Five of the nine Democrats hoping to make a run at the
presidency in 2004 stopped over at UCLA Thursday evening to skewer
the Bush administration on everything from the environment to war
in what became a roasting of the president.
The attendees included U.S. Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe
Lieberman, D-Conn., former U.S. Sen. Carol Mosely Braun, D-Ill.,
former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and civil rights activist Rev. Al
Sharpton.
Two days later, President Bush made a campaign fundraising stop
in Century City on Saturday, where he addressed increased numbers
of U.S. casualties in Iraq and raised more than $5 million. With
this addition, Bush’s campaign war chest is on pace to
becoming the largest in U.S. history, far outpacing the
Democrats’ combined funds.
The UCLA event was intended to serve as a forum for candidates
to express their views on environmental problems facing the
nation.
“This debate does not start or end tonight,” Deb
Callahan, president of the League of Conservation Voters, one of
the sponsors of the forum, said to a capacity crowd in the Ackerman
Grand Ballroom.
“It will span the next 17 months of the presidential
campaign and frankly through the rest of our lives,” she
added.
A panel of journalists asked the candidates questions not just
on staple environmental concerns such as global warming and
automobile emissions, but also on issues like international
development and pollution’s effect on minority
communities.
The Democratic hopefuls were unanimous in their call for reduced
pollution and the enforcement of environmental justice. They
strongly condemned the Bush administration for withdrawing from the
Kyoto Protocol ““ an international treaty calling for
countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Dean, who drew the most applause from the audience during
introductions, said as president he would “force change
through regulation” by monitoring and punishing polluters. As
proof of his capabilities, Dean also pointed to environmental
reforms he enacted as governor of Vermont ““ such as the
reduction of lead paint in homes and mercury in water.
Kerry said researchers can “push the curb of
discovery” and develop alternative means of fuel and
transportation without making significant changes to the American
lifestyle.
“I believe the sacrifices that are needed are sacrifices
of bad habits and selfishness. But we do not need to ask Americans
to sacrifice their quality of life,” he said.
The candidates also expressed outrage over allegations that the
Bush administration doctored a recent Environmental Protection
Agency report, a tactic Lieberman said was worthy of the regime in
the former Soviet Union.
All the candidates also found ways to verbally assault Bush on a
wide range of issues besides the environment ““ including
foreign policy, the economy and the administration’s
integrity.
“It’s so oily in Washington that it is downright
greasy,” said Sharpton, referring to the
administration’s alleged “conflicts of interest.”
“We need to make the case to the American people to get the
greasy people out of Washington.”
Sharpton, Dean and Kerry all said they would make the reduction
of U.S. dependence on foreign oil a top priority, a dependence Dean
likened to “a hostage situation.”
Although the largely Democratic crowd was very receptive to the
would-be presidential candidates, it has yet to be seen how big a
role the environment will play in an election year most likely
dominated by national security and the economy.
Second-year biochemistry student Maya Remington, and fourth-year
English student Laurel Turbin, both said the forum provided good
information on each candidate but that, in the end, their position
on the environment might not matter so much.