Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 24, 1990 TAG: 9003242424
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGIE FISHER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS LENGTH: Long
But pressing his unity message in a speech before the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, Wilder took what was interpreted by some in attendance as a jab at Jackson, who is due to address the council today.
"Those who lose during our primaries must reject the temptation to cling to a sense of personal injury and defeat. They must unite behind the party's candidate," Wilder said.
Surrounded by reporters from throughout the country as he left the council meeting to fly back to Virginia, Wilder said his remark was aimed "at any number of persons" who have sought the Democratic presidential nomination then behaved with "petulance" after losing.
In the view of many Democrats, that word described Jackson's behavior after he failed to win the presidential nominations in 1984 and 1988.
"Rather than personalize it, it would apply to anyone who fits that category," Wilder said. "If you think that's the case [with Jackson], then it would be the case."
Wilder came to the council meeting fresh from a set-to with the Jackson forces and Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry over the issue of statehood for the district.
On Thursday, Barry faxed a letter to Wilder objecting to comments Wilder made earlier this week suggesting that D.C. had not demonstrated the fiscal responsibility for statehood. Joining the objection was a Jackson-backed D.C. statehood committee.
But, by almost every assessment, Wilder's position on the D.C. statehood issue enhanced his standing as a fiscally responsible Democratic leader.
In his speech before the leadership council, an organization Wilder once denounced as devisive and "me-tooists in Reagan masks," Wilder continued his "New Mainstream" theme.
Not surprisingly, the council, which was founded by U.S. Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., as a vehicle to return the national Democrats to mainstream values, welcomed Wilder as a conquering hero.
Many were waiting to see what kind of reception Jackson receives today from the centrist Democrats.
Sources within the council indicated that Jackson had shown a keen interest in speaking at this conference only after he learned that Wilder would be among the speakers. Rumors were afloat that Jackson might directly challenge Wilder's claim to the mainstream mantle.
For his part, Wilder insisted that he had never suggested that Jackson doesn't also have mainstream values.
Wilder described America's new mainstream as "that current which recognizes that social conscience and fiscal responsibility can go hand in hand - if those individuals in positions of leadership and authority are willing to make tough decisions rather than kowtowing to special interests."
That sounded like it might have been lifted from an old Robb speech, but Robb said he was not frustrated that Wilder seems to be scoring big on the national scene with a message Robb has been delivering for several years.
"I'm delighted. I'm very pleased with the fact that a lot of candidates in the last few years have come to embrace some of the principles we have been talking about," Robb said.
Both Robb and Wilder are seen as prospective national candidates, but both took pains Friday to emphasize they are not rivals.
However, the two Virginians, who sometimes have been antagonists in years past, seemed to be taking different tacks on the issue of a fuel-tax increase.
In his speech before the more than 700 gathered for the council meeting, Robb proposed a new federal fuel tax to raise revenue that would be returned to the state to finance transportation and infra structure improvements - responsibilities for which also would be turned over to the state by the federal government.
When Wilder arrived four hours later, he said he would be opposed to any new federal fuel tax until the federal government returns the tax revenue it has already collected and owes to the state. Wilder said those funds are being held in the highway trust fund to make the federal deficit appear smaller than it is.
"I'm saying before you even talk about [a fuel tax increase], the federal government has got to make the commitment to give that money back," Wilder said.
He said he would oppose a fuel tax increase unless it was specified that the funds would be returned to the states. He said he didn't think that was at odds to what Robb was proposing.
Tax issues and bashing President Bush over the federal deficit was the order of the day at the council conference, with Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen setting the tone with a sharp attack on Republican "Bushlips."
"I'm getting a little tired of it when the President says `no new taxes' and sends us budgets larded with cryptotaxes. . . . The Republican pledge of no new taxes is pure Bushlips!" Bentsen declared.
National Democratic Party Chairman Ron Brown, shuffling between meetings of the council here and the Democratic National Committee in Indiana, asked, "How do you read the president's lips when he speaks out of both sides of his mouth?"
by CNB