Howard Dean

excerpts from the Iowa Daily Report

December 16-31, 2003

“Dr. Dean has become Dr. No,” said Joe Lieberman.

"The capture of Saddam has not made America safer." You can expect to hear that quote a lot next summer and fall if Howard Dean is the Democratic presidential nominee. It's tailor-made for GOP campaign commercials. Give Dean this: He is, in a certain perverse way, eloquent. It's not easy to cram so much idiocy, mendacity and arrogance into nine little words, but he did it – Wall Street Journal’s columnist James Taranto, (Opinion Journal).

“So the choice is clear,” said Joe Lieberman, “With Howard Dean, Saddam would be in power. With me, he would be in prison.” (12/16/2003)

Dean is wrong

Sen. Joe Lieberman reacted with what can only be called revulsion to the Howard Dean statement that, “The capture of Saddam Hussein has not made America safer."

"Howard Dean has climbed into his own spider hole of denial if he believes that the capture of Saddam Hussein has not made America safer… Saddam Hussein is a homicidal maniac, brutal dictator, supporter of terrorism, and enemy of the United States, and there should be no doubt that America and the world are safer with him captured."

"He's wrong," said Sen. John Edwards in response to Dean’s statement. "The capture of Saddam Hussein makes it more likely that Iraq can be secure, and a secure Iraq makes that region . . . and the world itself more secure," Edwards said after giving a foreign policy speech in Des Moines.

Sen. John Kerry also differed with Dean, "I think Saddam's capture is a very important step forward because it changes the dynamics on the ground in Iraq. “It will make us safer because stability in the Middle East is critical in the long term to also dealing with the war on terror. I disagree with the governor." Kerry offered this question concerning Dean, “How can you have it both ways? What kind of leadership is that?”

Rep. Dick Gephardt thought Dean’s comments were unreasonable, "I think that arguably the capture of Saddam Hussein may bring about the beginning of the end of the violence against our troops in Iraq. If we can bring Iraq to a more successful conclusion faster, that will contribute to the security of not only the Americans in Iraq but Americans anywhere." Gephardt took the occasion of Dean’s speech to offer a lengthy criticism of Dean:

"Yesterday, Howard Dean said that Saddam Hussein's capture was 'above politics,' but today he delivered a speech described by the Washington Post as 'repositioning' himself to the center.

"Let's be clear. Howard Dean has been playing politics with foreign policy for over a year and his repositioning is just the latest Howard Dean political game. Despite issuing contradictory statements on Iraq over the last year, Governor Dean has used this issue to constantly attack his Democratic opponents and to seek political advantage.

"Last month, Howard Dean ran the first negative ad of the campaign attacking me for my support of our troops in the field. He attacked me for a position he had previously agreed with and said he would not use politically against his opponents. Yesterday was the first day that Howard Dean put the issue of Saddam Hussein 'above politics.'

"As Howard Dean repositions himself today, I would hope that he chooses to reposition his future foreign policy statements without the politics that have characterized his positions throughout this campaign," Gephardt said. (12/16/2003)

America disagrees with Dean

Americans said by a 62%-to-32% majority Sunday that the war in Iraq has made the U.S. more secure -- contrary to Dean's assertions -- up from a 52%-to-43% margin in September. Americans also do not agree with Democrats that the quest for Mr. Hussein represents a diversion from the global war on terrorism, 57% said his capture will make that broader war easier to win.

Dean gets good news, bad news

As Howard Dean arrived in Arizona today, he received the good news he had pulled ahead in Arizona. A poll released Monday by Northern Arizona University gives the former Vermont governor a solid lead with 22 percent of the vote. With 12 percent, Wesley Clark was the only other candidate with double-digit support.

The bad news was that the state’s leading newspaper, The Arizona Republic, had the headline: “Dean on defensive.” (12/16/2003)

Dean’s endorsement campaign

Two congressional Californians, Congressman Xavier Becerra and Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, endorsed Howard Dean. Bacerra’s endorsement came yesterday at the Democratic National Committee's luncheon. Roybal-Allard is to be announced tonight. Becerra is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, where he served as chair during the 105th Congress (1997-98), and the first Latino to serve on the House Ways and Means Committee. Roybal-Allard has represented California's 34th Congressional district, which contains metropolitan downtown Los Angeles.

Dean is also campaigning to bring in Democrat governors and word is he has N.J. Gov. James E. McGreevey signed. He plans to endorse Howard Dean on Friday and has already asked state Democrats to begin campaigning for Dean. (12/16/2003)

"Reading this stuff," he says, "one wonders if the 2004 Democrat Party platform is tentatively titled, 'Dean Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,' " said Tom Delay. (12/17/2003)

Ad flap

The Supreme Court in affirming the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform law stated that like water money would find its way into political campaigns. Well, the dam has broke.

We are now dealing with the revelations that MoveOn.org is using foreign money and billionaire George Soros’ millions to defeat President Bush.

Now, the unions have buyer’s remorse for their support of Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values -- specifically the ad showing Osama bin Laden and lays into Howard Dean as unqualified to keep America safe.

"The ads are despicable and we ought to ask for the refund," said Rick Sloan, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists.

It seems that a number of unions put up $50,000 a piece to funnel money into attack ads against Dean. The unions -- who are blocked from giving soft money for ads -- and the individuals running the PAC are all in support of Dick Gephardt. Gephardt denies knowing anything about the group, and that is possible.

Howard Dean’s campaign manager has put this open letter on the Dean campaign website:

Dec. 16, 2003
Last week, a group called "Americans for Jobs, Health Care and Progressive Values" began airing a television ad in New Hampshire and South Carolina attacking Howard Dean's commitment to defending America. The group is headed by a Democratic contributor, and the press secretary is a former aide to one of Dr. Dean’s rivals. Using the image of Osama bin Laden, it is the kind of fearmongering attack we’ve come to expect from Republicans and panders to the worst in voters. I'm writing to call on each one of you to condemn this despicable ad and demand it be pulled from the airwaves.

Democrats are better than this. This type of ad represents everything that is wrong with our political process today -- polluting our airwaves with smears on other candidates that have nothing to do with legitimate policy differences. Ads like this are the reason that less than half of the voting population in America bothers to go to the polls.

We Democrats should be committing ourselves to bringing more people into the process instead of resorting to tactics that cause more people to lose faith in politics altogether. Our campaign is committed to inspiring people to believe in their democracy again -- challenging 2 million people to donate $100 each to take back their country.

Our party must be about more than just changing presidents -- it must be dedicated to changing our country's politics. I hope you'll join me in denouncing this ad and demanding it be pulled from the airwaves immediately.

Sincerely,
Joe Trippi, Campaign Manager, Dean for America  (12/17/2003)

Graham covers for Dean

Sen. Bob Graham -- attending a Democrat National Party fund-raiser in Florida featuring Hillary Clinton -- offered defense of Howard Dean’s latest statements, according to the Miami Herald:

Under a barrage of attacks from Democratic competitors who say his opposition to the Iraq war makes him a weak presidential candidate, Howard Dean won some political cover Tuesday from a former rival: Florida Sen. Bob Graham. Graham, addressing some of the party's most influential Florida players at a dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami near downtown Miami, defended Dean's foreign policy agenda as ''visionary.'' He also called on Democratic candidates to end their sniping. (12/17/2003)

Dean Congressional endorsement

Howard Dean continues his campaign for endorsements from Congressional members and state governors. Since the endorsement of Al Gore, Dean has been making gains among the Democrat leadership that is so important when it comes to Super Delegates. Many of the congressional members and state governors make up the appointed super delegates to the Democrat National Convention.

Dean’s latest endorsement is Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis (CA-32) She cited Dean’s work on ensuring access to affordable health care and protecting the environment as the reason for her endorsement.

Meanwhile, Dean spoke before large crowds yesterday, turning out about 500 people at a seniors center in Sun City, AZ, then rallying with about 300 hundred people in Yuma, AZ. He also filled an airport hanger in Sierra Vista, AZ with about 300 people before closing the evening before at least 400 diehards in Las Cruces, NM. (12/17/2003)

Jesse Jackson Jr. missed breakfast

The Des Moines Register reports 50 people wedged between the produce aisle and shelves of laundry detergent Tuesday at Top Value Foods in Des Moines to have breakfast with Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., who recently endorsed Howard Dean. However, weather caused Jackson's flight to Iowa to be canceled. Those in attendance were served up Dean's college roommate, New York attorney Ralph Dawson, He talk over the phone as those in attendance had breakfast. (12/17/2003)

Poll watching

In New Hampshire, WMUR in Manchester and WCVB in Boston poll shows Dean leading Kerry, 46 to 17 percent, followed by Wesley Clark (10), Joe Lieberman (7), John Edwards (4) and Dick Gephardt (3).

In Pennsylvania, Dean has pulled ahead of the rest of the Democratic field and is the only candidate to keep Bush under 50 percent in a head-to-head matchup, a Quinnipiac University poll found.

The poll found Dean leading with 28 percent, followed by Lieberman (17), Gephardt (10), Clark (9) and Kerry (7).

The new poll showed Bush leading Dean, 49-43. (12/18/2003)

"Dean, McDermott and Albright sound like the Democratic foreign-policy dream team," Scott Reed, a Republican consultant, said. "I also heard a rumor that aliens were coming down to Earth to occupy the bodies of three prominent Democrats, and it looks like it came true."

"You do it," Howard Dean said, "by putting one foot in front of the other and keeping your eye not just on the prize, but keeping your eye on what you have to do every day."

"This is classic Dean. He shoots from the hip and whatever he hits, he says that's what he was aiming at," Stuart Rothenberg, author of "The Rothenberg Political Report" said. "This is one of the reasons why [Bush political adviser Karl] Rove wants Dean. He's easy to demonize. He caricatures himself. They will use this to define his antiwar positions."

