European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 12, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday my 12, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary David Brode democratic group May have run its course. For an outfit that was born out of pique fear and. Frustration the. Democratic leadership Council dec has turned into a surprisingly healthy and intelligent sex year old it is contributing positive and practical policy ideas to party in desperate need of them. Gut a Spectator at its first National con Ven lion in Cleveland comes away suspecting the dec As now constituted has done about All it can do for the democrats. Someone or something else will have to take the next Steps for the democrats revival. That task Likely will fall to some presidential candidate and his organization. Several of the prospective contenders for 1992 or 1996 a Bill Clinton Dick Gephardt a Gore Sam Nunn Charles Robb Jay Rockefeller Paul Tsongas a Douglas Wilder a were on display in Cleveland. V in policy terms the dec has some ideas that any of those democrats can offer the voters. That san achievement considering that at first the dec was Little More than a panic stricken pack of mostly Southern conservatives who agreed More on what the democrats had been doing wrong than on what it would take to set them  they tried to elect North Carolinas Terry Sanford As chairman of. The democratic National committee mistakenly thinking that body could somehow reshape the party a direction they failed. Next Many of the dec founders threw themselves into the creation of the 1988 super tuesday Southern regional primary believing that it would control the nomination instead it backfired giving a needed boost to Michael Dukakis and Jesse  however the organization and its in House think tank the progressive policy Institute dug in of the hard work of creating a different democratic Agenda. A a their first proposals were not particularly venturesome. Robb the former Vietnam Marine and Nunn the armed services committee Baron thought the idea of National service was a Way to evoke the sense of Mutual obligation be tween citizen and nation a an antidote to the concept of a a entitlement the left had enshrined at the Center of its philos Ophy. Let Young people earn College Aid by Community or military service they said just As welfare recipients should whenever possible work for their benefits. It was a valid idea but hardly of the democrats democrats scale to realign a party or cause voters to rethink their Overall impression of the democrats. But Over time the Dlce a intellectuals have added to the repertory until the resolutions passed Iri Cleveland formed a respectable critique of the Rea Gan Bush philosophy a and a reasonably Clear Brcak from past democratic think Long. The dec a whose leaders split on the Quot Wisdom of starting the persian Gulf War a would have the United states maintain a Strong military and an activist foreign policy bul condition relations on the degree of democracy and human rights observed in the countries seeking our assistance. It would reaffirm the free Trade philosophy of for  Kennedy and resist any form of protectionism. At Home it would slow the growth of Federal spending Cut taxes for Middle in come Anil working families boost upper bracket levies and in a Bush like bit of fiscal legerdemain find the funds some. Where for expanded health insurance an apprentice program for non College bound youths and to meet human needs. In its most controversial stance it would have the democrats renounce quotas or any other form of a a guaranteed Equality while maintaining a commitment to civil rights and affirmative action a a balancing act some of its own a delegates called impossible. Having done that much in the policy area Why can the dec not do More be. Cause its Structure is self limiting a and so Are the attitudes of. Some of its key staff members who still behave As if their r goal were the takeover of the democratic a a National committee. The organization has outgrown its original base of a dozen key conservative governors senators and representatives. It now has chapters Ini almost half the states. But it is still a top Down opera. Tion barely reflective of the Rich diversity that is the democratic party a nothing but parochialism could explain the absence of any pledge on the environment or abortion rights from the staff drafted policy resolutions. The Cleveland convention did not look or Feci like a democratic gathering. You looked around the floor and saw few teachers or Union members few Blacks and even fewer  their place you had dozens of corporate lobbyists who pay i he Dlce a Bills in return for Access to its influential congressional members and governors. Many of the lobbyist delegates acknowledge being republicans one Wak a top staffer for Spiro age new. But they were in there voting on resolutions just As if they really cared about the democrats  j 1 that kind of an organisation cannot a define the democrats future but its work has helped give that future a substance and shape pc it the Washington Penl a 1 Dave Mcneel demos not about to Roll Over play dead done to believe these prognostications that the 1992 election is a foregone conclusion that the democrats Are going to lie Down and that president George Bush will be re elected in a cakewalk. A immediately after the Brief War with Iraq with the presidents approval rating at More than 90 percent there was talk that no democrats would even be inters ested in contesting president Bush. But those Early polls Are about As misleading As were the polls in mid-1988 that showed Michael Dukakis 30 Points ahead of Bush. _. Former sen. Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts announced his admittedly Long shot presidential bid re. Cert try and others Are sniffing the air. Among them Are 5ens. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and a1 Gore or. Of Tennessee and gov. Bill Clinton of Arkans seven though sen. Lloyd Bentsen of Texas says he iras no plans to run he Hasni to  any absolute statements he  others think that because several democratic Hope jews Are not already crisscrossing Early caucus states. A it be Iowa that is somehow a sign there wont be a great Deal of interest in the democratic nomination. That thought of Early activity is misplaced. It is based upon the experience leading up to the 1988 election when  so Many candidates ill Iowa that  a bigger boost to the Economy than the Corn crop. But that was because it was the first wide open race for the presidency in 28 years it was the first time since 1960, when Dwight Eisenhower was finishing his second term that there was and election in which an incumbent president was not seeking re election tubs anyone at All interested in being president knew As soon As Ronald Reagan started his second term that it would be his last and the Early Bird in Iowa and new Hampshire might just catch the worm As Jimmy Carter had in 1976. But in the months leading up to 1992, there is no need for that kind of Rush. A _ but make no mistake Bush is still the Odds on favorite. As is the Case with most incumbent presidents. They a Are in an enormously favourable position to generate publicity Money and adoration. And in the Post world War ii Era the three times that presidents have sought a second full term they have carried almost every state and racked up landslide a a / percentages. Dwight Eisenhower had 57.7 percent in 1956 Richard Nixon won with 61,7 percent in 1972 and Ronald Reagan had 59.1 percent. All three like Bush were republicans -1 some democrats May run in 1992 simply to position t h c m be Ives for 1996. They re me m be r t a t g a by i la Rte a 1 Osing try for the democratic nomination in 1984 helped make him the Early front runner for 1988, until Donna Rice and the Monkey business spoiled his Effort a also no one knows when lightning will strike the Iraq situation could drag on even longer than it will take to put out the Oil Well fires in Kuwait. And some democrats like  on the Bush As War hero notion by remembering that the British turned out Winston Churchill not Long after he had led his country through world War ii a year is an eternity in politics especially if there Ever were conclusive proof of something like the Allega Tion that the Reagan Bush Campaign in 1980 got the iranians to delay releasing the hostages in the Macri can embassy until after the election and that George Bush was directly involved. _ a the new York times