Dean Wants Party Leader to Slow Rivals' Attacks - NYT

AMES, Iowa, Dec. 28 Ñ Complaining about the torrent of attacks raining down on him from his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, Howard Dean on Sunday criticized his party's national chairman, Terry McAuliffe, for not intervening to tone down the debate.

"If we had strong leadership in the Democratic Party, they would be calling those other candidates and saying, `Hey look, somebody's going to have to win here,' " Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, told reporters trailing him as he campaigned through central Iowa. Referring to one of Mr. McAuliffe's predecessors, he added, "If Ron Brown were the chairman, this wouldn't be happening."

(snip)

In Ames, Dr. Dean repeated his promise to support whichever Democrat wins. "Any of them are better than what we've got right now," he said. But, he added, "you can't beat George Bush if you behave like the Democrats are behaving."

more...

Can't say it better than the Doc himself there.

But, he added, "you can't beat George Bush if you behave like the Democrats are behaving." -Howard Dean

He again speaks as if he is not a Democrat himself--"those guys" as Dean like to call his opponents, are Democrats. Dean seems to separate himself from his own party when he speaks like this.

the democratic party. That's WHY he's going to be the nominee. He's leading the demos back to democratic ideals and making a distinction between himself and the pro-war, pro-Repub, pro-Bush democrats. Everybody's not going to be happy and one has to accept it.

Dean '04...

and help elect Dean, the only Dem who can win.

:hi:

Mommy make them stop! :cry:

Dean can dish it out but can't take it.

What a lousy politician.

that has not been direct responses to attacks on him.

I keep hearing supporters of other candidates claim that Dean is always attacking the others. I've never seen any such thing. I suppose you might be talking about him saying you can't beat Bush by being "Bush Lite", referring to all those votes some of the candidates made in support of Bush's agenda. But frankly, voters already felt that way long before Dean made that comment. Sorry, but that one comment doesn't come anywhere close to comparing to the attacks the others have made on Dean.

Again...if you're going to make such a claim, kindly back it up with links, sources and citations.

That's just a start... it'd be a mighty long thread if we listed Dean's attacks on Kerry et al since he entered the race.

You know, that you would even post this is just bizarre.

You truely don't seem aware of the actual words coming out of Dean's mouth.

I think the "Phenomenon" aspect has blinded his supporters.

then Gov. Dean was speaking the truth and as Harry Truman says, "I tell them the truth and they think it's hell."

A registered indepedent who most recently voted Clinton, Clinton, Gore is hardly a "republican." Gov Dean was misspeaking and so are you.

This part had me laughing:

"Mr. McAuliffe could not be reached for comment Sunday. Debra DeShong, the party's communications director, said Mr. McAuliffe would be "handing the nominee, whoever that person may be, a very strong" party organization."

Handing the nominee a very strong party organization? What kind of crack are they smokin' over at the DNC?? Strong party organization???

:wtf:

So he better get used to it.

NYT: "If we had strong leadership in the Democratic Party, they would be calling those other candidates and saying, `Hey look, somebody's going to have to win here,' " Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, told reporters trailing him as he campaigned through central Iowa. Referring to one of Mr. McAuliffe's predecessors, he added, "If Ron Brown were the chairman, this wouldn't be happening."

Yahoo AP: He added: "If we had strong leadership in the Democratic Party, it would be calling the other candidates and saying somebody has to win here. If (former Democratic National Committee (news - web sites) head) Ron Brown were chairman, this wouldn't be happening."

I'm sure I don't understand the dupe rule. It's still the same story. My mind observes patterns.

the pulse of US voters.

Meanwhile, establishment Dems are still wondering why we're angry at them.

:nopity:

You think the DLC did a hatchet job on Dean, just wait till they unleach on Dennis.

People left of Lieberman gotta know their place, at least according to some.

Dennis WILL get a bump into "the discussion" before this is said and done.

mommy..make them stop

we are soooo screwed..........

Don't tell me Terry McCauliff can't dig up who created and paid for that ad.

There's a big difference between vigorous debate of the issues and a completely innaccurate slash-and-burn campaign ad.

The reason it was utterly innaccurate was because it featured Osama. Dean said since September 2002 that we should not have gone into Iraq, and one of the reason he gave for not going into Iraq was because the job wasn't finished in Afghanistan. Dean was the ONLY candidate who really wanted the military focused on hunting Osama.

McCauliff should be forced to reveal who paid for that ad or resign as Party chair.

WHAT GAVE IT to him this time, he tells NEWSWEEK, was his experience last year overseeing a joint House-Senate inquiry into the events of 9-11. Graham says he became “outraged” by the intelligence and law-enforcement failures discovered by the inquiry—most of which, he charges, are still being suppressed by the Bush administration. The inquiry’s 400-page report can’t be publicly released because the administration won’t declassify key portions. Graham says the report documents far more miscues by the FBI and CIA than have been publicly revealed, as well as still unpursued leads pointing to “facilitation” of the hijackers by a “sovereign nation.” (Sources say the country is Saudi Arabia.) “There’s been a cover-up of this,” Graham said.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/879530.asp
http://www.democraticunderground.com/cgi-bin/duforum/duboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=16629&forum=DCForumID61

Will the bad blood and attacks and undermining cease after the nomination is over, regardless of who wins? Or will MacAuliffe allow it to continue? If he does, we are in deep $#!+.

will start a third party.