"This situation paints a clear picture of why we need to rein in renegade judges legislating from the bench. By granting this homosexual couple a divorce, Judge Neary has pretended their marriage was valid in the state of Iowa. Unless I'm mistaken, it was in Vermont, not Iowa, that Howard 'the Coward' Dean slyly signed midnight legislation making same-sex unions legal," said Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican.  (12/18/2003)

Stop Dean movement

Analysis by Roger Hughes

The Dean campaign is trying to link the Gephardt campaign to the 527 group that went over the top with an ad in New Hampshire and S. Carolina showing the Time magazine cover photo of Osama bin Laden and relating how Howard Dean can’t protect us from terrorists.

The 527 IRS group, Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values, can take soft money and is required to be unaffiliated and uncoordinated with other political parties and campaigns. The organization has many individuals and contributors who have worked with Dick Gephardt in the past. Its new spokesman, Robert Gibbs, served as a press secretary for the presidential campaign of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry until his resignation last month.

What Howard Dean’s campaign seems to fail to understand is that the establishment Democrat Party still has the power to mount a “Stop Dean Movement”. Dean’s frequent calls to his insurgent band that they have the power to take back the Democrat Party do not provide the regular Democrat Party faithful with feelings of welcome and comfort from the Dean campaign.

Dean’s regulars on his blog do not help anything either. In fact, they sling the ultimate blog insult of ‘troll’ at fellow Dean supporters who merely suggest that Dean has done something wrong. The sheer intensity of these supporters approaches cult status, and many visitors to the Dean blog type in just that phrase about them in their comments on the blog.

A read of the Dean blog after the capture of Saddam Hussein shows a Dean supporter writing that they were in tears over the prospect that Saddam’s capture might mean Dean would not get elected.

This kind of campaign -- even with Al Gore’s endorsement -- will not create sympathy by the Democrat Party regulars. There will be a “Stop Dean Movement” in the Democrat Party. You cannot let the grassroots run a campaign without some adult supervision.  You cannot let fanatics take over a campaign without expecting them to go too far, and it is clear that the Dean campaign has gone too far for many in the Democrat Party. This fear within the Democrat Party of Dean’s campaign is beyond the split between the moderates and liberals. It is beyond Dean calling congress ‘cockroaches.’ It is about a campaign that doesn’t have discipline.

There will be more 527 campaigns running more negative ads against Howard Dean, and it will be Democrats who do it. Dean cannot gather enough Governor and Congressional endorsements fast enough to stop the panic at the prospect of the Deaniacs running the Democrat Party.

 The ads from Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values will soon be off the air -- they cannot run ads in January in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to the new law. However, the bin Laden television spot, that questions Dean's national security qualifications, could resurface in states with later primaries. States holding primaries on Feb. 7 could see ads broadcast in those states until Jan. 8. (12/18/2003)

Dean’s weapon of self-destruction

Howard Dean admits that he is the one who added the line that the capture of Saddam Hussein does not make America any safer, according to a Boston Globe story. He also doesn’t seem to understand the difference between his suggesting that Bush was tipped off by the Saudis about 9-11 and the Bush administration saying that there were weapons of mass destruction in Ira:

Dean countered by suggesting that administration officials misled the American public in the run-up to war:

 "How is what I did different from what Dick Cheney or George Bush or [Donald] Rumsfeld or [Richard] Perle or [Paul] Wolfowitz did during the time of the buildup of the invasion of Iraq? There were all these theories that they mentioned, many of them turned out not to be true. The difference is that I acknowledged that I did not believe the theory that I was putting out. They professed to believe the theories they were putting out, which later turned out not to be true."

The Washington Post offers a similar story concerning Dean’s inability to control what he says. One of the more damning points in the Post is how Howard Dean as Governor presided over tax breaks for Enron:

Last week, after Dean denied providing a tax break as governor that benefited Enron Corp. -- which a published report showed he did -- Gephardt said: "Once again, Howard Dean refuses to admit the truth. You can't beat George W. Bush if you can't tell the truth about your own record." (12/18/2003)

Letter pressure

The Des Moines Register covers the approximate 100,000 letters that Howard Dean’s supporters have hand written to Iowans. Dean’s campaign is the only campaign that has mobilized this number of outside volunteers to flood Iowa asking Iowa Democrats to go to the caucuses in support of Dean.

The story covers how some Iowans do not like the letters or the pressure. However, the pressure is just beginning and will only increase further after New Years when the campaign hits the final stage before Jan. 19.

The letter-writing campaign started in July and is a monthly event with Dean supporters gathering nationwide. The Register reports that the number of letters sent to Iowa Democrats exceeds the number of Democrats who took part in the 2000 caucuses by about 40,000. (12/18/2003)

Dean domestic policy

Today is the day that Howard Dean takes on domestic policy in a speech in New Hampshire. It is expected that many of the themes he laid out in Texas (close to the Enron building) will be highlighted once again. An expected twist today will be that the era of big government is over, Redux Dean fashion.

Dean is expected to offer his own variation on why Bush’s tax cuts are not benefiting the economy and hurting Americans. His campaign staff has been preparing what it said will be estimates of how much more people in selected states are paying or what services they're not getting because of Bush's tax cuts. Look for him to not spend much time on the improving economy except to say things are bad and Bush will be the first President since Herbert Hoover who has lost jobs. The Associated Press, who has seen advance proposals of the speech, offers this:

He will pull his domestic proposals together in a program dubbed a "New Social Contract for Working Families," in which he'll call for new supports for working families, universal access to health care, and other government assistance. A campaign memorandum excerpting the speech did not lay out any specifics.

He'll call for American business to accept stricter accountability but said he also would offer greater access to capital for small businesses and "national investment in growth industries of the future like renewable energy." (12/18/2003)

Dean staff humor

The Boston Globe offers this gem from the Dean campaign trail:

In converting the Gulfstream jet that carried Dean from California into a press charter, the candidate's aides were careful to remove all campaign materials and transfer them to his new aircraft. However, when a group of four reporters took the seats occupied the night before by Dean and his top aides, they discovered a red folder on which the campaign's political director Kate O'Connor had written the following message: "Gov: Here's the final Iowa caucus plan. Please do not lose this, Kate."

Of course, curiousity got the best of the bunch of reporters, and one of them opened the folder. Inside was a piece of paper addressed to Newton native Jodi Wilgoren, the New York Times reporter assigned to the Dean campaign. The note read: "Jodi, We knew you couldn't resist. Ha Ha!"

Now, that's what we call "gotcha" journalism. (For the record, Wilgoren was not the scribe to open the folder.)  (12/18/2003)

Dean critical of Clinton?

Howard Dean soon after giving his major domestic policy speech he was trying to clarify whether he was repudiating President Clinton’s Presidency. Dean used the following line in his speech:

“While Bill Clinton has said that the era of big government is over,” Dean said in a speech at the city library, “I believe we must enter a new era for the Democratic Party — not one where we join Republicans and aim simply to limit the damage they inflict on working families.”

Predictably, opponents Wesley Clark and Joe Lieberman have reminded voters how Bill Clinton’s Presidency had great economic success. In an interview with the Manchester Union Leader, Dean offered that he wasn’t criticizing Clinton:

He called Clinton “a skillful President” who moved the nation “toward the middle,” but that under President George W. Bush, “we’ve moved towards the far right.” He said his approach is necessary to move the country “back toward the middle.”

Dean said he is not promoting bigger government, but “fairer government.”

However, Dean did not try to square that with the statement that linked Clinton with the need to enter a new era for the Democrat Party not one where we join Republicans. Joe Lieberman commenting on the statement said, "If you look at the language, it sure looks like he's being critical of the Clinton idea that the era of big government is over."

Press troubles

Dean found the press less interested with his speech than with Dean’s inconsistencies. There was a crack in Dean’s openness with the press. On follow-up questions, Dean refused to answer. Politics New Hampshire Online made it a feature of their story today:

After Dean’s second major policy address of the week, this one at the public library here, reporters, fueled by an editorial and stories in Thursday’s Washington Post, peppered Dean less on the content of his speech and more on what are perceived as contradictions in Dean’s remarks in passing weeks and years.

Dean refused to answer reporters’ questions in that vain more than once.

Bush tax

Dean also tried to link a new definition to President Bush’s tax cuts by saying that the tax cuts where tax increases according to the Union Leader: 

Dean dubbed the Bush tax cuts the “Bush Tax.”

Since the tax cut, he said, “Your property taxes probably went up. In New Hampshire, property taxes went up an average of $270 per family last year.” He said most state budgets are also in crisis due to less federal funding of programs such as special education.

“The ‘Bush Tax’ is huge,” Dean said “many times greater than most people’s refunds.” He said the typical American family will “take on $52,000 more in its share of the national debt” in the next six years.

Dean offered no supporting data on the state’s previous tax increases before the Bush tax cuts. (12/19/2003)

Dean raised taxes?

Howard Dean has been throwing brix bracks at President Bush for raising taxes by cutting taxes. The theory is Bush not sending money to state and local government is causing property taxes to increase. The problem is that researchers are showing that Dean as Governor of Vermont raised property taxes due to his policies. The Associated Press reports:

When state revenues fell short of budgets in Vermont, Dean held the line on state aid to education and town highways. In some cases he sought outright cuts; at other times he proposed slowing the rate spending grew. With property taxes their major source of funding, towns and school boards raised them in the face of rising costs of their own.

"Basically, he didn't increase (state aid to education) nearly at the rate of the underlying cost, so — just as he's complained about George Bush — that pushed the cost onto local towns," said economist Richard Heaps of Northern Economic Consulting. "I don't blame him for it. It's what every governor did back then." (12/19/2003)

Dean helped Enron hide facts

In a conference call with the press today, Gephardt for President Campaign Manager, Steve Murphy, made the following remarks on new details regarding former Governor Dean providing lucrative tax breaks to Enron.

