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IOWA DAILY REPORT

Holding the Democrats accountable today, tomorrow...forever.

Our Mission: to hold the Democrat presidential candidates accountable for their comments and allegations against President George W. Bush, to make citizens aware of false statements or claims by the Democrat candidates, and to defend the Bush Administration and set the record straight when the Democrats make false or misleading statements about the Bush-Republican record.

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PAGE 1                                                                                                                                Monday, July 28, 2003


Quotable I:: “So with a sudden need to recalibrate their strategies, several candidates have seized on the same approach — attack.” – Los Angeles Times reporter Mark Z. Barabak, writing about the Dems’ decision to begin engaging each other


Quotable II:: "We've been treated like a political mistress."Sharpton, saying black voters in South Carolina should stop settling for “sharing the booth and not sharing the power.”


Quotable III: “Edwards and Florida Sen. Bob Graham are mere blips in the race - in the same class with fringe candidates such as the Rev. Al Sharpton, the poll finds.” – From report on latest New Hampshire poll in yesterday’s Boston Herald


Quotable IV: Party leaders know these underperforming candidates are dead men walking. They can't raise money, gain traction or develop compelling messages.” -- Kerry campaign strategist, quoted in Washington Times report


Quotable V: : “We just can't endure another four years of this kind of governance.” – AFSCME president Gerald McIntee, at a union conference in Urbandale over the weekend.    


GENERAL NEWS:  Among the offerings in today's update:

  • Washington Times report says that the “Dead men walking” urged to quit the ’04 race. Dem advisers say the field must be significantly decreased – and hope it happens soon, like around Labor Day

  • Don’t mess with Howard Dean or the Dean Defense Forces – the volunteer outfit of campaign commandos blasts media, including NBC’s Russert, when reports (according to Dean campaign standards) unfairly hammer or portray Dean

  • New poll from New Hampshire – where surveying on the Dem wannabes seems to be a nonstop enterprise – shows Dean & Kerry deadlocked. But the Boston Herald sampling indicates more believe Kerry has better chance of beating Bush. Lieberman (11%) & Gephardt (9%) barely in picture, rest might as well pack bags and head on to IA, SC and elsewhere

  • Most overlooked, underreported wannabe story of the weekend: Union decision to endorse – or not endorse – could have “state labor federations frozen in place” during the Dem nominating season. But individual unions could still play – increasing pressure on decision about AFL-CIO endorsement prospects

  • In Iowa, Edwards keeps up the anti-Bush drumbeat on Iraq, but stops short of saying he’d change vote on Iraq resolution

  • LA Times report: After months of pounding on each other, the wannabes broaden their target to “sniping at each other”

  • Sharpton rallies South Carolina blacks – where 300,000 are eligible, but not registered, to vote in Dem primary

  •  It’s just $60 billion here or $60 billion there to Kucinich, who – during an Iowa forum – proposes shifting 15% of the Pentagon budget for another new preschool program

  • Despite significant bipartisan House support (243-186), legislation authorizing U. S. residents to import low-cost drugs faces tough Senate contest. Fifty-three senators already sign letter in opposition

  • Cox News Service report says Dean not the common political insurgent because he’s a “true outsider.” Dean says he’s not as liberal as believed, but that perception just shows how far right American politics has drifted

  • Edwards – needing new rhetoric and new speech writer – goes with standard rhetoric in Michigan, but at least Dem Rep. Conyers attends his Detroit event

  • If at first (or second) you don’t succeed – Senate Republicans to try a third time to end filibuster of Priscilla Owens nomination

  • Iowaism: At Iowa State Fair this year, a hog – a full-scale Harley motorcycle – will join the traditional butter cow

All these stories below and more.


 Morning Report:

… Print and broadcast reports this morning headline the death of a 12-year-old Roland boy – Isiah Peter—who fell to his death while climbing with three others at a grain elevator. Reports said he fell more than 50 feet when he tumbled through an open roof hatch early yesterday.


