Western Demos quiz chairman hopefuls

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democrats from throughout the West gathered Saturday to interview candidates to lead the Democratic National Committee, including former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, whose candidacy has come under fire from within the party.

The candidates are competing for the votes of about 430 voting members of the Democratic National Committee, who will choose the successor to outgoing DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe on Feb. 12.

But numerous party activists turned out as well to meet the candidates and offer their views on how the party can emerge from minority status.

"This is a war for the survival of the United States as we know it," Dean declared at a breakfast meeting with labor leaders and Hispanic activists.

Competing with Dean were former Reps. Tim Roemer and Martin Frost, party activist Donnie Fowler, New Democratic Network President Simon Rosenberg, former Ohio party chairman David Leland and former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb.

While Dean's presidential effort was largely defined by his fiery anti-war rhetoric, none was on display Saturday. Instead, he and the other candidates pledged to include in their strategy so-called "red states" where Democrats have won key offices.

Frost and Roemer, former congressmen who between them have spent several decades in Washington, also expressed a commitment to local party control.

Frost decried "the consultant culture" in Washington and stressed his experience in Texas fighting the Republican tide orchestrated in part by Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser.

Webb, the only black candidate among the seven, repeatedly pledged support for abortion rights. His words were a subtle dig at Roemer, who has come under fire by some Democrats for not supporting abortion rights.

Roemer directly addressed that controversy, saying if elected he would not change the party's platform on abortion rights.

Fowler stressed his experience running campaigns in 14 states. He lashed out at the party's recent willingness to relinquish large parts of the country to Republicans, including the South and rural areas.

"I am tired of conceding to the aristocracy of consultants in Washington and the Republican Party and the crazy right wing," he said to applause.

Leland noted that he was the only former state party chairman among the candidates and said that experience made him ideally suited to work with state parties.