"In 1997, Governor Dean signed into law a measure that would reduce the public disclosure requirements on corporations like Enron that received tax windfalls from the state of Vermont. This law came four years after Dean signed the original corporate tax giveaway legislation that lured self-owned insurance companies to Vermont which were nothing more than shell corporations for these multinationals.

"Lack of disclosure was a major contributor to the corporate scandals of the past few years and Governor Dean followed the prevailing climate which was to relieve corporations of fundamental disclosure requirements.

"Governor Dean continues to stubbornly refuse to disclose any details of meetings or negotiations with Enron prior to them locating a shell corporation in Vermont in exchange for huge tax breaks. Obviously, it's hard to explain these tax cuts for corporations like Enron while you're making deep cuts in social services for the neediest people in society. The most important corporate reform is disclosure. If Governor Dean is not committed to that, the rest of what he says is just more political talk.

"Governor Dean has constantly attacked President Bush, Vice President and the Bush administration quite correctly for refusing to disclose information requested by the commission investigating the attacks on September 11. Governor Dean should at least live up to his own standard on disclosure.

"If Governor Dean were the Democratic nominee, he would be effectively compromised from using Enron or the issue of disclosure in drawing contrast between himself and President Bush's administration.

"A lack of disclosure was a major contributor to the corporate scandals of the past few years and Governor Dean followed the prevailing climate which was to relieve corporations of fundamental disclosure requirements." (12/19/2003)

“While Bill Clinton has said that the era of big government is over, I believe we must enter a new era for the Democratic Party — not one where we join Republicans and aim simply to limit the damage they inflict on working families,” said Howard Dean.

"For four days, the Washington politics-as-usual club has taken every opportunity for attacks that go far beyond questioning my position on the war," Howard Dean said.

“That kind of answer [unfair target of Washington insiders] isn’t always going to cut it from somebody who wants to be President of the United States,” Kornblau said. “Yes, the time has finally come where he is now going to be held to the same standard as everyone who wants to be President of the United States. He’s got a lot of explaining to do,” Kerry spokesman Mark Kornblau said.

“It’s not our role to play media monitor,” Dan Gerstein, spokesman for Sen. Joe Lieberman said. “The bottom line is he’s getting called to account for a lot of contradictions and inconsistencies and flip-flopping.”

"It appeared to us that in many instances, particularly in the last years of his [Howard Dean’s] tenure, he was basically downshifting state deficits and state fiscal problems onto the property taxpayer," said Steve Jeffrey, executive director of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, which lobbies on behalf of the localities.  (12/19/2003)

Dean's New Social Contract speech -- click here to read--  (12/19/2003)

Dean fights back

The Des Moines Register covers Howard Dean’s Iowa appearances as he counters his opponents’ recent attacks:

"As distressing as the president's conduct was in leading us into this war, the way some Democrats in Washington fell meekly in line with the president was equally distressing," Dean told 150 Des Moines County Democrats at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Burlington.

"One candidate even spent six months explaining away his vote for the war," Dean said, later identifying Sen. John Kerry as the candidate. "Now, suddenly, leaping on overnight polls, he claims to be proud of his vote."

Dean also criticized Rep. Dick Gephardt for his “false” attacks that he would cut Medicare. A Gephardt spokesman is quoted in the story:

"His is a typical Republican argument, that cutting the rate of growth of Medicare is not a cut," Bill Burton said. "The fact is, Dick Gephardt will not reduce the rate of growth of Medicare."

The article doesn’t cover the latest dust-up between him and Gephardt over Dean’s giving privileges to Enron.

As Dean campaigned in Maquoketa, Iowa Saturday he pushed hard at his claim to being an outsider running against Washington-based candidates with no record of accomplishment.

"There are five or six people running for president right now who have a chance at winning," Dean said. "I'm the only person who has done anything about trying to get health care."

This as he said, "It's not necessary to tear down the other opponents." (12/20/2003)

Damage control

The Dean campaign was in operation damage control once again yesterday. Joe Trippi was left to explain how a new Democrat era from the Clinton era was not a repudiation of President Clinton. Following Dean’s domestic policy speech, opponents and former Clinton staff attacked Dean’s comments. The campaign was left to try and shore up its base, reports the Manchester Union Leader:

Yesterday afternoon, the Dean campaign sent out a lengthy e-mail with similar comments, alleging Dean’s foes are “trying to create a non-existent personal and policy rift” between Dean and Clinton.

It goes on to clarify that in the speech, Dean “was simply saying that it is time for the Democratic Party to articulate the next step in its agenda. . .The party can and must acknowledge that — as Bill Clinton has said — the era of big government is over, and now is the time for us to articulate a new Democratic domestic agenda for the 21st Century that builds on President Clinton’s successes.”

The NY Times also covers Howard Dean’s campaign of damage control. The Times offers this telling quote from Dean:

"I reject the notion that damage control must be our credo," he added. (12/20/2003)

Liberals question Dean

The Washington Times reports Howard Dean is confusing liberals on his foreign policy. What is worse is it’s the Brookings Institute -- where Dean has recruited many of his foreign policy advisors – that’s questioning Dean. Michael E. O'Hanlon, senior fellow in foreign policy studies at Brookings offers many questions about the wisdom or lack there of concerning Dean’s foreign policy statements:

In the interviews, he said he would enter into immediate bilateral negotiations with North Korea and offer them a major economic and energy assistance package and a nonaggression treaty in exchange for ending their nuclear weapons program.

Mr. O'Hanlon and other foreign policy analysts reject such an approach as naive, noting that it had been tried before under the Clinton administration, only to see North Korea ignore its pledges to halt weapons development.

"It comes too close to buying the same horse. We already gave North Korea incentives in 1994 to eliminate its nuclear weapons capabilities and then they violated that commitment," the Brookings scholar said.

There is a question of what is Dean’s policy for Iraq:

"At different times Dean has called for reduced funding in Iraq. Other times, he said our troops should be brought home and that Arab troops should be sent there. More recently, he said the world is no safer after Saddam's capture," Mr. O'Hanlon said.

The Times reports that some at Brookings are not optimistic about Dean:

Mr. O'Hanlon said there was a diverse range of opinion at Brookings about Mr. Dean — not all of it supportive.

"There are some who hold out hope that he can be educated. Then there are others like me who feel that Dean would almost guarantee the party's defeat if he sticks to these positions." (12/20/2003)

Iowa endorsement

Former Democratic Congressman and former state party chairman Dave Nagle has announced he will endorse Howard Dean in the Iowa caucuses, saying he is disturbed at new ads attacking the candidate.

"He has energized this party on three levels -- he's brought old Democrats back, he's brought new Democrats in, and he's broadened by leaps and bounds the financial base," Nagle said. (12/20/2003)

"I've got to say what I think, not what's popular in the polls. The truth is, we aren't safer with Saddam Hussein's capture," Howard Dean said.

“I assume he [Howard Dean] means the people who led it to this disastrous middle where 22 million jobs were created," said Al From, a founder of the Democratic Leadership Council, formed to push the party to the center after its landslide defeats in the 1980's.

(12/20/2003)

Dean’s approach

The Washington Post reports on Howard Dean’s approach to legislating and life in how he pushed for universal health care as Governor of Vermont:

Dean, a doctor by training, would be the nation's first governor to guarantee health coverage to every state resident. And he would do it in a single legislative session, with one enormous bill.

It was ambitious, bold -- and an utter failure. In May 1994, five months after he began, Dean pulled the bill and declared the effort dead.

But it wasn't the end. Like a pragmatic physician who tries a new therapy when the first fails, Dean devoted much of the next decade to smaller, incremental changes aimed at filling the state's health care gaps.

It was a slower strategy, but by the close of his tenure, Dean came very close to achieving universal health coverage.

Vermont now has one of the nation's highest rates of health insurance coverage, providing care to virtually every child and more than 90 percent of adults. The national average is 83.7 percent. (12/21/2003)

Trippi on Dean’s Enron

Washington, DC - Today on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi offered yet another explanation as to whether or not Governor Dean met with Enron officials before giving the company lucrative tax breaks. Steve Murphy, campaign manager for the Gephardt campaign, today released the following statement in reaction to these comments:

"It has been nine days that Governor Dean has refused to answer any questions regarding his dealings with the Enron Corporation. Howard Dean could put all of these questions to rest if he would simply disclose basic facts and documents related to his time as governor. It is time for Dr. Dean and his campaign to finally come clean with the facts about his dealings with the Enron Corporation."

This Week with George Stephanopoulos, 12/21/03

MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me turn to something else that your opponents have raised in the last week or so, especially Dick Gephardt. He accuses Howard Dean of "gross hypocrisy" on the issue of Enron, because he says that "Howard Dean is out there on the campaign trail attacking George Bush for his ties to Enron, yet when he was governor of Vermont, he passed into law a tax break which Enron took advantage of." And I just want to ask this question very clearly because it's been tough to get a clear answer from the campaign. Did Howard Dean meet with representatives of Enron at any time in order to bring their business into the state?

MR. TRIPPI: He says he doesn't think so. We don't believe he did.

MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: But you don't know?

MR. TRIPPI: Hundreds of thousands -- I mean, how many meetings occurred, but no, we don't believe so. And again, this is about, I mean, it's about every single attack -- I mean, we are just getting -- and particularly in Iowa, I mean, the Republicans have ads up against us, Gephardt has ads up against us. There's committees that we can't even figure out who started the committee or who's sponsoring it, attacking us with stuff –

MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: But this is a fact that could be discovered and that's another point your opponents raise. They say because Howard Dean has refused to release his records from the gubernatorial office, they can't -- we can't know the truth about this and we would know the truth if the records were released. How come the governor will not release the records?

MR. TRIPPI: He said that this is in front of a judge and the judge will go through those records one by one and decide what should be released and what shouldn't, and that's normal –

MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, but it's something, actually, Democrats, and I believe, Howard Dean, have actually criticized the Bush administration for. They say that, you know, the Bush administration has a penchant for secrecy and they've had to take vice-president Cheney, for example, to court to get him to release records. How is this different? Why not release them on your own?