CANDIDATES & CAUCUSES

Kerry coming back. Although he was just here over the weekend (Friday and Saturday), morning news reports in western Iowa say that Kerry will be back in the state tonight. According to the reports, he is supposed to be in Sioux City tonight and then visit Fort Dodge and Boone tomorrow. (Iowa Pres Watch Note: The reports say he is expected to criticize Bush’s economic policies during this visit – which would be a distinct change from his attacks on GWB’s Iraq policies, his attacks on GWB’s education policies, his attacks on GWB’s foreign policies or his general attacks on GWB just living in the White House.)

Democrat Dreaming: A wannabe field that includes only frontrunners – probably Dean, Gephardt, Kerry, Lieberman – in the foreseeable future. Weekend headline from the Washington Times: “’Dead men walking’ urged to quit ’04 race” Excerpt from report by Times’ veteran political reporter Donald Lambro: “Strategists for the Democratic front-runners for president are suggesting that the weakest rivals should consider dropping out of the race to help the top contenders build support in the primaries.  None of the leading candidates for the nomination so far has been willing to openly call on any other hopefuls to abandon their bids. But the campaign of Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts appears to be sending just that message in the hopes of substantially narrowing the field of nine candidates well before the end of the year.  ‘Party leaders know these underperforming candidates are dead men walking. They can't raise money, gain traction or develop compelling messages,’ a key Kerry campaign strategist said in an interview.  The senior strategist did not mention names, but he implied that it might be better if those at the back of the pack acknowledged what the polls are showing: Their candidacies are not gaining support, the 2004 election year is fast approaching, and Democrats will have a better chance of beating President Bush if the party can coalesce around a candidate sooner rather than later…An official of another front-running campaign for the Democratic nomination, who spoke on the condition that he and his candidate not be identified, said the party would be helped ‘if we headed into next year with a smaller number of candidates, and I think we will.’ At present, Mr. Kerry and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean appear to be leading the pack nationally, with Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut behind them. Party advisers also said this week that the field must be significantly decreased and that probably would happen sometime after Labor Day. There is a growing feeling in the party's leadership that several contenders will abandon their races before the end of the year, said one party adviser, who has worked with the Democratic National Committee and with House and Senate Democratic leaders on election strategy. Those candidates have not been able to break out of single digits in most polls for next year's state primaries. At least five contenders were stuck in the low single digits in polls for the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary: Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina and Bob Graham of Florida, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois and the Rev. Al Sharpton of New York. Among them, only Mrs. Moseley Braun has said she will reassess her candidacy in September. ‘Everyone talks about Graham [dropping out] because he is not anywhere in terms of money, endorsements. He's clearly in the tier of trailing candidates,’ the DNC adviser said. Mr. Edwards has not been able to get his campaign off the ground, and there is wide agreement among party strategists that he will not be among those standing when the primaries begin in January. He draws 6 percent or less in national polls and 5 percent or less in New Hampshire. The Edwards campaign insisted this week that ‘he's in this for the duration.’…’It's going to take time, particularly with one who does not have high name recognition,’ Edwards spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said. ‘I think it's too early to suggest that some candidates should get out of the race.’ Meanwhile, Mr. Gephardt's significant lead in Iowa has vanished, and he is a distant third in New Hampshire. ‘Gephardt is teetering on the verge of dropping down to the bottom tier,’ a party official said. Democratic strategist Donna Brazile said she, too, has heard a lot of talk in party circles about urging some candidates to pull out to build early support for the strongest front-runner. ‘At some point, we are going to have to winnow down the field, but it is too early to coalesce around a candidate. In the fall, that's when you will see the candidates begin to thin out,’ she said.  ‘I understand [the front-runners´] frustration, but this is why we have a primary system. Let's see what happens after Labor Day and then determine whether the bottom tier should pack their bags and go home.’”

