Democrats say the nation heading 'in wrong direction'

Washington - The governor chosen to present the Democratic response to President Bush tonight faulted the president's handling of the economy, other domestic policy and national security, saying that "in too many ways, our country is headed in the wrong direction."

The governor, Gary Locke of Washington, whose own state is suffering from high unemployment and a $2.5 billion budget deficit, said that states and cities were in financial distress and that Mr. Bush's economic proposals offered little relief.

"We're being forced to cut vital services, from police to fire to health care," and many states "are being forced to raise taxes," Mr. Locke said in a speech after the State of the Union address. "We need a White House that understands the challenges our communities and people are facing across America."

He also urged the president to build an international coalition before taking any military action against Iraq.

Leading Congressional Democrats offered an even tougher critique of the president's speech. Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, for instance, said he would introduce a resolution seeking a second set of Congressional votes and "convincing evidence" of an imminent threat from Iraq before American troops were committed.

Democratic leaders' reaction to Mr. Bush's address was a continuation of hammering they have done in recent weeks at his domestic and foreign policy agendas. Many Democrats say a reluctance to confront the White House more forcefully handicapped them in the November elections, which left them a minority in both houses of Congress.

This evening the Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, said: "Tonight the president used all the right rhetoric, but he still has all the wrong policies. Regrettably, he passed up this opportunity to close the widening credibility gap that is putting him further and further out of touch with the American people."

Mr. Daschle and other Democrats described the state of the union as "anxious," calling the public uneasy over both the economy and the prospect of conflict overseas.

Even as they sought to take the political offensive, however, Congressional Democrats conceded that they would have trouble combating the president, inasmuch as the Republican majorities in both houses leave them with little legislative leverage.

In fact, the selection of Mr. Locke was recognition of the party's fortunes in Congress, as well as a desire to present a fresh image. While the opposition's response to the State of the Union address is most often delivered by a lawmaker, the Democrats instead offered the nationally televised spot this time to their governors' association, to showcase a figure from outside Washington and shine a light on the statehouses, one of the few bright spots for the party in November.

Mr. Locke, of Chinese ancestry, stressed his roots as he began his speech.

"My grandfather came to this country from China nearly a century ago and worked as a servant," he said. "Now I serve as governor just one mile from where my grandfather worked. It took our family a hundred years to travel that mile."

On foreign affairs, the governor tried to strike a balance between support for a popular president at a time of international tension and encouraging that president to avoid acting unilaterally against Iraq.

"We are far stronger when we stand with other nations than when we stand alone," said Mr. Locke, who, like other Democrats, also noted that while Mr. Bush was focused on Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, remained at large.

As for the economy, Mr. Locke criticized the president's $670 billion tax cut proposal, whose centerpiece is elimination of taxes that shareholders pay on dividends. He said Democratic alternatives would offer more immediate and direct relief.

Some Congressional Democrats who have their own eyes on the presidency also weighed in quickly to criticize Mr. Bush's address.

Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri said the president's speech "failed to ease the nation's anxiety over his economic plan and fell short of addressing the nation's increasing concern about the future." Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts said, "Americans are tired of politicians who make promises in speeches and break them in practice." Senator John Edwards of North Carolina attacked the tax cut proposal and said, "The president just doesn't get it.

Earlier in the day, as the House adopted a stopgap measure to finance government operations through Friday of next week, Democrats pressed to insert in the legislation nearly $3.6 billion for emergency "first responders," including $90 million to study the health of those exposed to toxic materials in the World Trade Center attack. But the Democrats' effort failed, and they again attacked the president on the ground that while he was calling for a large tax cut, he was shortchanging domestic programs.

Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, quoted the White House as saying the provision was unaffordable. "How do you explain this to the American people?" she demanded.

Several Democrats said Mr. Bush needed to provide more evidence of a threat posed by Iraq if he hoped to win broader support for military action. "If he has got anything, I wish he would share it with us," said Representative Charles B. Rangel of New York.

Senator Kennedy said he believed that Al Qaeda and North Korea's nuclear capability required more immediate attention than Iraq. "President Bush cannot expect the international community to salute America and march with us into war," he said, "when the administration has made no convincing case for war." -- New York Times

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