MR. TRIPPI: Because, first of all, it affects not just the current governor of Vermont, but all governors into the future of Vermont. It's not -- it's now a decision that the state is going to have to make. These papers are not owned by the governor any more. They're not his.

MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: But he could call on them to be released.

MR. TRIPPI: He said that they are in the right place now. A judge who's not involved in politics will decide what should be out and what shouldn't. And you know, it's kind of an interesting thing that this really is not about -- our candidacy now is about all these other people out there, because we are funded -- what is the thing about Enron? We didn't take any money from Enron, ever, that I know of. And so that's all public record. The president did. The president has corporate bundlers going crazy raising him 200 million dollars, 200 million bucks. It's not going to be a fair fight in the general election. I mean, it's not even going to be a fair fight now. It's going to be 200 million to zero against every one of our opponents. There's only one force in this country that can take the country back from those folks, and it's the American people. And that's way our campaign is about trying to get two million Americans to give us 100 dollars. (12/21/2003)

"I think that Howard Dean is just another George Bush… I think he's for the big-money people. He's got money behind him. He's never had to come up the hard way. John Edwards has," future Iowa Caucus attendee Kathy Johnson, 61, of Springville said.

"I don't advocate assisted suicide. I think what we really need very badly in this country is to restore the doctor-patient relationship so private decisions can remain private and out of the political realm," said Howard Dean.

"I think the Democrats I am running against made the wrong choice," Dean said at a meeting with voters in Maquoketa, Iowa, on Saturday. "If these guys are so smart on foreign policy, then why did they vote for us to go to war?" said Howard Dean.

"We are always going to have a special relationship with Israel," Howard Dean continued. "But that does not mean that we can't recognize the legitimate Palestinian claims, and there are legitimate Palestinian claims."

(12/22/2003)

Dean’s resume problem

"The fact is it's a resume problem, " Dean told an audience in Litchfield yesterday. "I need to plug that hole in my resume. And I am going to do that with my running mate." -- reports the Boston Globe. That was the comment that Howard Dean said about how to solve his foreign policy weakness. Dean’s lack foreign policy credentials have been highlighted as a good reason why Democrats should reject Dean as their nominee. It also was not helped when Dean offered his now famous statement that America was not safer after the capture of Saddam Hussein.

Campaigning across Iowa and New Hampshire, Dean modified back to saying that he was delighted that Hussein had been captured, but repeatedly offered the caveat that his Democratic rivals supported a war that he believes was never justified. He also continued his positioning of himself as a Washington outsider.

However, it may be more than a resume problem. A recent AP poll showed seven in 10 Americans believed the war was an important part of the battle against terrorism, and not a distraction from that effort. Jay Carson, Dean's chief spokesman, dismissed the AP poll, saying that “the governor has never based his foreign policies and decisions on polls. He believes, as do many, many others, that the United States is not safer today than we were before Saddam Hussein was captured." (12/22/2003)

Dean’s clothing can’t change

The Washington Times, Inside Politics suggest that Howard Dean’s earlier centrist policies will not be able to come forward if he becomes the Democratic Party’s nominee. The reasons include the fact that Dean has gone too far left to come back, and that he is the most secularist candidate to run in a long time:

"Dean himself is frank on this point, perhaps too frank. '[I] don't go to church very often,' the Episcopalian-turned-Congregationalist remarked in a debate last month. 'My religion doesn't inform my public policy.' When Dean talks about organized religion, it is often in a negative context. 'I don't want to listen to the fundamentalist preachers anymore,' he shouted at the California Democratic Convention in March." (12/22/2003)

Dean’s cyberspace tactics

The Boston Globe covers whether the Internet connections of the Dean campaign will transfer into votes. The interesting fact the Globe offers is how the connection translates into necessary votes where it geographically counts:

More than a quarter of those who have used the Internet to pledge to vote are concentrated in just three states -- California, New York, and Washington -- according to a running tally posted on a linked page.

In the earliest voting states, few Dean supporters have used the Internet to pledge a vote. As of late last week, only 692 from New Hampshire and 589 in Iowa had pledged online. That's a tiny fraction of Dean voters already identified by the campaign using old-fashioned methods.

In the potentially crucial Feb. 3 contests, the number of online vote pledges is modest at best: New Mexico, 1,308; Arizona, 903; Missouri, 651; Oklahoma, 400; South Carolina, 359; North Dakota, 224; Delaware, 93.

In an operation titled the “Perfect Storm” the Dean campaign is seeking volunteers over their website to come to Iowa and New Hampshire to use old fashioned phone calls and shoe leather to implement the three necessities of a campaign: identify, persuade and turnout favorable voters. The Dean campaign claims 3,500 people have pledged to come to Iowa during the final weeks -- at their own expense. (12/22/2003)

Poll watching

Howard Dean appears to be gaining strength in the Democratic Presidential race in South Carolina, according to a poll that suggests the race remains competitive in the state with a Feb. 3 primary. Dean was at 16 percent in the poll released yesterday by the American Research Group of Manchester, N.H. Wesley Clark and Al Sharpton were at 12 percent and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards was at 11 percent. While Dean appears to have a slight lead, the poll suggests the race is wide open.  (12/23/2003)

Dean’s silence

The Washington Times reports on the speechless nature of the Dean campaign regarding Libya’s decision to give up WMDs. The Times repeats the Italian Prime Minister’s quote in the Telegraph of London:

"I will do whatever the Americans want because I saw what happened in Iraq, and I was afraid," Mr. Gadhafi told Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, according to a Berlusconi spokesman who was quoted in yesterday's Telegraph of London.

When the Times questioned the Dean campaign about why no comment they said:

"Look, the agreement with the Libyans is good news and an important step forward in the effort to combat weapons of mass destruction," conceded Dean spokesman Jay Carson. "But the agreement is the result of years of diplomacy and sanctions, conducted in concert with the international community, which Governor Dean believes is the most effective means of pursuing that goal," he added.

The success not only frustrated the Democrats but also brought out long of tooth comments, even if they were incongruous. However, that was their charge against Bush:

Mr. Bush said the Libya agreement was made possible by nine months of "quiet diplomacy," which prompted criticism from Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat… "Ironically, this significant advance represents a complete U-turn in the Bush administration's overall foreign policy," Mr. Kerry said. "An administration that scorns multilateralism and boasts about a rigid doctrine of military pre-emption has almost in spite of itself demonstrated the enormous potential for improving our national security through diplomacy.

"If the president can put aside his go-it-alone unilateralism to engage with a longtime enemy like Gadhafi, why are the ideologues in this administration so hesitant to negotiate with North Korea to end their nuclear-weapons programs?" he added. "Why not rally the United Nations and NATO to forge a new cooperative effort to combat proliferation around the globe?"

Other Democrats also treated Libya's disarmament as an opportunity to criticize the president.

"Libya's certainly good news, but we've got a long way to go before we can feel we've really made the American people safe in a time of terrorism," Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri said on "Fox News Sunday." "There are failures that are still bedeviling us on a number of other fronts… "We've got North Korea apparently going ahead and making nuclear weapons," he added. "And we still don't have the international help in Iraq that we should have gotten a long time ago." (12/23/2003)

Dean’s enemies

Howard Dean may not have his enemies list formalized but there is no doubt it exists. If then first lady Hillary Clinton wanted the FBI files on the Clinton enemies, what will Dean do if he gets to the White House? Thomas Oliphant of the Boston Globe offers a column with the observation that Howard Dean must utilize one of the great political themes of rallying the troops against the enemy at the gate. However, Dean has drawn his barricade around a pretty small group:

This kind of politics requires enemies against whom to mobilize. For a year, Dean's campaign has made it very clear that the enemies are not just conservatives. They also permeate the Democratic Party, and they must be crushed as permanently as the right-wingers. He tells his followers that they have the power not only to "take back" the country but to take back the party as well… From whom? Well, for starters there are the "Washington Democrats," also known as the "Washington politics as usual club." (12/23/2003)

Dean’s brother

The NY Times reports on another miss-step involving a question regarding Dean’s closeness to military service personnel:

Asked by The Quad-City Times, which is based in Davenport, Iowa, to complete the sentence "My closest living relative in the armed services is," Dr. Dean wrote in August, "My brother is a POW/MIA in Laos, but is almost certainly dead."

Dean’s response is as follows:

"The way I read the question was that they wanted to know if I knew anything about the armed services from a personal level," he said. "I don't think it was inaccurate or misleading if anybody knew what the history was, and I assumed that most people knew what the history was. Anybody who wanted to write about this could have looked through the 23-year history to see that I've always acknowledged my brother's a civilian, was a civilian." (12/23/2003)

Dean’s call for peace

Even when Howard Dean is calling for peace among his fellow Democrats he can’t seem to stop insulting them. There is no greater insult than calling a Democrat a Republican. This is exactly what Dean did, according to the LA Times:

"One of the reasons I wish the others guys running for president would tone it down a little bit is that at the end, we're all going to have to pull together in order to beat George Bush," he told several hundred people at a packed town hall meeting.

And, he added, "even the Democratic Leadership Council, which is sort of the Republican part of the Democratic Party … the Republican wing of the Democratic Party, we're going to need them too, we really are." The Democratic Leadership Council was founded in 1985 by Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, among others, to remake the Democratic Party in a more centrist, competitive mold. (12/23/2003)

Dean’s dollars

USA Today has a good analysis of Dean’s greatest strength -- his fund-raising:

• Dean has spent far less than he has raised. By Sept. 30, he had spent 51% of his campaign cash, the lowest "burn rate" among the established candidates.

• His biggest investments have gone into staff, travel and advertising. That has helped him build a multi-state campaign while spending less than some of his rivals for consultants and campaign offices.