If the Boston Herald poll is right, all the wannabes except Kerry and Dean – who are deadlocked – might as well pack bags and leave New Hampshire. Dean 28%, Kerry 25%, Lieberman 11%, Gephardt 9%, others – including Edwards – polled 1% or less. But respondents see Kerry as better able to take out GWB. Excerpt from poll report by David R. Guarino in yesterday’s Herald: “Vaulted into the top tier of Democratic presidential hopefuls by his tough, anti-war rhetoric, Howard Dean still can't convince New Hampshire voters he can beat President Bush, a new Boston Sunday Herald poll shows. Democratic primary voters in the Herald poll put Dean, the former Vermont governor, and U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts in a deadlocked race for the first-in-the-nation primary - set for six months from today.  Voters say Kerry, boosted by strong foreign-policy credentials, is far better equipped to reclaim the White House, the poll shows. ‘Although the Dean message is a popular one, Kerry is perceived as having more experience in foreign policy and is seen as more electable,’ said Herald pollster R. Kelly Myers. Forty-four percent of voters say Kerry is more electable than Dean - only 17 percent say Dean has a better shot against Bush, the poll found. Dean, while surging nationally, has had to battle a nagging sense among Democrats that he is too liberal, poorly funded or lacks the stature to take on Bush in the general election. While Dean could take some solace that New Hampshire voted for Republican John McCain over Bush despite similar electability concerns, Myers said Kerry should exploit the clear opening against his toughest opponent. ‘It's certainly something for the Kerry campaign to emphasize and remind people, putting subtle messages out there that, when it comes to November, I'm the candidate that will send Bush back to Crawford, (Texas),’ Myers said. In the Herald poll of likely New Hampshire primary voters, Dean takes 28 percent of the vote and Kerry 25 percent while a second tier of candidates lagged behind, U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut at 11 percent and U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) at 9 percent.  The other candidates, including U.S. Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), polled 1 percent or less. ‘It's basically a two-candidate race, with Dean and Kerry in a very close contest,’ said Myers, of RKM Research and Communications. ‘There are the two second-tier candidates, Lieberman and Gephardt, but all the other candidates are basically not registering six months out.’  The poll, of 402 likely Democratic primary voters, was conducted July 22-24. It has a plus or minus 4.9 percent margin of error. The results are bad news for a rash of third-tier candidates who continue not to register in polls. Edwards and Florida Sen. Bob Graham are mere blips in the race - in the same class with fringe candidates such as the Rev. Al Sharpton, the poll finds.

… “Sharpton says ‘share the power’…Democratic party treats blacks ‘like a political mistress,’ he tells S. C. crowd” – Headline from The State in Columbia, SC. Excerpt from report by the State’s Aaron Gould Sheinin: “Black voters in South Carolina should stop settling for ‘sharing the booth and not sharing the power,’ the Rev. Al Sharpton said Friday. Sharpton, in Hopkins to speak to the annual banquet of the Lower Richland branch of the NAACP, said Democrats use black voters without sharing the benefits of power. ‘We've been treated like a political mistress,’ Sharpton saidSharpton is one of nine Democrats seeking the national party's presidential nomination. South Carolina, ‘As God would have it,’ Sharpton said, will play a major role in choosing that nominee as the state Democratic Party hosts the first Southern primary Feb. 3. Sharpton is campaigning hard for South Carolina, where, he said, there are 300,000 blacks who are eligible to vote, but are not registered. He wants to get those people registered and to the polls, whether it's for him or another candidate. ‘It's good for the party,’ he said. But the party needs to appreciate and respect his work and his candidacy. He said some have called his candidacy ‘bad for the party.’ But with Republicans in control of the White House, Congress, the S.C. Governor's Mansion and State House, Sharpton is perplexed. ‘Bad for the party? How can I kill something that's already dead?’ he said. More than 200 people crowded into Hopkins Park on Lower Richland Boulevard to hear Sharpton and to raise money for the NAACP scholarship fund…Sharpton has just returned from Africa, where he met with representatives of embattled Liberian President Charles Taylor, as well as rebel groups from that war-torn country. President Bush has sent troops to the coast of Liberia, where civil war has left hundreds dead. Taylor has promised to resign if American forces come to the country's aid, and rebel leaders have also asked for U.S. intervention. But Bush has said he wants Taylor to step down before the American troops become directly involved. And if that happens, Bush said, the U.S. will only be involved to keep the peace, not to take part in any fighting. Sharpton believes that's a cop-out, and a double standard. ‘It's a lame excuse,’ Sharpton said Friday. Bush ‘didn't wait for (Saddam) Hussein to leave’ Iraq. ‘When you're asked to come in, and you don't go in,’ Sharpton said, ‘I can't believe this would be done anywhere else except for Africa.’”

