The Hindu : Democrats to focus on economic issues

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 12, 2002

International

International

Democrats to focus on economic issues

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington NOV. 11. The liberal Democrat from California, Nancy Pelosi, is all set to head her party caucus, succeeding Richard Gephardt, who stepped down as the Minority Leader in the aftermath of the Congressional elections of Nov. 5.

Ms Pelosi has claimed an early victory, saying she had the endorsement of more than 100 of her colleagues with her main challenger, Martin Frost, of Texas not only conceding the race but also going on to endorse her. But she faces a minor challenge from Harold Ford, a young African American Democratic Congressman from Tennessee. The outspoken 62-year-old Ms Pelosi held the post of Democratic Whip the past year and has emphasised that the Democrats' main agenda in the months to come will be "all about the economy''.

In the run-up to the Nov. 5 elections, the thinking in some quarters was that the Democrats may be able to pick up some seats in the House of Representatives, perhaps even go on to capture the House and control Congress. As it turned out, the Republicans not only strengthened their position in the House but went on to dominate the Senate.

"Our big difference with the Republicans is they are the party of special interests. We have to make that clear to the American people'', Ms Pelosi has said. The California lawmaker has served on a number of important committees in the House, including Appropriations and Intelligence; and she was against the Congressional Resolution on Iraq.

The White House has not said much officially on the elevation of Ms Pelosi, excepting that the President, George W. Bush, is looking forward to working with Republicans and Democrats in the coming 108th Congress which will be meeting in January 2003. But privately, there is a view that the White House will be "looking forward'' to Ms Pelosi assuming the head of the Democratic Caucus as that would bring about the sharp contrasts in public policies.

One of the major criticisms of the Democratic party and its leadership in the post-Nov. 5 elections was that while they were raising a number of domestic issues, the party leadership was unable to craft a coherent message to the voters. The Grand Old Party, in an electoral sense, made considerable headway in the South where Democrats are considered more conservative.

The challenges within the Democratic party — from conservatives and centrists — aside, one of the things that Ms Pelosi will be keeping in mind is the discipline that exists within the Republicans in the House. The members of GOP have not wavered from the party line when it came to critical votes on the Hill. One of things that the President has made it clear to the Republican leaders in the last few days is that he is not willing to wait for the 108th Congress to get key legislation passed. Mr. Bush is pressuring his party leaders, especially in the Senate, to get bills like the one on Homeland Security Department passed during the session of the 107th Congress itself, which meets on Tuesday. Congressional Republican leaders like Trent Lott, who will be the Majority Leader in the Senate next January, took the position that legislation will be easier at the next Congress when numbers are more favourable. But Mr. Bush has prevailed on Mr. Lott and the GOP is expected to make a major push on such issues as Homeland Security and Spending Bills in this current session of Congress.

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