• Dean's contributions grew at a faster rate than his spending during the third quarter of the year, the most recent to be disclosed. He was the only candidate to accomplish that. It left him with more money in the bank than his competitors.

• Even with more advertising this quarter, Dean's aides expect fundraising to equal or outpace spending. "Our cash on hand is going to go up, unless something crazy happens," campaign manager Joe Trippi says.

That would leave Dean with a big financial advantage as the primary season enters its most intense period.

Based largely on his fundraising, Dean has decided to forego as much as $18 million in federal matching funds he would have been eligible for next year. As a result, he will avoid the spending limits that go with the federal money. It's an indication of his campaign's confidence that the money flow, much of it raised inexpensively through the Internet, will continue.

The article also shows how the Dick Gephardt campaign is trying to deal with this high-powered Dean spending effort:

Gephardt has been the second most frugal of the top-tier candidates. He had spent 57% of the money he had raised by Sept. 30. He spent the least on consultants, payroll and events, and the second-smallest amounts on offices, travel and media buys. It's partly out of necessity; Gephardt has raised roughly half as much as Dean. "We've had two people to a hotel room, staying in cheap hotels," Elmendorf says. "Even Dick has stayed in Super 8s and Motel 6s." (12/23/2003)

I don't have the nomination yet. Not one vote has been cast. We're working really, really hard in Iowa. We want support there in the caucuses, but until it looks like I am going to be the nominee I am not going to be offering anybody the vice presidency," said Howard Dean.

"Just to be clear, he made the offer. Nobody's going to formally offer that position until the whole process is gone through. But let's put it this way, as I said yesterday, it was dangled out there and discussed. I mean it was offered as much as it could have been, I think," Wesley Clark said.

“No matter, he has anger and despair to work with, as well as all those enemies in the party. If Dean is indeed headed toward the Democratic nomination, he might want to channel some of that anger toward a less punitive approach to the very people he seeks to represent. His position on Iraq is enough of an albatross.” -- writes Thomas Oliphant of the Boston Globe.

(12/23/2003)

Stop Dean movement

New York Times columnist David Brooks writes about why it is unlikely there will be a Stop Dean Movement:

“…Howard Dean has launched a comprehensive assault on his party's leaders. First, he attacked their character, charging that they didn't have the guts to stand up to George Bush. Then, he attacked their power base, building an alternative fund-raising and voter-mobilization structure. Now he is attacking their ideas, dismissing the Clinton era as a period of mere damage control… So how are the Democratic leaders defending themselves? They are responding as any establishment responds when it has lost confidence in itself, when it has lost faith in its ideas, when it has lost the will to fight." (12/24/2003)

Dean, Dean, Dean

Howard Dean has the Democrat party shaking their head and wondering out loud about his attacks on Democrats. The LA Times reports on the growing dismay:

Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network, a Democratic political action committee, has been as close to Dean as any leading centrist in the party.

But after his latest criticism of the DLC, Rosenberg says, the front runner "has a choice. Is he going to present a new synthesis that incorporates all the best of all the traditions in the party … or is he going to be the leader of the counterrevolution?"

Added Leon E. Panetta, the former chief of staff under Clinton: "I think he's asking for serious trouble when he attacks Clinton and attacks the DLC. Whether you like their positions or not, the reality is you can't afford to divide the Democratic Party at this point. You've got a tough enough job fighting George Bush."

The Times article reports on what Dean related to Walter Shapiro's who wrote the book "One Car Caravan," on the 2004 race. It demonstrates how Dean’s comments and criticisms are heartfelt:

"What a lot of people learned from Bill Clinton is that if you accommodate and you co-opt [the other party] you can be successful," Dean told Shapiro this year. "And Bill Clinton was very successful. But that role doesn't work for everybody, and it's not the right time for it anymore." (12/24/2003)

Don’t stop Dean

Bill Safire, who writes for the Old Gray Lady and once worked for President Richard Nixon, writes about the fear of the new Dean political party pulling a Bull Moose -- that is, if denied the nomination, Dean could run as an independent.

Safire does not want that outcome… not because of any concern for Democrats but rather out of concern for Republicans. You see, Safire has been around long enough to know that great success can frequently result in great arrogance:

Politronic chatter picked up by pundits monitoring lefty blogsites and al-Gora intercepts flashes the warning: If stopped, Dean may well bolt.

That split of opposition would be a bonanza for Bush. In a two-man race, the odds are that he would beat Dean comfortably, but in a three-party race, Bush would surely waltz in with the greatest of ease.

Here's my problem: Such a lopsided, hubris-inducing result would be bad for Bush, bad for the G.O.P., bad for the country. Landslides lead to tyrannous majorities and big trouble.

Which is why I worry about Dean not getting the Democratic nomination. (12/24/2003)

Case -- what case?

Howard Dean moved to remove himself and his campaign from the court case seeking access to his sealed records as Governor, according to the Boston Globe:

"We decided to take the campaign completely out of this," Dean said in a brief interview after a Town Hall meeting in Exeter… Asked whether he would challenge a request that the case be expedited on the court docket, Dean said, "We have just completely pulled ourselves out of this. Whatever Sorrell wants to do, he can." Dean appointed Sorrell to the post.

Instead, Dean is leaving the matter to his friend William Sorrell, the current attorney general in Vermont whom he appointed as Governor. (12/24/2003)

Dean: It’s the economy

Howard Dean still believes the central issue will be the economy despite continuing excellent economic news. Tuesday the Commerce Department reported that in the third quarter the overall economy grew at its fastest rate since 1983, and personal spending and consumer confidence is also growing.

Dean also picked up an endorsement from the New Hampshire political action committee of the United Auto Workers. The UAW represents about 1,000 workers. (12/24/2003)

Some are suddenly seeing a beauty in Dean that they hadn't seen before," Hess said. "Others are still concerned that he will be easy pickings for George W. Bush."

"Christ was someone who sought out people who were disenfranchised, people who were left behind," Howard  Dean said. "He fought against self-righteousness of people who had everything . . . He was a person who set an extraordinary example that has lasted 2000 years, which is pretty inspiring when you think about it."

“But worse than a man of no faith is a man who merely pretends to be something he is not. Worst of all, the man who condescends to invoke the name of Christ. Such a foolish man will reap only scorn, and no pity.” - Wesley Pruden, editor in chief of The Washington Times.

"If the Dean people are playing chess instead of checkers and are moving down the board and trying to figure out how to win a general election as well as how to win a nomination, they had best explain Dean to the people in terms of religiosity," said Stephen Hess, a senior fellow in governmental studies at the Brookings Institution.

(12/26/2003)

Jesus in the South

The Boston Globe reports Howard Dean told them he is going to reference his faith in Jesus Christ when he begins campaigning in the South. Dean, and other Democrats, have been criticized by Sen. Joe Lieberman for the Democrat Party’s failure to appeal to Christians. The division between Christians who support Republicans versus Democrats is at an all time historic level. Dean is a Congregationalist but does not often attend church. His wife and children are Jewish.

ABC/Washington Post poll released this week showed that 46 percent of Southerners said a president should rely on his religious beliefs in making policy decisions, compared with 40 percent nationwide and 28 percent in the East. Dean, or any other Democrat who can bring some of the Southern states into their win column in the general election, will find their chances of victory greatly improved. However, Dean’s responses to the Globe interview might not make the grade down South:

He is a steadfast believer in separation of church and state, he said, and opposes the placement of the Ten Commandments in a courthouse, is uncomfortable with a prayer invocation before a congressional session, though he would leave the matter to Congress, and is not bothered by the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

On the issue of a moment of silence in schools, Dean said, "Whatever the courts say is OK with me." The US Supreme Court has struck down state-required moments of silence in schools.

Of the president's faith-based initiative for social services, Dean said, it is "overdone." "It's not a bad thing to have churches involved in delivering social services, but I think the president has used it to reward certain churches and make it less likely for others churches to prosper," he said.

Asked whether a presidential candidate could win without talking about religious faith, Dean said, "Dick Nixon and Ronald Reagan never said much about religion. I think it's important, and you have to respect other people's religious beliefs and honor them, but you don't have to pander to them."

He added, "That's why I don't get offended when George Bush or Joe Lieberman talk about their religion . . . I have a feeling it has something to do with them as a human being, and they are entitled to talk about what makes them human." (12/26/2003)

Is Dean McGovern?

The Boston Globe covers the question of whether Howard Dean is like George McGovern -- who was massacred by Richard Nixon in the 1972 Presidential Campaign. Maybe the best admonition that Dean is not McGovern comes from a former McGovernite worker, interviewed for the Globe article: "I think Dean is much savvier," Fran Peters said. "I can't see him letting himself be savaged. He responds."

McGovern’s former campaign manager, Gary Hart also does not believe that Dean is like McGovern. He sees Dean as more of an enigma:

"It's a kind of political journalism shorthand to say that Dean is the George McGovern of this year," said Hart, who has run twice for the Democratic nomination and has endorsed Dean rival John F. Kerry. "It paints a portrait of McGovern which is not true. He was a regular Democrat who got elected twice from a conservative Midwestern state, and you can't do that if you're a far lefty. On social issues, Dean has been all over the lot. You can put three or four of his positions together and paint him as a liberal, but that doesn't make him a liberal."

The Dean campaign doesn’t view their man as anything like McGovern.  Spokesman Jay Carson sees mostly differences between Dean and McGovern:

"George McGovern is a good man, but this is a very different time, a different campaign, and governor Dean is a very different candidate," said Carson. "Despite all of the attempts of the press and his opponents to pigeonhole him and paint him as someone or something else, Howard Dean is always going to be Howard Dean." (12/26/2003)

Getting that old feeling

The Des Moines Register reports on how some are feeling like they are being used unfairly by Democrat candidates for President. That seems to be the case for Rev. Arthur Hilson of New Hope Baptist Church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He offered an appeal to candidates from his pulpit Sunday: "Don't come here because you want to use me or our people."

