Speeches Fill a Week-Long Party

NEW YORK--A surprise visit from Bill Clinton, a rousing nominating speech from New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo and appearances by former presidents and presidential hopefuls headed the agenda for the middle two nights of the Democratic National Convention.

Meanwhile, former California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.'s delegates continued to drown out speakers and wave signs, clamoring for a speech from their hero. Their wish was granted Wednesday, when Brown spoke on behalf of his own nomination.

Delegates listened intently to Cuomo's 25-minute speech on Wednesday calling for an end to 12 years of Republican programs, especially "supply side" economic policies. Their silence was broken only by their bursts of raucous applause.

"Supply side was just another version of the failed Republican dogma of 65 years ago--then called 'trickle down'--which led to the Great Depression," Cuomo said. "And it has failed again."

Cuomo compared the economy to a ship in which everyone except the captain, Bush, knows the vessel is headed for the rocks.

"[Bush] seems to think that the ship will be saved by imperceptible undercurrents, directed by the invisible hand of some cyclical economic god, that will gradually move the ship so that at the last moment it will miraculously glide past the rocks to safer shores," Cuomo said.

Calling Clinton a "new captain with a new course," the New Yorker portrayed the nominee as the ultimate agent of social and economic change.

"Bill Clinton believes that the closest thing to a panacea that we have is described by a simple four-letter word: work," Cuomo said. "He has been living that truth all his life."

The delegates' euphoria following Cuomo's speech was matched, however, by the nominee's untraditional appearance on the floor after his nomination.

After Ohio's 144 votes put Clinton over the number needed for nomination, the 56-screen video wall broadcast Clinton's route from his viewing post at Macy's to the convention floor, where he shook hands and exchanged hugs with delegates and friends.

John F. Kennedy '40 was the last Democrat to appear at the convention before his acceptance speech in 1960.

"The rules of this convention preclude my acceptance tonight," Clinton said from the steps leading up to the podium, "but 32 years ago, another young candidate who wanted to get this country moving again came to the convention just to say a simple thank you.

"Tomorrow night," Clinton concluded, "I will be the comeback kid."

JFK was not the only Kennedy invoked Wednesday, as delegates viewed an eight-minute film on his brother, Robert F. Kennedy. The film was introduced by RFK's son, Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, who represents Cambridge in Congress, and followed an appearance by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 (D-Mass.).

"It would be a source of great pride to both my brothers that so many of you here in this convention hall were first brought to politics by their urging and example," Edward Kennedy said. "You are their living legacy."

Both Brown and former Sen. Paul E. Tsongas also spoke on Wednesday in well-received addresses. Brown's speech largely ignored Clinton and called for sweeping government reform. Tsongas supported Clinton but urged Democrats to adopt a more moderate fiscal policy.

On Tuesday, delegates voted down Tsongas' four minority planks to the platform before approving "A New Covenant with the American People" as the party's offical position paper.

Later, former President James E. Carter addressed the convention, emphasizing human rights and praising Clinton's character.

Criticizing American support for military action in Grenada, Panama, Nicaragua and Iraq, Carter pointed out that "in none of these cases was Camp David or any other venue used to avoid conflict."

"Our country should seek greatness in peace, not war," Carter said.

"I tell you, as you all know," Carter said late in his speech, "[Clinton] is a man of honesty and integrity."

The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Too, stirred the crowd Tuesday, urging the party to remember its roots and to "keep hope alive."

The evening's most emotional moments came during a presentation by a man and woman infected with the AIDS virus.

The woman, Elizabeth Glaser, contracted the virus through a blood transfusion and unknowingly passed it to her daughter through breast milk and to her son in utero.

"Exactly four years ago, my daughter died of AIDS. She did not survive the Reagan administration," Glaser said. "I am here because my son and I may not survive four more years of leaders who say they care but do nothing," she said.

In addition, the Tuesday program continued Monday's emphasis on women Congressional candidates, with convention chair Ann Richards introducing every female Democratic nominee for the House and Senate.