said. But he added that “the biggest mistake we could make is to view the Iran affair as a free pass to the White House. It does nothing to prepare the Democrats to govern.”

The Democratic Leadership Council was formed by Southern and Western Democrats who felt there was a need to move the party away from its liberal image after its landslide defeat in 1984.