He was most critical of the Dean campaign, who wanted Rev. Hilson at the front door of the Church for a photo opportunity. The photo made the cover of Newsweek about how candidates were seeking votes in S. Carolina.

The swirl of these campaigns can be a bit much. (12/26/2003)

Poll watching

The polls by the American Research Group of Manchester, N.H., found Dean at 26 percent and Clark at 15 percent in Arizona with all others in single digits. In Oklahoma, Dean was at 24 percent, Clark at 21 percent and others in single digits. More than a third of voters were undecided in each of the two states. Joe Lieberman, who is placing a lot of emphasis on the Feb. 3 contests, was at 9 percent in both state polls.

In Arizona, Dick Gephardt had the backing of7 percent, John Kerry had the backing of 6 percent, John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich had 1 percent each, and Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton had the support of less than 1 percent.

In Oklahoma, Gephardt had the backing of 4 percent, Edwards had the backing of 3 percent, Kerry of 2 percent, and Braun, Kucinich and Sharpton had 1 percent each. (12/26/2003)

“Arthur Goldberg was a fine public servant -- secretary of labor, Supreme Court justice, ambassador to the United Nations -- but a dreadful candidate for governor of New York in 1970, when it was said that if he gave one more speech he would lose Canada, too. Howard Dean is becoming Goldbergean” -- writes George Will.

“Dean's dash from obscurity to dominance in the Democratic nomination contest may be the second-most impressive example of spontaneous political combustion in living memory. But consider what it is second to: George Wallace's 1968 achievement of getting his name on the presidential ballots of all 50 states” -- another quote from George Will.

(12/27/2003)

Dean’s corporate giving

As governor of Vermont, Howard Dean presided over the creation of a program that authorized $80.1 million in corporate tax credits without verifying that many of the companies had made good on promises to bring new jobs and investments to Vermont, according to a report by the state auditor's office.

The Report indicates Dean’s corporate tax giveaways contributed to a 44 percent decline in corporate tax receipts, from $57 million to $32 million, between fiscal years 1999 and 2002.

Dean constantly riles against President Bush for giving money away to corporations and falsely ties him to Enron as an example of Bush’s buddies getting away bad acts. However, The Boston Globe reports that Dean asked the committee overseeing the tax credits to relax the oversight on whether the companies would have expanded in Vermont without the tax credits. The audit reports states:

"The governor is reported to have directed the council to weaken its already questionable policy regarding the `but for' issue," the report states. "If an applicant's `but for' is weak, it means there is reason to believe the company would create jobs without the tax credits. If so, any credits awarded represent a potential waste of taxpayer money."

Dean’s tenure and closeness with the committee was well documented at the time. There was a lot of controversy about the tax giveaway because Vermont’s economy was going strong and legislators did not think that the state needed to be giving tax dollars away to big corporations.

The committee was also criticized for doing its business in secret and the chairman of the committee lied under oath about not taking minutes of the meeting. He was not prosecuted by the attorney general. The Globe reports on legislators’ dissatisfaction with Dean:

"Basically, they gave away state money in secret," Dean Corren -- a former state representative, a member of the Progressive Party, and a vocal critic of the program -- said in an interview. (12/27/2003)

Dean’s war troubles

The Manchester Union Leader has a headline that states “Dean not ready to pronounce Osama bin Laden guilty.” This legal style of foreign policy was abandoned by President Bush in favor of a preemptive policy that goes after the terrorist and doesn’t wait on law enforcement procedures to stop terrorists. This is in opposition to a quote run by the Associated Press where Dean says that he want bin Laden put to death:

“As a President, I would have to defend the process of the rule of law. But as an American, I want to make sure he gets the death penalty he deserves,” Dean told the AP in a phone interview.

The story not only covers Dean’s unease in placing the blame for 9-11 on Bin Laden before a trial, but questions Dean about his anti-war position being in opposition to American public opinion:

Asked how he would persuade people who were not opposed to the war to vote for him instead of President Bush, Dean responded, "By going after him on terrorism, where he's really weak."

Dean questioned whether the Bush administration's use of force against Iraq had anything to do with Libya's announcement that it will scrap its programs for weapons of mass destruction. (12/27/2003)

Dean on Madcow

Howard Dean, in an Associated Press story, was critical of the Bush administration for not pushing the origin of products legislation that Congress failed to pass. He also supports a financial aide package for the industry:

“What we need in this country is instant traceability,” he said.

Dean said such a system should have been set up quickly after the mad cow scare that devastated the British beef industry in the mid- to late-1990s.

“This just shows the complete lack of foresight by the Bush administration once again,” Dean said. “This is something that easily could be predicted and was predicted.”

Dean said as a result the beef industry will suffer enormously. Officials said yesterday 90 percent of the foreign markets for American beef have been closed off because of the announcement.

Asked if he supported a federal economic aid package for the industry, Dean said: “The answer is, yes, of course I do. The question is how much? And we don’t know how much yet.”  (12/27/2003

Dean’s Perfect Storm growing

Howard Dean’s campaign is getting more and more attention paid to the growing number of volunteers that are coming to Iowa. Dean’s website asks volunteers to come to Iowa to create the perfect storm to elect him. The Des Moines Register reports again today on who these people are and why they are showing up: "The reason that I'm here, as opposed to working back there, is that if everything works mathematically . . . by the time they roll around to Oregon, it will be a done deal," said Michael Lafferty, 51, co-owner of a computer parts repair business in Eugene, Ore.

Sioux City Meetup

The Sioux City Journal reports on a Dean Meetup in their city. It briefly explores the new technology being implemented in campaigns. What is significant is its account of the diverse group who met during the holidays in support of Dean:

The subject matter differs from location to location. The MeetUp at BA's was essentially a Bush-bashing session, with a few references thrown in on people as dissimilar as Paris Hilton and Richard Nixon. It was short of strategizing on how to pump up Dean's campaign and more a wide-ranging discussion of current events and politics. The half-dozen attendees, evenly split above and below age 40, sipped wine, beer and pop in the relaxed atmosphere of a darkened sideroom.

The meeting began with Enfield asking attendees to state why they supported Dean. Many said they liked Dean because he comes off as an unscripted straight talker. Lee Corbett of Sioux City she had been to a lot of Dean's campaign stops, but never to a MeetUp. Corbett, who steered much of the discussion, has another family member supporting Dean, as her son, Shane, volunteers for Dean at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

Sister Mary Lee Cox and John Taylor were at their sixth Dean Sioux City MeetUp. Taylor said such grassroots political movements were important, since the 2004 election will be a turning point for the U.S. (12/27/2003)

Dean’s enabling supporters

The LA Times reports on how Dean’s support is deaf, blind and dumb in support of Howard Dean:

Stumbles, such as Dean's remark about Confederate flag-wavers, and factual misstatements, such as his assertion that no other candidate was discussing race before white audiences, have not only failed to slow his momentum but redoubled the commitment of Dean supporters.

"It's about all of us saying [expletive] to all the pundits," said Michael Cannon, 49, a New Jersey state worker who attended a rally in Trenton with a Dean sweat shirt, T-shirt and button on the back of his cap.

"Whenever negative stories surface, that just proves to me that I should be behind him all the more," Cannon said.

When Dean makes mistakes on the campaign trial, it is just reinforced that Dean should act more stupid according to the article:

"It shows he's human," said Clifford Rames, 38, another Dean backer from New Jersey, who appropriated a blue-and-gold "Dean for America" sign as a souvenir from the McGreevey rally. "He's a person who goes to work every day and occasionally messes up," Rames said, which suggests that Dean would not only be "a human president, he would understand the average person."

But skeptics, fearful that Dean would be a disaster as the Democratic nominee, say he may be getting the wrong signal from his fervent followers, in the same way an ill-mannered child is indulged by overly protective parents.

"Whenever he screws up, the campaign is quick to point out that e-mail traffic is up, contributions over the Internet are up," said John Weaver, a former advisor to Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona who now consults for Democratic candidates. (12/27/2003)

Dean’s sealed papers

The NY Times reports on Howard Dean’s sealed papers. They show how memorandums negotiating the terms of sealing the documents took into consideration Dean’s future political ambitions. (12/27/2003)

Dean is hypocrite

Howard Dean had a secret committee that met on energy task force while he was Governor. In 1999, Dean offered the same argument the Bush administration uses today for keeping deliberations of a policy task force secret:

"The governor needs to receive advice from time to time in closed session. As every person in government knows, sometimes you get more open discussion when it's not public," Dean was quoted as saying.

Dean offered the following as reasons why his secret task force was different from Cheney’s. Dean said his group developed better policy, was bipartisan and sought advice not just from energy executives but environmentalists and low-income advocates. He said his task force was more open because it held one public hearing and divulged afterward the names of people it consulted even though the content of discussions with them was kept secret. (12/29/2003)

I am their leader

“If I don't win the nomination, where do you think those million and a half people, half a million on the Internet, where do you think they're going to go?" he said during a meeting with reporters. "I don't know where they're going to go. They're certainly not going to vote for a conventional Washington politician," said Howard Dean. Dean also complained about the Democratic National Committee and their lack of intervention in the race:

“If we had strong leadership in the Democratic Party, it would be calling the other candidates and saying somebody has to win here. If Ron Brown were chairman, this wouldn't be happening."

Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Debra DeShong rejected Dean's arguments, saying nothing unusual is happening:

"All of the Democratic presidential candidates including Governor Dean have been vigorous about drawing distinctions among themselves," she said. "Democratic primaries over the last 20 years have been just as tough and just as vigorous." (12/29/2003)

Dean and religion

"Let's get into a little religion here," Dean said at a morning meeting with voters in response to a question about his beliefs. "Don't you think Jerry Falwell reminds you a lot more of the Pharisees than he does of the teachings of Jesus? And don't you think this campaign ought to be about evicting the money changers from the temple?" said Howard Dean.

