ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, August 26, 1996 TAG: 9608260131
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHICAGO
SOURCE: From The Associated Press and The Dallas Morning News
Democratic leaders warmed up for their national convention Sunday, preaching unity to friendly crowds even as they promised not to silence party speakers who disagree with President Clinton on welfare, abortion or any other issue.
Clinton kept his convention eve focus on Republicans, mocking challenger Bob Dole's ``big old tax cut'' as he began a whistlestop tour from West Virginia to his nominating celebration. ``Shall we keep going on the right track, or should we turn around?'' he asked.
Later, in Kentucky, Clinton answered the question himself: ``I say, let's finish the job.''
In Chicago, top administration lieutenants sought to calm liberal anger over Clinton's decision to sign a Republican welfare measure ending the 60-year federal guarantee of aid to the poor. The welfare dispute loomed as the main threat to a calm convention as Democrats prepared to renominate Clinton and launch him into the fall campaign.
For the most part, however, the mood was festive and upbeat as Vice President Al Gore and other party leaders visited with delegates and allies. ``This two-headed monster of Dole-Gingrich ... has been launching an all-out assault on nearly every measure important to working men and women,'' Gore told AFL-CIO-member delegates.
For months, Clinton has angered congressional Democrats by rarely promoting their effort to regain House and Senate majorities. But as he set out for the convention, the president praised his party's congressional wing for helping him thwart Republican initiatives.
``They stood up, they were counted and they said no,'' Clinton said.
Today's opening session begins with party business and closes with prime time speeches by actor Christopher Reeve, confined to a wheelchair because of an equestrian accident, and gun-control advocate Sarah Brady, whose husband was shot during the 1981 assassination attempt on President Reagan.
Clinton was polishing several modest initiatives, including expanding the Brady handgun control law to prohibit those convicted of domestic violence from buying guns. The president also plans to propose tax incentives to employers who put welfare recipients to work.
In addition to protests outside the hall, convention planners said several speakers might take issue with Clinton's decision to sign a tough Republican welfare reform bill and a few might express disagreement with the party's support of abortion rights.
``We're not afraid of debate,'' said Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, the Democratic National Committee chairman.
Among delegates and party activists, the biggest complaint stemmed from Clinton's decision to sign the GOP welfare bill, which bitterly divided Democrats in Congress. ``He'll probably have to go to Democratic purgatory for signing the thing,'' said Nebraska delegate John Green.
Trying to reassure liberals, Gore noted that the law does not take effect until July 1997. If Clinton is re-elected ``we will have an opportunity to fix'' provisions liberals find distasteful, including a ban on welfare benefits to immigrants, Gore said.
A vocal Clinton critic on welfare, Jesse Jackson, also sought to calm things, drawing an analogy to the turmoil of Chicago, circa 1968.
``In 1968, when the issue was warfare, the big tent split and we lost,'' Jackson said. ``Now, the issue is welfare, the big tent must not split.''
Republicans were eager to steal some of Clinton's convention spotlight.
Republican Chairman Haley Barbour called Gore's remarks on welfare ``a wink and nod to the liberal left'' that proved Clinton signed the bill only to help his re-election effort.
At a GOP picnic in suburban Chicago, Republican challenger Bob Dole was greeted with cheers of ``Send Bill Home, Send Bill Home.'' He offered this message to the Democratic incumbent: ``Your time is done.''
Dole promoted his tax cut plan and blamed Clinton for a rise in drug use by young Americans. ``Unlike this president, I will not be afraid to use the power of persuasion to talk about right and wrong,'' Dole said.
Top Democrats accused Dole of switching positions by putting a balanced budget ahead of tax cuts.
``Bob Dole has apparently finally found a calculator,'' said Dodd.
Dodd and other Democrats pointed to a Chicago Tribune interview in which Dole said, ``The balanced-budget amendment is going to be No. 1, balancing the budget by the year 2000, and tax cuts are No. 2.''
Dodd said that Dole's latest comments were ``substantially different'' from the tax-cut plan he unveiled three weeks ago.
Dole aides said that the comments by the former Kansas senator were not inconsistent with his economic plan. They disputed the Tribune's use of the word ``shifts'' in its headline.
Later Sunday the GOP nominee said that both a balanced budget and tax cuts remained top priority.
``Both Number 1 - tied for first,'' he said.
Dole accused Clinton of surrendering in the war on drugs. He pledged to use the military for that fight in his own administration.
``They raised the white flag in the war on drugs. They turned `Just Say No' into `Just Say Nothing,''' Dole said of the administration.
Clinton and Gore filled their Sunday speeches with a litany of administration accomplishments, including reducing the deficit four years in a row and presiding over an economy that has created 10 million jobs.
Clinton said his vetoes had blocked Republican efforts to damage Medicare, cut education spending and abandon environmental protection. ``If you give them the White House and the Congress, there won't be anybody to say no,'' he said in Ashland, Ky.
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. President Clinton is joined by the first lady,by CNBHillary Rodham Clinton, and daughter Chelsea on Sunday as the
campaign train leaves Huntington, W.Va., on its way to the
Democratic National Convention, which opens today in Chicago. color.
Graphic: Chart: Democratic National Convention. KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENT