By Washington, DC
November 15, 2002

Not only is it soul searching time for the Democratic Party after the mid-term elections. It is brain searching and face searching time too. President George W. Bush, first opposed a homeland security department, recanted and then championed the establishment of the new department. The Republican controlled House approved the Department but the Democrats were persuaded by the unions to hold out and President Bush stole the issue from the Democrats and he hit the campaign trail blaming the Democrats for not providing an agency to protect our people from terrorists. It was a masterful stroke and it resonated with the electorate as he pounded away on Air Force One at every stop — sometimes three stops — every day throughout the Fall mid-term electionsNo alternative leadership was provided. No alternative message of economic security or homeland security was offered. No one on the Democratic side was there to activate or spark the Democratic base and the Republican base was fired up in urban, suburban and rural voters throughout America.

No alternative leadership was provided. No alternative message of economic security or homeland security was offered. No one on the Democratic side was there to activate or spark the Democratic base and the Republican base was fired up in urban, suburban and rural voters throughout America.

It was an election with the longest coat tail in modern American history. In '84 with the Mondale campaign, when the Reagan landside was over, the Democrats still had the House. And in '94 with the Gingrich revolution, the Democrats still had the White House. Today, after the 2002 mid-term elections, the Republicans are in total power, having captured both the Senate and the House and a proven most popular President occupying the White House.

No one was willing to stand up and have the courage to take on the President and all the worn out faces are politically diminished.

The first casualty was House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt. He, as leader, could not capture the six seats needed to take over the House. At 6:00 a.m. the day after the election Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford was on the Imus in The Morning networks televison show suggesting that Gephardt, as the Democratic House Leader, had to go. And within hours Gephardt was history, having politically failed and suggesting after the loss that he was going to run for President.

Vice President Al Gore could not prevent the Republicans from taking his old Senate seat and he failed to rally the Democratic voters in Florida where he lost the Presidency two years ago in the battle of the disputed ballots.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle did not respond when President Bush labeled him as the problem, the obstructionist, to providing homeland security for the American people.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, the Democratic Vice President nominee of 2000, jumped quickly to support President Bush to neutralize the dangerous military capability of Iraq but Senator Lieberman could not stop the loss of Congressional seats to the Republicans in his home State of Connecticut.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe was over the top and hot on TV ranting about how he was going to take Governor Jeb Bush out in Florida. For a moment as you watched him screaming away, you thought maybe he knew something we didn't know. But it turned out to be hot air. And President Bush did not want to have Thanksgiving Dinner with Barbara Bush having not used his political capital to win one for her other son Jeb. So there will be a less acid, joyful, thankful and happy Thanksgiving when the Bush turkey is carved, and Terry McAuliffe must accept it was the worst mid-term election for a Democratic Chair after a first term Presidency in this century. Yes, money was raised and money was spent. The man knows how to raise money aAnd even with President Clinton whose forté is to energize the Democratic Party base, may have energized the Republican base in many areas to come out in droves.

And even with President Clinton whose forté is to energize the Democratic Party base, may have energized the Republican base in many areas to come out in droves.

The situation in Georgia was a political earthquake. The young Christian Leader Ralph Reed went South some time ago to become head of the Georgia GOP. Reed is being credited with the biggest upset of the election, the defeat of Governor Roy Barnes. But Reed doesn't deserve all the credit. Governor Barnes forced two things down the Georgia electorate's throat. He incensed the Georgia teachers with his so-called education reforms and he went where Zell Miller refused to go by diminishing the Confederate flag in a new flag design that some dubbed it to look like a plastic place mat at an International House of Pancakes (IHOP) restaurant. One woman, a relative of mine, said "listen, honey, you don't piss off Southern women and all the red necks at one As to 2004, where are the new faces? Most people are asking that question. There's Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. He's pretty; he looks good and he's rich and he seems fearless. While he couldn't stop a Dole in North Carolina, he could be a flashy candidate but he needs an alternative message to match his good looks, money, and guts.

As to 2004, where are the new faces? Most people are asking that question. There's Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. He's pretty; he looks good and he's rich and he seems fearless. While he couldn't stop a Dole in North Carolina, he could be a flashy candidate but he needs an alternative message to match his good looks, money, and guts.

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry is making his bid. He's been out there running for about 30 years after getting elected in Massachusetts to several state political offices. Now he has decided it's his time to go for the big one. He hasn't demonstrated the ability to relate to the average voter and he doesn't exactly stir voters with passion that brings them to their feet.

On the other hand, the Governor of Vermont, Howard Dean, the longest serving Democratic Governor, is stirring people with his public and national TV appearances. He is a medical doctor and his in your face honest talk reminds you of the Republican Senator McCain. Dean could catch on to the Democratic Party faithful who are aching for some articulation of why there should be a national Democratic Party.