Dean’s Internet commandos – call them the Dean Irregulars -- fight back against media slights. Weekend headline from the Washington Post: “Dean Defense Forces: Lobbing E-mail at the enemy” Excerpts from a report by Post media guru Howard Kurtz: ‘When Dotty Lynch, CBS's senior political editor, wrote a column criticizing Howard Dean on foreign policy, she was deluged with e-mails defending the Democratic presidential candidate, often in similar language. ‘They were all rather insulting: Why don't you do your research?’ Lynch says. ‘When anything's orchestrated, you sort of smell a rat.’ The letters were indeed generated by Dean Defense Forces, a volunteer outfit affiliated with the doctor's campaign. Day after day, the DDF Web log, which is linked to Dean's official site, hammers reporters deemed critical of Dean and urges its followers to flood the in-boxes of offending journalists. ‘When negative press gets written, we'll ensure that letters to the editor get printed in response…The last couple of months have proven the effectiveness of our efforts at media response,’ the DDF says. Sometimes this is rough stuff. When New York Daily News columnist Zev Chafets slammed Dean's appearance on Tim Russert's ‘Meet the Press,’ the DDF denounced the piece as ‘crap,’ declaring: ‘So here's what we're gonna do. First, we're gonna write Zev () and let him know what we think of his vitriol.’ Suggested themes: ‘Russert used Republican lies for his policy research… Anyone who saw Dean's performance knows it wasn't his best, but it was a hell of a lot better than Chafets's columns.’…Campaigns have always tried to gin up letters to news outlets, but the Internet's hyperspeed, which has helped Dean raise truckloads of money, has also made it easier to organize such campaigns. And in an age when online commentators blast their critics around the clock, the Dean Defense Forces site uses comparable artillery, unloading on selected targets with a clever, cynical, sometimes sneering tone.  ‘The NY Post Proves Its Worthlessness Again,’ says a typical headline. ‘Associated Press Spinning for Kerry,’ says another. ‘Perhaps we should write Slate.com and tell them we want political coverage, not psychobabble musings from their writers?’ Dean spokeswoman Kate O'Connor referred questions to DDF chief Matthew Gross, who works out of the campaign's Vermont headquarters. Gross did not respond to three requests for comment. He appears to run a shoestring operation, with a dozen or so volunteers posting items and six donors, who have contributed a grand total of $585. DDF has achieved some success with its letter-writing appeals, such as getting supporters' words read on CNN's ‘Crossfire.’ This followed an ‘action alert’ that said: ‘Tucker Carlson called Howard Dean a far left and fringe candidate on Crossfire the other day. Please send short snappy comments into the show in hopes that they'll be read in response. One or two sentences max.’

