Sen. Rockefeller Changes His Mind, May Run for White House

CLEVELAND — Democratic Sen. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, who had previously ruled out the idea of running for the White House in 1992, said Tuesday that he is now actively considering seeking his party’s presidential nomination.

His statement, made to reporters here, where he was attending the Democratic Leadership Conference convention, was made only three days after another Democratic senator, Tom Harkin of Iowa, indicated that he was weighing the possibility of entering the race.

The Democratic presidential field now consists of only one declared candidate, former Massachusetts Sen. Paul E. Tsongas, and one likely contender, Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, who says he will decide this summer whether to run.

Even as the list of potential Democratic contenders grows, the policy debate over what sort of message the party should offer the country in 1992 is heating up.

The centrist Democratic Leadership Conference adopted resolutions urging extension of “fast track” negotiating authority for the proposed trade pact with Mexico and calling for a compromise on the civil rights bill now before Congress.

The fast track provision, which would deny Congress the authority to amend a new trade agreement with Mexico and instead limit the lawmakers to only a yes or no vote, is strongly opposed by most of organized labor, a longtime Democratic Party bulwark. The leadership council contends that expansion of trade would benefit America economically in the long run, but labor fears that a trade agreement could cost tens of thousands of U.S. workers their jobs because of cheap labor and substandard working conditions in Mexico.

On the civil rights issue, the council resolution urges President Bush “to join Democrats in forging a fair compromise on the Civil Rights Act of 1991.”

But many supporters of the bill argue that the President has shown he is not really willing to compromise and that talk of such a deal in effect undercuts their position.

The tension among the various wings of the Democratic Party was further reflected by the remarks here Tuesday by national Chairman Ron Brown. Brown told council members that they could make the party stronger by contributing to the policy debate. But he added a warning: “Factions and bickering serve no purpose except to strengthen our opposition.”