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Hilliary expected in key post 2002 { November 18 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.rollcall.com/pages/news/00/2002/11/news1118a.htmlhttp://www.rollcall.com/pages/news/00/2002/11/news1118a.html
November 18, 2002
Clinton in Line For Key Post
By Mark Preston
Unable to effectively deliver their message to voters in the 2002 elections, Senate Democratic leaders are expected to name Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to their leadership team next year to help develop a plan to counter Republican spin. The promotion would put Clinton in charge of the Steering and Coordination Committee, a mid-level leadership position that is appointed by Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-S.D.).
The current Steering chairman, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), is expected to step down from the post at the end of the 107th Congress to focus full-time on his White House campaign, opening a seat at the leadership table for Clinton, several Democratic sources said.
"Nobody better understands the resources that the right has mustered to clobber Democrats," said a Democratic source familiar with the situation. "From the money to the media manipulation, she gets it."
"She can articulate our needs and goals better than anyone," added a Democratic strategist.
Already, Democratic leaders have held preliminary strategy meetings to discuss the aftermath of the Nov. 5 elections in which Republicans defeated two incumbents and picked up one Democratic open seat in their successful bid to return to the majority.
"There are a lot of things being done," said Senate Majority Whip Harry Reid (D-Nev.). "Meetings have been held, and we are working on things."
Several Democrats said the problem does not lie with the content of their message but rather their failure to effectively deliver it to voters in the closing months of the election.
"It is not so much changing the message," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). "It is just that people in America haven't been hearing what we argue all the time."
One area where Democrats are eager to make inroads is talk radio and cable television, which Republicans have dominated in recent years.
"The conservative establishment in this country really has a lock on the airwaves," said Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the assistant Democratic floor leader.
Durbin said Democrats also need to focus their energy on promoting their domestic agenda and counterpoints to Republican proposals to traditional news programs.
"You really have to work the regular news coverage and hope that the real issues and real stories break through," he said. Clinton would not directly discuss a possible leadership job, but said that she is willing to do what is needed to help disseminate the Democratic message.
"I don't have any inside info on what is going to happen, but whatever happens I will help in any way I can with all of my colleagues to try to do a better job, because we have a great story to tell," Clinton said. "We have to be more effective in not only telling it, but drawing the distinction. Where we agree [with Republicans], we should make that clear so there is not doubt about where our points of agreement are on behalf of the country, and where we disagree, we should be much clearer.
"Where we have areas of new proposals and ideas that we think would move us forward we should do that," she added. A top Democratic aide said Democrats lost out in this year's election because Republicans successfully co-opted portions of their domestic agenda while at the same time seizing control of the national security debate over issues such as creating a Department of Homeland Security.
"Republicans did a masterful job of blurring the differences on key Democratic initiatives such as education, health care and the war on terrorism," the aide said. "This allowed the president to tack to the center and pick up Independent voters." The question now is what direction Senate Democrats will take their agenda and who will serve as their main spokesman. Moderate Democrats warned a dramatic shift to the left would alienate crucial swing voters in 2004.
"I think it would be a serious mistake, because the base of our party, as is the base of the Republican Party, is not enough to constitute a majority," said Sen. John Breaux (D-La.). "It would make it more difficult to attract centrists and Independents in the middle, and that is the key to elections."
Perhaps the more complicated issue is holding together a Democratic Caucus that will be stretched in different directions as several members explore presidential bids at the same time that Democrats mount an effort to take back the Senate majority.
So far, Democratic Sens. Joseph Biden (Del.), Daschle, Chris Dodd (Conn.), John Edwards (N.C.), John Kerry (Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (Conn.) have all expressed interest in running for the White House in 2004.
A senior Democratic aide said there is some concern that a unified message might be fractured when these Democrats try to distinguish themselves from their colleagues in the primaries.
"They are going to try and exert more of an influence on policy," said a senior Democratic staffer. "But the Democratic Caucus is not going to be beholden to anybody with presidential ambitions."
Lieberman and Kerry said the lack of a national Democratic leader is what hurt Democrats in the 2002 elections and suggested that a presidential nominee will help unite the factions of the party as Democrats try to unseat Bush and take back the Congressional majority.
"One thing that presidential campaigns do is present the national leader of your party," Lieberman said. "Eventually, after the nominating process you have a candidate and that person has the opportunity to present the party's program."
"I think you have a very different situation when you have a presidential cycle because you will have opposing voices," Kerry said.
Clinton's move up into Democratic leadership is natural for one of the most well-known Senators ever to serve in the chamber. Since being elected in 2000, Clinton has shunned the national spotlight in favor of focusing all of her attention on New York-related issues.
But in the wake of the 2002 elections, Democratic leaders have decided they need all the muscle they can muster now that Republicans control both the Congressional and White House bully pulpits.
"We need more ammo ... more firepower and a better system of delivery," said a top Democratic source. "Hillary is a strong catalyst for this."
As chairman of the Steering committee, Clinton would act as a liaison with outside groups and organizations - responsible for building support for key Democratic legislative proposals.
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