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Friday, Dec. 10, 2004

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  There was no shortage of advice on how to win them over.

Nancy Jane Woodside, vice chairwoman of the Utah Democratic Party, said Democrats had to change their habit of "laundry listing" the country's problems and come up with solutions that can be easily explained.

Woodside noted that Democrat presidential nominee John Kerry was always telling people to visit his Web site to read about his plans, something only the intellectual elite would do, not voters glued to the television waiting to hear answers.

"I'm sick of it," she said. "Tell me what you are going to do. Democratic Party, what are you going to do? I don't want the laundry hung out any more."

That criticism came from an activist who has known Kerry since the days when they both opposed the Vietnam War. Woodside also said she wished Kerry would have campaigned a little in her home state, where she likely would have pulled him aside.

'Beltway Language'

"I would have been able to teach him how to talk to people outside of that Beltway language he's used to," she said.

That was one of the general complaints from many of the Democrats in attendance. The majority were from states that weren't even a factor in the presidential race as most of the party's resources were funneled into fewer than 20 states where Kerry thought he had the best chance of winning.

"The party has to be broader than the East Coast, the West Coast and around the Great Lakes," said former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, one of at least seven candidates considering a bid for party chairman.

Webb's home state of Colorado has voted Republican in recent elections and went for Bush again this year despite a push by Kerry. But Democrats won a Senate seat, a congressional seat and regained control of both houses in the state Legislature and need to keep reaching for victory there, Webb said.

Mark Brewer, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, noted that many Democrat governors were elected in states where Bush won re-election. But he argued that the party was driven by Washington and outside voices are not heard.

"Clearly Democrats know how to win red states," Brewer said. "We need to learn how to win from them."

'Too Old and Tired'

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a 38-year-old who was just elected to Congress from southern Florida, said plenty of young women would get into politics, but the party needs to be more welcoming. She suggested that the party pay for baby-sitting at meetings so more mothers would come.

"You all know young people in your community, and you all know that you aren't doing enough to replace yourself when you are too old and tired to keep going," she told a meeting of the DNC's executive committee.

On Saturday, potential candidates for DNC chairman will introduce themselves to the state party chairs, the largest bloc of voters that will choose a new leader in February.

Potential candidates are Webb; former presidential candidate Howard Dean; former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard; defeated Rep. Martin Frost of Texas; political strategist Donnie Fowler; Simon Rosenberg, founder and president of the centrist New Democrat Network; and former Clinton adviser Harold Ickes.

New York businessman Leo Hindery Jr., withdrew from the race Friday.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, who is not seeking another term, said the party could have done a better job of reaching out to specific voters. Republicans were far more effective, he said.

While Kerry and the Democrats were trying to reach swing voters with broad messages about the economy, for example, Bush's team was reaching swing voters and traditional Democrat voters with more tailored messages.

Fliers distributed to black churchgoers said Kerry wanted to give gay couples the same rights as married couples. Mailings to middle-aged women argued that Bush would protect their families against terrorism. Older Hispanics heard about Kerry's opposition to a ban on late-term abortions, and male union members heard about Bush's support of gun rights.

These are techniques that the Democrats will use over the next four years, McAuliffe said, as they try to recapture voters who live in rural areas and the South as well as churchgoers.

"But for a shift of 60,000 votes in the state of Ohio, John Kerry would be inaugurated on January 20," he said.

© 2004 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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