All of these candidates, including President Bush, will need a domestic urban/suburban policy and political agenda. Presently the impending war dominates the political landscape, but they will all have to sooner or later face the fact that they must have a domestic economic agenda to confront challenges now apparent within our national economy. They are fighting back and forth about tax cuts for the rich and not enough tax breaks for the poor and middle class. But no one has come forth with a viable economic package. This vacuum of leadership provides the nation's mayors and our allies a unique opportunity to step forward with a balanced economic growth package of proposals containing smart investments and smart tax incentives to keep our metropoliOver the next few weeks and months mayors will work together to have recommendations for President Bush, the new Congress as well as Democratic Congressional leaders and Presidential aspirants. It is our challenge to come forth with a plan as we have in the past. What we have to do is develop an economic growth plan and lay it out there. Conference President Thomas M. Menino and our other mayoral leaders within the Conference of Mayors will need your help as we move between now and your Winter Meeting in January to develop and present the plan to President Bush, Presidential aspirants and the new Congress.

Over the next few weeks and months mayors will work together to have recommendations for President Bush, the new Congress as well as Democratic Congressional leaders and Presidential aspirants. It is our challenge to come forth with a plan as we have in the past. What we have to do is develop an economic growth plan and lay it out there. Conference President Thomas M. Menino and our other mayoral leaders within the Conference of Mayors will need your help as we move between now and your Winter Meeting in January to develop and present the plan to President Bush, Presidential aspirants and the new Congress.

Mayors Victorious

First of all Mayor Jerry Abramson is back. Louisville became a new big kid on the block through a successful referendum creating a new metropolitan government which makes it the 16th ranked city/county jurisdiction in the United States. Former Mayor Abramson championed the referendum. Then he ran and he is the new mayor of a new Louisville. As past President of the Conference, the new Mayor Abramson is automatically returned to our Executive Committee. We look forward to his renewed participation as he moves to consolidate city and county functions of Louisville and Jefferson County Kentucky.

Congratulations to the mayors who won House seats and are coming to Washington. Former Macon Mayor Jim Marshall was elected in Georgia and former Dayton Mayor Michael Turner was elected in Ohio.

And then there's St. Paul Mayor Norman Coleman who defeated former Vice President Mondale in the most emotional and dramatic campaign in recent political history. Faced with the most difficult and saddest circumstances, Mayor Coleman exhibited his political skills in a most substantive debate with Vice President Mondale. He showed that he is proud to be a mayor and proud of what he has done in St. Paul. We needed more debates like the Coleman/Mondale debate. Mayor Coleman even mentioned his housing initiatives and other best practices he has shared with all of you in our family of mayors within our organization. We look forward to working with Senator-elect Coleman as he takes his seat in the Senate proud of his record as the Mayor of St. Paul.

Most significant within our political framework of USA mayors was the victory of former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell in the big political State of Pennsylvania. Mayor Rendell's election as Governor of Pennsylvania proves that a smart big city Democratic mayor with political skills can run statewide and win. I believe it was James Carville who said about Pennsylvania that there's Philadelphia, there's Pittsburgh and everything else between is Alabama. It is a most diverse State with a range of issues that is a microcosm to the nation. Mayor Rendell did not flinch on the urban issues such as AIDS and common sense gun legislation when he was mayor and he is credited for turning the economy of that city around.

With his political skills, his experience as the former Chair of the National Democratic Party and now Governor of Pennsylvania, he is a natural future contender for the Presidency. 2004 is perhaps too early for him but after a short time as Governor of Pennsylvania, he will emerge on the national scene. We congratulate Mayor Rendell at this historic moment when a big city urban mayor is elected Governor of Pennsylvania. His victory is symbolic and indeed paves the way for other politically astute mayors to be a strong mayor, to take on the hard issues, and still go forth to get elected statewide in his or her state.

Pelosi - House Leader Raised in Mayor's House

Congratulations to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi on her election as the new Minority Leader of the House. Critics say she is a San Francisco liberal but I always ask where a person was raised. She was raised in Baltimore in a mayor's house. Her father was Mayor D'Alesandro and her brother Thomas D'Alesandro, also a Baltimore mayor, was most active with us. So her roots and genes are strong. She was born and grew up in a mayor's house in the Italian community of Baltimore. People underestimate her. She knows how to count, knows how to deal, and she will be a stronger advocate in articulating, when appropriate, a loyal opposition policy on a given issue. It's hard to be the opposition leader when you are running for President. Both Gephardt and Daschle So we congratulate the new House Leader who grew up in a mayor's house and she will be our friend.

So we congratulate the new House Leader who grew up in a mayor's house and she will be our friend.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is our second Thanksgiving after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The psyche of the nation has changed since 9-11-2001. In this November of 2002, we must accept that change and be ever more thankful of each other, of life. Snipers froze us this autumn and put fear in us that any one of us could be randomly shot. It was almost as if you lived in a war-torn area. Now we get "alerts" about our hospitals and more alerts about our cities' infrastructure. We stand on the verge of war. We are thankful that no other attacks have come killing Americans since 9-11 but we are reminded each day that any moment more killings will come. We are thankful though — for America.