The Boston Globe reports Howard Dean showed how he’s going to use religion in his campaign during a Waterloo campaign stop. The story also covers the question of whether or not Dean can beat Bush:

"We don't think there is a reason to give up," Dean said in answer to a question from an audience member about the tone of his message. "This really is a campaign which is based much more on hope. Anger is part of it because I think we have a right to be angry, because our government has given us up for their corporate sponsors. But I also think this country was founded by ordinary people." (12/29/2003)

Bush’s mirror image?

The LA Times offers a look at how similar Dean is to Bush:

The real reason Bush and Dean appear to be twins beneath the skin is that their current political strategies and styles are so similar. Dean has ascended in the Democratic presidential race by defining himself as the anti-Bush… But in his approach to politics, Dean is now Bush's mirror image, the liberal equivalent of a conservative president. (12/29/2003)

Response to Dean

Howard Dean has generated a number of letters of response regarding his not prejudging Osama bin Laden for the admitted planning of the 9-11 attacks. Here is one letter from the NY Post:

Osama bin Laden has admitted planning the attacks of 9/11, but Howard Dean wants to give him the benefit of the doubt. That erases any doubt I might have had about voting for Dean. In my eyes, he's as present as the World Trade Towers. (12/29/2003)

Dean endorsed

Rep. Bob Menendez of New Jersey endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean in Waterloo on Saturday. Menendez, the House Democratic caucus chairman, is the highest-ranking Democrat to endorse Dean and the highest-ranking member of the House Democratic leadership to endorse a candidate other than Dick Gephardt. (12/29/2003)

Dean locked out

The local chapter of the steelworkers union has withdrawn permission for Democratic Presidential candidate Howard Dean to use its hall for a rally next week. National union leaders ordered Steelworkers Local 7898 to back out because the union has endorsed U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri in the nine-way race for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

Dean wanted to speak to the job losses of the steelworkers and others in South Carolina suffering from layoffs, a campaign spokeswoman said. “Being there with these workers who are really suffering at the hands of the Bush administration really appealed to him,” Delacey Skinner said.  (12/29/20030

"When he's attacked, he says it's time to take his marbles and go home," he said. "What does he think will happen if he gets the nomination? Does he think the Bush people will say, 'Let's have polite debate'? Who's he going to call then — his mother?" said Joe Lockhart.

"Governor Dean has said any one of these guys would be better than George Bush and would certainly urge his supporters to do the same, but our focus is on beating George Bush and on the 2 million people we hope to have behind us to do so," Dean’s spokeswoman Tricia Enright said.

"Dean will melt in a minute once Republicans start going after him," Joe Lieberman said.

"May we remind Mr. Lieberman that the reason more than half a million Americans are behind Howard Dean is because he alone stood up to George Bush?" said spokeswoman Tricia Enright. "It seems like the Washington candidates have figured out the only state they can run in: desperation."

"If I recall correctly, the first negative ad run in the state of Iowa was Howard Dean's ad against Mr. (Richard) Gephardt. And if I recall correctly, the first negative words uttered in the campaign were Howard Dean calling everyone else Bush Light and attacking Washington (D.C.),” John Kerry said.

"This idea where he said that if he doesn't get the nomination, that all of his supporters will stay home and sulk and not vote, I just think that's ridiculous," said Dick Gephardt.

"Howard Dean travels the country preaching the religion of balanced budgets in Vermont and how he had a reputation for fiscal innovation. But Howard Dean doesn't tell anyone that his first instinct to cut benefits and inflict harm on people with disabilities was overturned by the courts," Dick Gephardt said.

"In 1995, Howard Dean tried to cut nearly a million dollars from the Aid to the Aged, Blind and Disabled Program" without the Vermont Legislature's approval,” Gephardt said. "Vermont Legal Aid took Howard Dean to the Vermont Superior Court. Only then was Governor Dean stopped."

(12/30/2003)

Dean’s a cry baby

Joe Lieberman issued the following statement in response to Howard Dean's comments asking Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe to intervene in the primary race to protect him from his rivals' criticisms. Dean told the New York Times, "If we had strong leadership in the Democratic Party, it would be calling the other candidates and saying somebody has to win here. If Ron Brown were chairman, this wouldn't be happening.''

Lieberman's statement:

"Throughout this year, Howard Dean has repeatedly attacked other Democratic candidates. But when recently challenged on his own policies, misstatements and retractions, Dean responded by complaining to the party chairman that we're being mean to him.

"I've got news for Howard Dean: the primaries are a warm up compared to what George Bush and Karl Rove have waiting for the Democratic nominee. If Howard Dean can't stand the heat in the Democratic kitchen, he's going to melt in a minute once the Republicans start going after him.

"Voters deserve to know why Howard Dean wants to raise middle class taxes and why I want to cut them. They deserve to know why he wants to shut down markets abroad and why I want to open them up. And they deserve to know why he is abandoning Bill Clinton's policies and I want to build on them. It's a matter of being open and honest with the voters.

"But there's another kind of openness -- openness in government. We just found out that before Dick Cheney ever did it, Howard Dean tried to hide his secret energy task force records, and of course he's still trying to hide his gubernatorial records from Vermont.

"It appears to me that Howard Dean is doing his best to avoid honest discussion and open debate. That's going to hurt our party and nominee in November, because we're not going to deny George Bush a second term if we practice the politics of name-calling and secrecy as he has. That is increasingly the path that Howard Dean is following, and I believe that voters are looking for a different kind of leader -- one who fights for what's right and won't duck questions or ask the party to chairman to protect him." (12/30/2003)

Dean created his own problems

Rep. Dick Gephardt chides Howard Dean for calling for protection from the Democrat National Committee, “The race for the Democratic nomination should be a contest, not a coronation. Howard Dean has spent the last year criticizing me and other candidates at every opportunity. Now, as he makes a series of embarrassing gaffes that underscore the fact he is not well-equipped to challenge George Bush, he suddenly wants to change the rules of the game.’

"I said almost a year ago that this campaign should be a contest of ideas. Since that time, I have offered bold, innovative ideas that will create jobs, guarantee every American health care that can never be taken away and make us independent of Middle East oil. I want caucus and primary voters to judge us on our ideas and that's why we must have a vigorous debate on our records and proposals. Anything less would be an insult to Democratic voters," Gephardt said.

The NY Times reports that Dean called Democrat National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe to explain his comments on Monday.

The LA Times reports that McAuliffe will not interfere in the dispute, according to a spokeswoman:

McAuliffe is on vacation and could not be reached for comment Monday. But his spokeswoman, Debra DeShong, said he did not intend to intervene in the primary to stop the strife among the candidates… "Look, this Democratic primary is no different than any other over the last 20 years. Politics is a combat sport," she said… DeShong added that McAuliffe believes "that voters will decide for themselves" whether the attacks on Dean were justified. (12/30/2003)

Dean top fundraiser

The Howard Dean Campaign announced that it will raise nearly $14 million this quarter, making them the leading Democrat fundraising campaign. Senior Dean campaign adviser Paul Maslin bragged about what their campaign’s future will be:

"From a practical sense, this means we have the ability to sustain ourselves against Bush into the spring," Maslin said. "And by then, we aren't going to be talking about Dean raising $14 million per quarter. We'll be talking about $40- or $50-million quarters, maybe more."

Wesley Clark will have raised between $10 million and $12 million in the fourth quarter, for a total of almost $15 million since becoming a candidate. Clark will get an additional bump in January with an estimated $3.7 million worth of federal matching money, while Dean has declined public money.

 Sen. John Kerry also has declined federal funds. The remaining six candidates will all receive federal matching funds after Jan. 1. Kerry has raised more than $20 million for the year.

Sen. John Edwards expects an estimated $3.4 million in federal matching funds and refused to disclose how much he will raise in the fourth quarter. He raised $14.4 million in the first three quarters of the year. Expectations are that he would raise $20 million by the end of the year.

Campaign aides for Sen. Joe Lieberman said he will not raise as much as the $3.6 million raised in the third quarter, but will collect $3.6 million in federal funds. Lieberman previously raised $11.7 million through the first three quarters.

Rep. Dick Gephardt expects to raise about the same amount as in the third quarter when he took in about $3.8 million. In the first three quarters, he raised a total of $13.9 million, and his campaign expects more than $3 million in federal matching funds next year.

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich will have raised at least $1.5 million in the fourth quarter and will get $740,000 in matching funds. (12/30/2003)

Dean: Bush reckless

Howard Dean has charged that President Bush is reckless in recent days and major papers are covering the story. From Iraq to homeland security to public health, President Bush's "reckless" habit of placing "ideology over facts" has resulted in "the most dangerous administration in my lifetime, is the lead in many papers.

"If we are safer, how come we lost 10 more troops and raised the safety alert" to the orange level, Dean said in a stop Sunday night in Ankeny, Iowa.

The Washington Post reports that Dean is widening his attack on Bush. Some believe it is an attempt to deflect recent revelations concerning Dean’s actions as Governor of Vermont:

Dean has rocketed to the top of the Democratic presidential field with his sharp attacks on Bush, especially on the war in Iraq. Far from backing off his earlier comment about Hussein, Dean has broadened the critique, adding mad cow disease, the national deficit, HIV-AIDS and homeland security to the list of safety failures during Bush's tenure.

"National security and economic security are the touchstones of the election," he said in the interview after a rally Monday in Green Bay, Wis. "I think the president has been fairly reckless in just about every area I can think of."  (12/30/2003)

Dean defends secrecy

The Howard Dean campaign continues to defend Dean’s secret energy committee while Governor of Vermont. Dean's campaign said it was "laughable" to compare the two task forces. "Governor Dean confronted and averted an energy crisis that would have had disastrous consequences for the citizens of Vermont by bringing together a bipartisan and ideologically diverse working group that solved the problem. Dick Cheney put together a group of his corporate cronies and partisan political contributors, and they gave themselves billions and disguised it as a national energy policy," spokesman Jay Carson said yesterday. (12/30/2003)

Dean to strengthen cities

Howard Dean announced an Initiative to Strengthen America's Cities. Dean chose to announce the initiative in Detroit. He stated that Detroit is one of the cities hardest hit by the Bush economy. He outlined a package that includes plans to create jobs, provide credit for urban businesses, boost wages, and strengthen affordable housing.