In Iowa, Edwards blames Bush for “what is happening on the ground” in Iraq. Headline from yesterday’s Des Moines Register: “Edwards criticizes president on Iraq” Excerpt from coverage of Edwards visit to Clinton by the Register’s Thomas Beaumont: Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards called the Bush administration's postwar policy in Iraq irresponsible Saturday, as four more U.S. troops were reported killed by Iraqi insurgents. But the North Carolina senator, who voted last fall to give Bush authority to order the invasion, stopped short of saying he would vote differently today. ‘What I believe is this president is responsible for what is happening on the ground in Iraq right now,’ Edwards said after a midday meeting with about 40 Democrats in Clinton. Edwards, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also called on White House officials to fully disclose their role in the release of flawed intelligence reports about Iraq's weapons capability prior to the war. The White House has admitted Bush was wrong when he said in his State of the Union speech in January that Iraq tried to buy nuclear material from an African nation to build a nuclear device. A British report Bush cited had been already determined to be based on forged documents. Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet took responsibility for the error in the speech. But Edwards said intelligence committee hearings this month, during which Tenet testified, left other questions unanswered. ‘Since the Tenet hearings, a lot of information from the White House has come out. I still think there's some information that needs to be known,’ he said. ‘What happened at the White House? Who was responsible? Who at the White House put the language in the speech to begin with and who signed off on it?’ Intelligence questions have prompted some Democrats, including Edwards, to question whether Bush manipulated reports publicly to support a case for war…Edwards also touted a proposal to add 100,000 nurses nationwide. The proposal is part of a health-care plan he plans to unveil Monday in New Hampshire. ‘We have a serious nursing shortage in this country. It's obvious. All you have to do is go to a hospital, go to a nursing home,’ Edwards said. The $3 billion nursing proposal would pay for about 1,000 nurses in Iowa.”

It may be difficult for any one Dem wannabe to secure AFL-CIO endorsement, but failure to endorse could freeze considerable resources in place through the nominating process. Headline from yesterday’s Newsday online: “AFL-CIO Endorsement of Democrat May Wait Excerpt from report by AP Iowa caucus watcher Mike Glover, reporting on union confab in Urbandale during the weekend: “Because of the large Democratic field in 2004, it will be difficult for a presidential candidate to win the AFL-CIO's endorsement before a nominee is determined, a top union leader said Saturday. Even if the federation of 65 unions, which represents more than 13 million workers, makes no endorsement before the primary season, individual unions will be active in choosing sides, said Gerald McIntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. His union, the second-largest in the AFL-CIO with 1.4 million members, gave $9.5 million to Democrats in 2002, more than any other union. In an interview, McIntee urged Iowa activists to pick a favorite in the state's leadoff caucuses but said: ‘Electability is important. We just can't endure another four years of this kind of governance.’ McIntee said unions have suffered because of the stumbling economy, but AFSCME has been hit hardest because President Bush's tax cuts have hurt state and local governments, which has led to budget cuts and layoffs. Most top Democratic candidates are ardently seeking the AFL-CIO's endorsement, and McIntee is an important player in that decision. He is chairman of a committee of union political directors scheduled to meet next month in Chicago to discuss the candidates. He said the meeting probably will do nothing more than set a date for member unions to vote to decide if they want to endorse. An endorsement requires the backing of unions representing two-thirds of the AFL-CIO membership. With a large and active field of contenders and several candidates getting support, it will be difficult for a single candidate to reach that threshold, McIntee said. Al Gore got the AFL-CIO's endorsement before the primary season in 2000, but that was a two-person race - his only opponent was former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey - and many in labor were leery of opposing a sitting vice president. One 2004 contender, Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt, has long nurtured ties with organized labor and probably would be best positioned for an endorsement, McIntee said. ‘Gephardt has the most labor support, but I don't think he's got to the two-thirds level yet, and I don't know that he can get there,’ McIntee said. Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich have carved out some labor support, McIntee said. In addition, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean got the attention of labor with a strong fund-raising performance last quarter. If the AFL-CIO should decide against making an endorsement before the primary season, it will have a ripple effect. State labor federations would be frozen in place, and their considerable assets would be denied to any candidate. Once the AFL-CIO makes a decision, however, individual unions would be free to endorse on their own. Getting the AFL-CIO decision out of the way relatively quickly would free those unions to get involved in the primary fight.”

