Clinton opponent fails to get war resolution before convention

By MARC HUMBERT
AP Political Writer
Newsday

May 29, 2006, 7:01 PM EDT

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- An activist challenging Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic Senate nomination said Monday that forces loyal to Clinton had blocked him from placing an anti-Iraq war resolution before the party's state convention.

The two-day convention opens Tuesday in Buffalo, with Clinton set to officially launch her re-election bid on Wednesday. Convention delegates are expected to give her their blessing.

"For the Democratic Party to walk away from this convention without debating the war would be unconscionable," said Jonathan Tasini, a labor activist and former head of the National Writers Guild.

Tasini said he offered up his resolution, calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, to state party officials with the required signatures of 10 state party committee members.

But state Democratic Chairman Herman Farrell said Monday the resolution did not get delivered the required 15 days before the start of the convention. Tasini said he was given incorrect information about when the resolution had to be delivered.

Tasini said he believed the Clinton camp was behind the rejection.

"There is absolutely no question Hillary Clinton doesn't want a debate on the war," he said.

Clinton, who leads national polls among potential 2008 Democratic presidential contenders, has come under fire from some in the liberal wing of the party for her initial vote to allow the war. Since then, she has been highly critical of President Bush's handling of the war effort, but has refused to join those calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Tasini offered no proof the Clinton camp had moved to block his resolution, and top Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson said Monday when asked about the resolution, "It's the first I've heard about it."

Farrell noted the state party has in the past adopted resolutions opposing the Iraq war.

"We've been anti-war. This is nothing new," Farrell said. "We don't need him to come and introduce this."

Farrell also said there is a chance an anti-war resolution could be introduced from the convention floor on Wednesday afternoon after the Senate nomination voting is over. That is when such convention resolutions are considered, Farrell said.

Tasini said Monday he has no chance of winning the 25 percent of the weighted convention vote needed to place his name on a September primary ballot, but he will circulate petitions statewide to force a primary. Tasini would need the signatures of 15,000 Democrats to do so.