Democratic leaders work to heal rifts

Two of Washington’s top Democrats did their best Friday to ease any lingering hard feeling from the presidential campaign, telling state convention delegates that Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton both ran historic campaigns.

On the eve of a weekend that will see political activists from both parties listening to speeches and debating issues throughout the Inland Northwest, Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Chris Gregoire talked about the historic nature of the campaign so far and pumped up Democrats for the coming fights for the White House, Congress and governor’s mansion.

“This has already been a history-changing election,” Murray told delegates at a banquet at the Spokane Convention Center. “Every child in America knows he or she can be anything they dream of.”

Washington Democrats will debate a platform today and select some delegates to the national convention in Denver

Washington Democrats have an influx of new activists, generated in part by record-breaking attendance at the Feb. 9 caucuses in which Obama swamped Clinton. He also won the Feb. 19 presidential preference primary, but by a much smaller margin.

But Clinton still has supporters at the convention – some wearing buttons or T-shirts, and others who cheer loudest when her name is mentioned, such as when Murray said: “I want to thank Sen. Clinton for the amazing and historic race that she ran.”

Murray was among the earliest of the state’s superdelegates to announce her support for Clinton, and only switched to Obama after the New York senator suspended her campaign last Saturday.

Friday, however, she was fully behind Obama, praising the Illinois senator as someone who understands a wide range of problems, from treating veterans fairly to cleaning up the environment and tackling high energy prices. Obama, she told delegates, is the one who could help them “take our country back.”

Gregoire, who was an early Obama supporter, also praised Clinton and said Obama is a clear alternative to the Republican nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain.

“We cannot afford another four years like the last seven,” she said.

She also said her likely opponent in November, Dino Rossi, “is in lock-step with Bush.”

Washington needs to elect people who believe health care is a right, not a privilege, who believe consumers should be protected from unscrupulous lenders and children protected from unsafe toys, and who believe in taking care of the environment, Gregoire said.

Earlier Friday, delegates went over the draft of their platform, which will be debated today.

It covers everything from agriculture and immigration to foreign policy. It also gets down to some smaller details: getting rid of the WASL, cleaning up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and not using depleted-uranium weapons.

As written, the Democrats seem to favor single-payer health insurance, electing the president by popular vote, limiting urban sprawl, and smaller classes in public schools.

The platform plank on Iraq calls it “an unjustified war based on false and misleading statements and faulty thinking,” and urges “an expeditious and orderly withdrawal … so as to do least harm to the peoples in that country.”

That’s a big change from two years ago, when Democrats chanted “end the war” during a speech by Sen. Maria Cantwell and gave a standing ovation to one of her primary challengers who called for an immediate withdrawal.

One possible point of contention at the convention involves the process that brought delegates here, the caucuses. There are proposals to use the presidential preference primary to select some or all delegates, and members of the platform committee said they heard regular complaints about the caucuses in their county or state platform meetings.

The caucuses, held at a specific time on a specific day at a specific location, disenfranchise people who are working, out of town or unable to attend those meetings, delegates said during the Platform Committee meeting this morning.

“The caucus system just doesn’t work. It’s time to consider a change,” delegate Peggy Dawson argued.