Edwards, faltering everywhere, stays on message in Michigan with well-worn “values” attack on GWB. Somewhere along the way at least one Edwards supporter should point out to him that he themes aren’t working – or inspiring Dems. Headline from yesterday’s Detroit Free Press: “Presidential hopeful blasts Bush during Detroit visit” Excerpt from freed.com report:  President George W. Bush's values are not ones shared by the majority of Americans who have to work for a living, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina said Saturday during a campaign stop in Michigan. Edwards is one of nine Democrats who have announced their bid for the party's 2004 presidential nomination. Touting a message aimed at appealing to key Democratic constituents such as blacks, working class families and labor groups, Edwards stressed that key issues confronting the United States are a looming health care crisis, the economy and the need to ensure access to a quality education. Speaking to a small audience at the New Providence Baptist Church in Detroit that included U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, Edwards said Bush has been seeking a debate on values and that come 2004, the request should be granted. ‘His values are not our values, they're not the values most of us grew up with, they're not the values that make this country what it is today,’ Edwards, who spoke earlier in the day at a steelworkers picnic, said of Bush.”

… “Democratic Contenders Take Aim – at Each Other…Skirmishes among the presidential hopefuls are seen as a way to ‘create conflict and drama’ and break up a nine-candidate muddle.” – Los Angeles Times headline. Excerpt from coverage by the Times’ Mark Z. Barabak: “For months, they pounded away at President Bush over the sagging economy. More recently, they have challenged his truthfulness about the case for war with Iraq. Now the Democrats who hope to replace Bush are broadening their target: They're sniping at each other. Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman is assailing Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt's health- care plan. Gephardt is criticizing Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry on trade. Kerry faults former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean for his lack of defense and foreign policy experience. The fratricidal fire comes — not coincidentally — after the July 15 release of the latest campaign finance statements, which served as a kind of midyear report card on the presidential hopefuls. Dean surprised many analysts by collecting the most money during April, May and June. Kerry finished second in fund-raising — and has the most cash on hand — but he and Dean now are squaring off for support from many of the same voters. Gephardt fared poorly in the money-collecting contest, falling short of his second-quarter goal by about $1 million. Lieberman met his fund-raising expectations, but only after a last-minute scramble that ended with a shuffling of his campaign staff. So with a sudden need to recalibrate their strategies, several candidates have seized on the same approach — attack. It is a way to ‘create conflict and drama,’ said party strategist Jenny Backus, who likened the candidates to contestants on reality television…There have been earlier skirmishes. In May, at the candidates' first formal debate, Kerry and Dean went at it from the start, resuming a fight Kerry had picked a few days earlier over Dean's readiness to serve as commander in chief. Lieberman and Gephardt also mixed it up, along with North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, in a back-and-forth over Gephardt's $2-trillion health-care proposal. The reviews were largely negative, though, with some party leaders saying the tussles only diminished Democrats while leaving President Bush unscathed. Most of the candidates reverted to more gentlemanly form in the weeks that followed. Recently, however, that reserve has eroded, as the contenders feel increasing pressure to break from a nine-candidate muddle. ‘It's an inevitable part of the process,’ said Steve Elmendorf, a Gephardt strategist. ‘You've got a bunch of people running for president and you've got to convince people to 'vote for me.' And part of that process is explaining how you're different from the other individuals. In some ways, I'm surprised it's taken this long.’ At a recent Gephardt appearance in Iowa — widely viewed as a must-win state for him — he assailed Dean and Kerry for backing the North American Free Trade Agreement. The setting was a union hall, which was no accident — NAFTA is anathema to organized labor, a key to Gephardt's success in Iowa's Jan. 19 caucuses. A few days later, Lieberman took up the trade issue at a manufacturing plant in New Hampshire, criticizing ‘some Democrats’ — clearly Gephardt — for ‘trying to build walls around our economy.’…In an interview, Lieberman said his criticisms were part of ‘a healthy discussion and differentiation’ among the Democratic hopefuls. ‘These nominating contests are truly struggles for the heart and soul of the party,’ he said. ‘We would be irresponsible if we didn't air our differences.’”

