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'Mainstream Democrat' Whitehouse vows to be an agent of change

01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, August 27, 2006

BY SCOTT MacKAY
Journal Staff Writer

CRANSTON -- Sheldon Whitehouse sits under a fading photograph of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a corner of his cramped campaign office as he is asked about the kind of U.S. senator he would be if he wins.

"We have this unbelieveable lineage of Rhode Island Democratic senators," says Whitehouse, mentioning Theodore Francis Green, John O. Pastore, Claiborne Pell and Jack Reed. "That's a pretty proud tradition to try to live up to."

Describing himself as a "mainstream Democrat," Whitehouse says in this election year -- when Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress -- that means he is the agent of change.

At age 50, Whitehouse is trying to rebound from a failed 2002 campaign for governor. He has a long government résumé: he served as legal counsel to former Gov. Bruce Sundlun during the state banking crisis, as director of the Department of Business Regulation, as U.S. Attorney during the Clinton administration and as state attorney general.

As he campaigns around the state, Whitehouse punctuates his speeches and question-and-answer sessions with searing criticism of President Bush's administration:

The administration has been wrong about the Iraq war, the Medicare prescription drug benefit, Social Security, the environment, the economy, education policy.

On Iraq, Whitehouse wins cheers at the many community cookouts he has sponsored when he says, "I think we should make a clear and unequivocal announcement that we are redeploying our troops out of Iraq."

He says the military should come up with a specific timetable to ensure the safety of U.S. personnel as they leave. "I think the window for that is probably 4 to 8 months. . . ."

Whitehouse also says that he would have voted -- as did both Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee and Democrat Reed -- against giving Mr. Bush authority to prosecute the war.

"He's completely different from his father," said Whitehouse, referring to Mr. Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush.

"His father was comfortable using the tools of diplomacy and international engagement in Desert Storm [the 1991 Persian Gulf military action]. "His son . . . in general has a low regard for the entire concept of engagement and diplomacy."

Rather than combating terrorism, Whitehouse believes the U.S. involvement in Iraq has created more terrorists and made the country unpopular among Arabs.

"Iraq and Iran were like two tarantulas in a bottle fighting with each other," says Whitehouse. But the U.S. intervention has enfeebled Iraq and "freed Iran to launch Hezbollah against Israel."

"Given our presence in Iraq we are so unpopular that even the reasonable and pro-American governments in the region -- like Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- can't help us. We have put ourselves into a very, very difficult international dilemma there."

Withdrawing from Iraq would force that country's warring factions to "solve their problems."

Whitehouse also says the United States must do all it can to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. "I think we have to do pretty much all it takes to prevent that," said Whitehouse, including military action "if necessary."

On domestic issues, Whitehouse's views are much in line with those espoused by national Democrats. He wants to move toward universal health care. He is a supporter of legal abortion and says gay marriage ought to be dealt with on a local level, by state legislatures. (He would support a move by the Rhode Island General Assembly to allow same-sex marriage.)

On the GOP proposal to ban flag-burning with a constitutional amendment. Whitehouse says, "I'd physically stop somebody if I caught them doing it, but I don't want to put a ban in the Constitution."

Whitehouse says he favors federal support for embryonic stem-cell research.

He says the Bush tax cuts are too skewed toward the wealthy and says midddle-class Americans need tax cuts more. He would make college tuition tax deductible and give more tax benefits to families with children.

On an issue closer to home, Whitehouse says he will vote against the state constitutional amendment that would allow the Narragansett Indian tribe to have a casino in West Warwick. "I'm against the expansion of casino gambling in Rhode Island."

Some of the most pointed questions Whitehouse is asked on the campaign circuit are about federal policy toward immigration. He says he supports the goals of the so-called McCain-Kennedy measure sponsored by U.S. Senators Edward Kennedy, of Massachusetts, and John McCain, of Arizona.

Under that legislation, immigrants here illegally would have a path to citizenship after meeting certain criteria, including learning English, taking civics lessons, paying a fine, getting at the back of the line for those seeking citizenship legally, obeying laws, holding a job and paying back taxes.

Among the goals of immigration legislation he would favor are increasing border security, cracking down on large corporations that hire illegal immigrants and registering immigrants to ensure that terrorists are not hiding out in this country.

"I'm not talking about going after some guy who runs a market and has a guy stocking shelves," said Whitehouse. "I'm more concerned about the large agribusiness interests."

House Republicans, who have approved legislation that would make felons of the roughly 12 million immigrants already here, are unreasonable.

The nation would have to build 60 new jails fer each federal prison that currently exists, Whitehouse said. "It would really change our way of life in America to have that much law-enforcement going on."

"The idea that we are going to take 12 million people and make them federal felons . . . is just a wildly unrealistic and wildly impractical and irresponsible idea."

"Often when I speak to voters who are upset about immigration issues . . . it very often comes out to a place where they feel they are not being well-served by the federal government, whether it is education, Social Security and other benefits, and they deem people who they think haven't paid their dues are getting similiar benefits and it is frustrating," said Whitehouse.

On energy policy, Whitehouse has called for a mix of regulation, tax credits and technological innovation to wean the U.S. economy off its dependence on foreign oil.

Whitehouse faces Carl Sheeler, of West Greenwich, in the Democratic primary on Sept. 12. He mentions Sheeler only when asked and defends his decision to debate Sheeler just once, saying it is more important to spend time raising money and meeting voters.

"It is no fun being outspent," said Whitehouse, who lost the 2002 Democratic gubernatorial primary to former state Sen. Myrth York, who poured millions of her own money into the race, defeating Whitehouse by about 900 votes.

As for that old photograph of FDR on the wall, Whitehouse ends an interview by showing the inscription at the bottom. It is a handwritten note to his grandfather, whose name was also Sheldon Whitehouse.

"He served President Roosevelt in the foreign service," says Whitehouse. "He was very proud of that."

smackay@projo.com / (401) 277-7321