Dean made sure that he did not criticize former President Bill Clinton the way he did when he announced his grand plan for rebuilding America with a new social contract. This time he claims to be building on Clinton’s record.

"Under President Clinton, our cities were making great strides, and there was no reason to reverse course. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration simply is not listening to our mayors, to entrepreneurs, or to the people of America's cities," Dean said. "We cannot afford to waste four more years under an Administration that ignores the potential as well as the problems of our cities."

"Families in America's metro areas face a high cost of living," Dean said. "If they're working hard and playing by the rules, they shouldn't have to struggle so hard to make ends meet. That's why my initiative is aimed at creating jobs, promoting investment in small business, boosting wages and helping families afford housing."

“America's cities and metropolitan areas are enormously important to America's economy and future. They are home to almost 85 percent of all jobs and 80 percent of all our people. In an economy increasingly based on ideas and innovation, America's cities and metro areas, with their major research universities, cultural attractions, broad diversity, new immigrants and educated workers, can be engines of growth. They boost jobs and prosperity not just for city residents but for all of us. Unfortunately, with the wrong policies, our metro areas can also see unemployment and crime, abandoned buildings and traffic gridlock, fear and hopelessness.”

To address these issues, the Dean program builds on many of the successful initiatives of the Clinton Administration, which made addressing the needs of urban America a real priority. Governor Dean's program includes four key commitments:

·        To create jobs, through a $100 billion Fund To Restore America, aimed at adding at least a million jobs in the first two years. Cities and regions will use these funds to create jobs in education, health care, homeland security, and other critical areas. Metro areas hit hardest by the Bush economy will get the most assistance. And the new fund will support pioneering local programs that help create, promote, and retain good jobs, and train workers, in disadvantaged communities.

·        To provide credit that helps Americans start their own businesses and promotes urban investment: by creating a Small Business Capital Corporation to invest $1 billion in new loans, especially for smaller businesses like urban start-ups, and create 100,000 new small business jobs in the first three years; by championing the New Markets Tax Credit, which promotes billions of dollars in private sector investment and jobs, such as in factories, high-tech companies, and retail businesses, in low-income communities; by supporting aggressive enforcement of the Community Reinvestment Act, which for two decades has helped channel tens of billions in investments into urban neighborhoods, boosting businesses and housing; and by supporting programs that assist small disadvantaged businesses.

·        To boost wages, by pressing Congress to move toward a minimum wage of $7.00 per hour, by acting to protect worker overtime pay, by expanding unemployment benefits to cover more low-wage and part-time workers, and by extending unemployment benefits until we can reverse the effects of the Bush economy.

·        To strengthen affordable housing, by creating a National Housing Trust Fund, a proposal supported by thousands of community leaders and organizations and comparable to the innovative Housing and Conservation Trust Fund that Dean championed as Governor of Vermont. The national fund would provide a permanent source of funding to build, rehabilitate and preserve affordable housing for low and moderate income families. It would help provide hundred of thousands of new homes and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. In addition, to help cities make the right local choices about how to revitalize neighborhoods, create jobs, build parks and child care centers, as well as to increase affordable housing, Gov. Dean will double the Community Development Block Grant to $10 billion.

Dean's urban initiative is a comprehensive program that also includes commitments to address crime, violence and drug abuse, to crack down on predatory lending, to strengthen investment in education and pre-school programs, and to reduce sprawl and promote smart planning. (12/30/2003)

Unions in Iowa

The Chicago Tribune covers the conflict between unions and within unions over the Howard Dean versus Dick Gephardt race:

"Those Democrats who voted for Dick Gephardt in 1988 will have to look at themselves in the mirror on caucus night and ask themselves: Do they want to bet on this horse again?" Leonard asked. (Sarah Leonard is press secretary for Dean in Iowa.)

Most of the unions in Iowa have endorsed Dick Gephardt and the service unions -- namely AFSCME -- has gone with Dean. Therein lies the problem.

For the Democrats, it is unions more than any other group that provides that organization. The unions run the machinery of politics that gets large numbers of people to the polls--phone banks, direct mail, door knocking, not to mention money to fund such efforts. And the exercise is not all home-grown; this is where the unions' national muscle gets a workout too.

The question is whether the long-standing loyalty for Gephardt will result in defections in the service unions. After all even Marcia Nichols, legislative political director for AFSCME Council 61 was a supporter of Gephardt before the national union endorsed Dean. (12/30/2003)

Poll watching

The American Research Group Inc. poll among random New Hampshire voters likely to vote in the Jan. 27 Democratic primary shows Howard Dean in the lead:

Howard Dean: 37 percent

John Kerry: 19 percent

Undecided: 18 percent

Wes Clark: 12 percent

Joe Lieberman: 6 percent

Dick Gephardt: 4 percent

John Edwards: 3 percent

Dennis Kucinich: 1 percent

Al Sharpton/Carol Moseley Braun: 0 percent  (12/30/2003)

"It seems like he's [Howard Dean] come down with a case of `mad mouth' disease," said Democratic strategist James Carville. "He may be candid, but there is the glory of the unspoken thought here."

"... I drive my campaign crazy, because I say it first and then I go look at the polls. ... But if you don't talk to people from your heart, you can't win," said Howard Dean.

Mr. Marshall, writing at www.talkingpointsmemo.com, said: "I don't care if Dean says he'll endorse whoever wins. He's playing the defection card. And that crosses the line.”

(12/31/2003)

The reason for everything

Dick Morris offers an explanation for why things are as they are:

"Because George W. Bush is attracting moderates with his forthright stand against terrorism, his willingness to go to war to defend our security, and his relatively compassionate social agenda, he is winning over Democrats and independents who might once have voted against him," Dick Morris writes in the New York Post.

"Those moderates who remain Democrats find themselves weakened by the defection of these moderates and become outvoted in the Democratic primaries," Mr. Morris said.

"This phenomenon is precisely why Joseph Lieberman is losing to Howard Dean in the Democratic race for president. His constituency is voting for Bush and has left his party.

"But Bush's strong Republican stands on the war in Iraq, defense spending, intrusive measures to fight domestic terrorism, support for conservative judges and opposition to powerful environmental measures leads the Democratic left to oppose him in ever-stronger terms.

"The increase in their vitriol, donations, activism, and primary-election turnout that this anger generates swamps the outnumbered moderates and leads to the nomination of an extremist like Howard Dean as the party nominee." (12/31/2003)

Democrats’ brawl

The Associated Press has a story carried in the Manchester Union Leader that reports Republicans like the spectacle of Democrats brawling away:

Republican strategists, meanwhile, are watching it all with barely contained glee.

"They are beginning to really gouge this guy," Republican pollster Bill McInturff said about Dean, chuckling. "Look at Howard Dean and, as a Republican, think about the advertising we're going to run."

McInturff said Republicans could use John Kerry's quotes about Dean wanting to tax the middle class, or the "wonderful attack" from Wesley Clark about Dean's draft status or the "terrific comments" from Joe Lieberman about Dean's stance on Saddam Hussein's capture. (12/31/2003)

Dean campaign raises stink

The Des Moines Register reports on Howard Dean’s latest campaign claims and opponents’ reactions -- from Sen. John Kerry and Rep. Dick Gephardt:

Kerry complained that Dean put out false information about his congressional record… Other sparks over Democratic candidates' farm stances flew Tuesday when Missouri Congressman Dick Gephardt accused Dean, a former Vermont governor, of making an "absurd" claim in a Wisconsin newspaper that Dean was the only candidate from a farm state. Gephardt said Missouri has 110,000 farms, and Vermont has 6,600.

Problems and conflicting statements arose when Dean's campaign released a statement from Chris Petersen, vice president of the Iowa Farmers Union, to members of the group, praising Dean's stance on agricultural issues and finding fault with Kerry. Petersen accused Kerry of failing to support Iowa farmers flood relief and support for Republican’s Freedom to Farm Act of 1996. Kerry said the accusations were not true. (12/31/2003)

Dean trying in S. Carolina

The Charlotte Observer reports that Dean doesn’t attract many Blacks in his latest foray into S. Carolina:

As in Iowa and New Hampshire, whose Democratic contests come before South Carolina's, Dean's S.C. support is concentrated among white upper-middle class voters, few of whom have been active in Democratic Party politics previously. The crowd Tuesday in Georgetown appeared to be largely made up of that demographic group.

But political observers say that won't be enough for Dean to win South Carolina; between 50 percent and 65 percent of the S.C. primary turnout is expected to be African American. The big majority of voters will also be party regulars, Democratic leaders say. Tuesday's campaign trip showed that Dean is working on broadening his bases, but it also showed that he has a long way to go. (12/31/2003)

Al Gore: send Dean money

The Des Moines Register reports on Al Gore’s participation in Howard Dean’s conference call to 1,400 gatherings across America. Gore offered the following comment before introducing Dean:

“People can participate not just by voting, which is crucially important, but also by being active and not just feeling frustration or anger or whatever, but turning it into positive action and creating hope for change," Gore said.

The Dean campaign said that they were talking to Gore regarding his coming to Iowa. Gore also urged supporters to send Dean more money. Dean’s Democratic presidential campaign raised an estimated $500,000 at more than 1,400 house parties across the country in a drive to swell his thriving campaign account.

Campaign aides said Wednesday that an estimated 22,000 people attended the parties, and an additional 1,675 people dialed in to hear Dean's conference call to the events. By midmorning, the Dean campaign had raised $14.7 million in the final quarter of the year. (12/31/2003)

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