…  Kucinich, who apparently has never seen a federal budget cut or tax cut he likes, says cutting Pentagon budget by 15% would provide the $60 billion he needs for a universal preschool program. Excerpts from coverage – in this morning’s The Union Leader (New Hampshire) -- of Kucinich’s turn yesterday at a Harkin-sponsored forum in Ottumwa by Associated Press’ Glover: Rep. Dennis Kucinich called for a $60 billion effort to provide universal preschool and proposed paying for the plan with a 15 percent cut in Pentagon spending. ‘The Pentagon budget has just gone through the roof,’ Kucinich said at a forum on Sunday. ‘We need a critical analysis and a real effort to claim back money from the Pentagon.’ The Democratic presidential candidate from Ohio didn't specify all the spending cuts he would push, but did single out a missile defense program that would have a dim future should he win the White House. He promised broad cuts.  ‘I'm not talking about trimming around the edges here,’ he said. Kucinich, who said he would reverse that trend of cutting funding for education, called for a new care program for children 3 to 5 years old to help prepare them for school. He said his plan also would ease the financial burden of working parents bearing the high cost of day care. ‘I intend to put forward a plan for universal pre-kindergarten, a day care program that would provide quality day care five days a week, year-round,’ he said.” 

The uncommon insurgent: Dean. Cox News Service report says comparing him to McCarthys and McCains would miss “an important point.” Headline from the Austin American-Statesman: “Dean trying to beat odds against insurgent candidates” Excerpt from Cox News Service report – datelined from Manchester, NH – by Scott Shepard: “Self-styled insurgent Howard Dean has captured the political limelight after an impressive second quarter of fund-raising, prompting favorable comparisons to such political mavericks as Gene McCarthy and John McCain. Like McCarthy and McCain, Dean has energized a younger bloc of voters through no-compromise rhetoric and innovative campaigning for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. But insurgents seldom win, and some political experts already are wondering whether Dean has peaked too soon, spent too much money — he has less cash on hand than many of his rivals — and portrayed himself as a liberal at odds with his moderate record as governor of VermontBut comparing Dean's campaign to McCarthy's and McCain's misses an important point, said Fran Egbers, a Manchester resident who follows presidential politics closely. ‘Howard Dean is a true outsider,’ she said. ‘He's not part of the Washington establishment.’ When McCarthy ran for the Democratic nomination in 1968, he was a senator from Minnesota and had been in Congress for 19 years. He did not win the nomination, but his anti-Vietnam war campaign achieved enough success in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary to force Democratic incumbent Lyndon Johnson out of politics forever. When McCain ran for the Republican nomination in 2000, he had been in Congress for 18 years… It is questionable how much of a political outsider Dean truly is. When Dean left the governor's post in Vermont earlier this year, he was the nation's longest serving governor, with nearly 12 years in office. Before that, he had served six years as lieutenant governor and four years in the Vermont legislature. He is running an insurgent campaign more like that of Jimmy Carter, the then little-known former one-term governor of Georgia, who captured the nomination in 1976. Dean is rallying grassroots Democrats and members of a long-ignored wing of the party: where Carter reached out to moderates and conservatives in the wake of George McGovern, Dean is rallying long-shunned liberals and progressives…Like Carter, who in 1976 had to battle an ABC movement (‘Anybody But Carter’), Dean has begun to rattle the Democratic political establishment in Washington. In May, the centrist Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), which spawned Bill Clinton's successful White House campaigns, released a scathing memo singling out Dean for betraying ‘the mainstream values, national pride, and economic aspirations of middle-class and working people.’…The DLC [held] its annual ‘National Conversation’ with members this weekend in Philadelphia, in part to determine whether the party's White House hopefuls are heeding the group's warning. Dean's campaign officials repeatedly argue that the former governor is not the liberal his critics suggest. The criticism focuses on his opposition to the war in Iraq, his push for universal health care coverage and his support for gay civil unions while ignoring his fiscal conservatism, they contend. And Dean himself, in trying to broaden his appeal to moderates, has asserted that portraying him as the liberal in the top tier of Democratic presidential candidates reflects how far to the right American politics has drifted.”


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