THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2002 -- One principle this column has unfailingly championed is the imperative that the Democratic Party not cede the areas of defense and foreign policy to the Republicans. While the Democratic base represents the home to those who feel queasy about the extension of the war on terror to Iraq as well as other perennial anti-war activists, the party needs to maintain a tie to the traditions of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson -- Democrats who battled for working people domestically and confronted external threats internationally.

That’s why the recent comments by Vice President Al Gore, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, and Senator Ted Kennedy on this topic have been so disappointing. While Kennedy’s speech was the most principled and effective, his words cut an unfortunate contrast with his brother, whose first foray into foreign policy, a book called Why England Slept addressed the nature of appeasement prior to World War II.

In this context, credit is to be given to two presidential hopefuls, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri and Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut. Both signed on to a draft resolution that would authorize President Bush to use force against Iraq. The two Democrats appeared shoulder-to-shoulder with Bush at a Rose Garden press conference announcing an agreement yesterday. Gephardt, who voted against the 1991 Gulf War resolution, and Gore, who voted for it, have switched places. Gephardt began this transition last June; Gore finalized it with his speech last week.

Senator John Kerry, meanwhile, appeared with Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s Hardball at the Citadel. Kerry performed magnificently. Flanked by hundreds of the Citadel’s military cadets, Kerry looked presidential. During one exchange, in particular, Kerry rose to occasion by managing to express his disagreement with the president’s approach while arguing he agreed with Bush’s goals: "I think if we spent a little time working it through, we’d probably come to be in the same place and I’ll tell you why. Logistically, you can’t go in tomorrow. Logistically, it’s going to take you three or four months, three months anyway, to be prepared to be in a position, and there isn’t one of you, I believe, who wants to go in there without the adequate support and logistical supply network set in place. I don’t believe that." Kerry believes it is necessary to forge agreement among the European allies and United Nations before proceeding against Iraq.

In addition, Kerry, who earned a Silver Star for his service in Vietnam, commanded a high degree of respect from the cadets, who nonetheless queried him on his support for "regime change." Kerry appeared moved at one point during the show when presented with a bagpipes brigade and honor guard. Kerry, taking part in the ceremony, told the cadets to "carry on." I can’t imagine any of the other Democratic presidential hopefuls performing as well as Kerry did at the Citadel last night.

Still, the problem always exists on both the national level and the state level that the more the Democratic Party moves rightward, the greater the risk of turning off members of the base and sending them into the ranks of the Green Party. In 2000, this may have resulted in Ralph Nader getting enough votes to prevent Gore from having won an unequivocal victory. That may be one reason Gore decided to get out of the box with a hard anti-war speech last week.

This effect is also present on the local political scene. While Massachusetts appears generally united behind the Kennedy-Kerry approach toward war with Iraq, another series of issues -- generally organized around economic matters and questions of reform -- impact the state race. This year, state Democrats have chosen the most financially-centrist candidate to confront Republican Mitt Romney, Treasurer Shannon O’Brien. O’Brien, whose running mate Chris Gabrieli, is, like Romney, a millionaire businessman, but one with ties to the local business community and State House insiders. In that context, it’s easy to see some of the support for former Watertown State Senator Warren Tolman, a Clean Elections candidate, and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, getting behind Green candidate Jill Stein.

Democrats are obviously concerned about this possibility. And some have taken to circulating this web address: www.jillstein.org. The site poses the question "What do you get if you vote for Jill Stein for Massachusetts Governor?" and then sends visitors to a Web site of another candidate, the identity of which you can probably guess. Here’s one hint, the Web site design could double for that of a Cape May yacht club.

Whether it’s on the state or national levels, Democrats are working out what they stand for. Hats off to Gephardt and Lieberman for leading the way.