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Expensive Fun
Howard Dean needs to grow up.

By William Saletan
Posted Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003, at 9:52 AM PT

"We're going to have a little fun at the president's expense."

That's what Howard Dean often says with a smile as he tears into President Bush. It's one of Dean's favorite themes. The van he campaigned in last summer bore the license plate "McFun." Now Dean is having fun again, this time at the expense of his own party.

The latest fun started on Dec. 18. In a speech that day, Dean said, "While Bill Clinton 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." Was Dean belittling Clinton? Dean's aides said no. But on Dec. 22, Dean was at it again. He told an audience that to win the White House, he would need support from all Democrats, "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."

Republican wing? The Democratic Leadership Council is the organization Bill Clinton co-founded in 1985 to represent moderate and conservative Democrats. Clinton called this constituency "us." Dean calls it "them."

When Dean was asked the next day about his jab at the DLC, he explained, "I was having a little fun at their expense. They've had eight months of fun at my expense. I figured I owed them a day of fun at their expense."

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