Kennedy Urges Democrats to Fight for Party’s Beliefs

Touching off a battle for the hearts of rank-and-file Democrats and the mind of President Clinton, Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy warned Wednesday that, if his party is to recover from its November election defeat, it must offer the country more than “warmed-over” Republican doctrines.

Kennedy’s address, delivered at the National Press Club here, was his first major public utterance since his reelection Nov. 8. It marked an effort to influence the course of the Democratic Party at a time of ideological turmoil unprecedented in its recent history.

Aides said that the senator, the most prominent liberal to survive last fall’s upheaval at the polls, was seeking to define the party in terms of its past traditions, notably its commitment to activist government and “to rally the troops around the country.” He was also said to be striving to respond to pressure from conservative Democrats to push Clinton toward the so-called political center.

“What is going on,” said one longtime Kennedy strategist, “is a struggle for the President’s mind.”

Nearly all factions within the party agree that the Democrats in general and Clinton in particular need to find ways to recover the middle-class voters lost to the GOP last year. But Kennedy and other liberals worry that, if Clinton merely replicates the anti-government rhetoric and policies of the GOP, the Democrats will lose a bidding war for middle-class voters as well as their appeal to low-income groups and minorities.

“I come here as a Democrat,” Kennedy declared, pointedly rejecting the “new Democrat” label favored by Clinton during his campaign for the presidency.

“If Democrats run for cover, if we become pale carbon copies of the opposition and try to act like Republicans we will lose--and deserve to lose,” Kennedy declared. “Democrats must be more than warmed-over Republicans.”

The 62-year-old senator, whose political career and personal life has been marked by a complex of triumphs and tragedies shared with millions of Americans, conceded that his party often in the past has failed to demonstrate that its values and beliefs included a commitment to “family, community and love of country.” But he argued that these values should not be used “as a superficial rationale for bumper sticker solutions to the complex problems we face.”

Kennedy called on Democrats to address the “anger and frustration” of middle-class voters, reflected by last fall’s election results. But he contended, “the answer is not to create larger problems by dismantling the safety net, leaving the poor to fend for themselves.” He also rejected giving “more tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, in the hope that something will trickle down to the middle class.”

“My fundamental recommendation to the President is that he stay the course of change and do what he thinks is right,” Kennedy said. “My advice to my fellow Democrats is that we work with the President for change--instead of seeking to change our principles, or distance ourselves from him.”