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MAY 24, 2004
Edited by Richard S. Dunham Kerrynomics: Any Friend Of Bill's... Senator John F. Kerry sat down at the Business Roundtable's Washington headquarters in April for an off-the-record chat, hoping to persuade some 75 corporate titans that he was far from the antibusiness populist of the Democratic primaries who had inveighed against "Benedict Arnold CEOs." He not only pledged allegiance to fiscal responsibility and free trade but also recounted his days as a budding entrepreneur -- starting up a tiny cookie company in Boston in the late '70s -- to show that he, too, had met a payroll. Kerry's cookie chronicles may not have won any new corner-office supporters, but that's not the point of his business outreach. "No Democrat is ever going to win over a majority of Republican CEOs," allows Kerry economic adviser Gene Sperling, former head of President Clinton's National Economic Council. The real target audience: fiscally conservative suburbanites, small business owners, and mid- and upper-level business execs who need reassurance that Kerry isn't some Taxachusetts liberal with his eye on their paychecks. To help with the sales job, Kerry is assembling a crew of prominent CEOs, Wall Street bankers, and business-friendly Clinton Administration veterans to consult on economic policy and lend the campaign a pro-business polish. For pizzazz, there's Apple Computer (AAPL ) founder Steve Jobs. For mature judgment, there's billionaire investment sage Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK ). Soon to be added are former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca and former Lucent Technologies CEO Henry Schacht for some manufacturing muscle. Lesser known but also important advisers include Eric Mindich, a former Goldman Sachs senior strategist, and Blair Effron, managing director at UBS Investment Bank. It doesn't hurt the Kerry cause that many of his policy advisers are the economic generalissimos of the Clinton era. Boom-time Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is Kerry's preference to replace Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan in 2006. Other familiar faces include Sperling and Roger Altman, former Deputy Treasury Secretary and co-founder of Evercore Partners. Furthermore, Kerry voted for most of Clinton's programs, including the 1993 tax hike that helped slash the deficit. Now he supports bringing back Clinton-era tax rates to those with incomes over $200,000. Tougher on China? Kerry differs most sharply from Clinton in his approach on trade, the signature issue used by the former President to convince corporate skeptics that he was a different kind of Democrat. Kerry vows to pressure China into better enforcement of antipiracy laws on business software, movies, and music. And he has seconded the complaint by the AFL-CIO that China ought to be held accountable for countenancing worker rights abuses. But Kerry is mindful that nonunion voters need reassurance, too. So he has already trimmed some of his new spending proposals, such as college tuition aid, to demonstrate a commitment to fiscal restraint. Kerry advisers say that despite the senator's liberal voting record, he should do as well or better than Clinton did in lining up business support, particularly among moderates concerned about the budget deficit and America's declining reputation abroad. Kerry may not win the Roundtable or Wall Street, but inroads on Main Street and in office parks will suffice. By Paul Magnusson, with Emily Thornton in New York A Recovery? Not For The War-Weary The recovery certainly looks like it is picking up steam. But Americans, battered by bad news from Iraq, aren't buying. According to a May 3-6 American Research Group poll, just 38% of all voters -- and 30% of independents -- approve of President Bush's economic stewardship. Only 27% of Americans believe that the economy is improving; 41% say it's getting worse -- up from 29% a month ago.   Hasta la Vista, Base Closing? Military base-closing commissions are designed to insulate Congress and the White House from political firestorms. In fact, Republicans complained in 1995 when they thought President Clinton reversed closings in California and Texas to curry favor with voters. But times have changed. Now that Republicans are in charge in D.C. and California, Sacramento civic leaders are hoping that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will use his clout to terminate any effort to shut Beale Air Force Base. People With Glass Issues Shouldn't... Representative Richard M. Burr (R-N.C.), who is seeking an open Senate seat, has attacked Democratic rival Erskine Bowles, a former Clinton White House Chief of Staff, for reversing his previous support of NAFTA. Sounds like a smart political tactic, since North Carolina has been devastated by textile job losses. But Bowles isn't the only candidate to have switched sides: Former NAFTA backer Burr has, too. Bowles backers call it hypocrisy.
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