The "Roll-Over-And-Play-Dead-While-Kissing-Bush's-Ass" Party.

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as Dean.

OK. Maybe Sharpton and maybe Kucinich. But next isn't even close.

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In his attacks on Bush.

You choice of words perfectly captured the best case that can be made for attacking Dean and other potential nominees.

because no one is attacking Bush more than Dean.

and your blaming Dean for Bush's numbers is so far out in left field I don't even know how to respond.

Maybe Kerry's numbers are Dean's fault too?

"Fuck the little asshole"???

That'll be president Asshole to you, someday soon. Get used to it...

about Howard Dean before the election and he wants to shut them up? I dislike this guy more each day. He starts with smears against the other candidates and now he wants to whine when the truth is used against him. I guess he's gotten spoiled by the cheerleading from the corporate press. Since that will end in the general election if he is the nominee he'd better get use to it.

Where's the fight now that the other candidates are fighting back?

"If we had strong leadership in the Democratic Party, they would be calling those other candidates and saying, `Hey look, somebody's going to have to win here,' " Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, told reporters trailing him as he campaigned through central Iowa. Referring to one of Mr. McAuliffe's predecessors, he added, "If Ron Brown (i.e. Al Gore) were the chairman, this wouldn't be happening."

Who came up with Bushlite, Cockroaches, and Crypto-Republicans to describe other Democrats?

yeah....that'll work.

we are soooo screwed.....

Now that he's ahead, he want's the ref to intervene. This is ridiculous. You couldn't pull that on any recess playground and get away with it, and yet, there he is. He's literally brutalized the others from the beginning, and now he wants to change the tone of things to maintain his lead.

This plays terribly; it reeks of privilege. Much of the air of moral superiority of the more strident of his supporters is ruinous to the cause in the general public. Add that to another statement that he won't necessarily be able to corral his supporters for another nominee, and it's quite a foul affair.

The man's within an ace of saying that nobody else is worthy of being the standard bearer.

What a most unlikable fellow.

Look folks, do you not understand that character issues like these are paramount in an election? This is pomposity beyond hypocrisy; it's a demand to maintain a double standard and dictate the change of comportment at will. Euuuuuh.

i know they are polling like mad right now and boy, would i ever love to se what those polls are telling them. it can't be good.

we are soooo screwed..........

"Look folks, do you not understand that character issues like these are paramount in an election?"

Against George W. Bush? Are you kidding?

I'm actually beginning to feel a little better about the prospect of a Dean candidacy. The idealist in me likes Clark, but the cynic in me kind of likes Dean.}(

With everything people here are saying about him being true, it may mean that he really can beat Bush.

i'd like a good night's sleep for a change...

that I substantially agree with the sentiments being expressed on this thread but, in going up against someone like George W Bush, it may actually prove to be an advantage for Howard Dean.

Anyway, if he's the nominee, all we can do is just see how it plays out.

Not one vote has been cast in the primaries.

This statement raises several questions:

1) Will a man who is this thin-skinned implode under the bombardment that is coming from the Republicans?

2) If this man becomes the leader of the Democratic party, would he run it with an autocratic, authoritarian hand?

3) If this man is electable, as his supporters claim, then why does he alienate more Democrats every day? If he's not capable of uniting our party, then what kind of job would he do with international diplomacy?

1...i hope we will never have to find out.

2...considering the tactics of dean supporters, i'm more afraid of what happens when this attitude hits the white house. just more of bush's secrecy and bullying. meet the new boss...same as the old boss but with a D behind his name.

3....i'm looking for that story where dean talks about needing to be restrained because he has such a hot temper...anyone have the link?

we are soooo screwed..........

It's very funny, bear, that very song quote has been going through my mind for a couple of weeks when I think about Dean.

.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=37076

Voting began this morning, in the District of Columbia. We've started!

The first vote, cast by Tim Cooper, went to Governor Howard Dean, M.D. (says Tim).

With the likes of Kerry complaining about Dean's anger, who needs Republicans? The Republicans don't have to lift a finger because Kerry is so fixated on taking down Dean he doesn't seem to undersand or care where the real threat to the country is. Tells you something about his priorities.

With the likes of Dean calling fellow Democrats "cockroaches" the Republicans won't have to lift a finger.

Somebody needs to crack the whip on them. What damn good have they been? They can't even use some of the issues as campaign fodder because they were complicit in inacting it.

And he's tearing it apart.

He's doing his best to insure four more years of Bush.

And with Dean as our nominee, we couldn't use any of the following issues:

* The secrecy of the Bush government

* Cheney's energy meetings

* Corporate favoritism

* AWOL's military record

* Better international leadership

* Better ideas for national security

because he challenged the leadership elite and appealed to the base?

Yeah, our party really has the winning strategy: ripping apart our own candidates to support Bush's win. Better think about tha,. because the truth is, they can shred any of our candidates on anything---doesn't even have to be true. At all times the focus should be on Bush and his crimes, his failures, not in providing the case for our own reasons to lose.

Computer literate geeks?

What about the sizeable number of citizens who are computer shy, lack any technical skills, or have eschewed computers altogether? What about the folks who can't afford computers or the Internet and who have to struggle to simply survive? What about the older people who have been left behind by the Internet revolution and who need the Democratic party more than ever?

Yes, Dean's Internet strategy has been quite effective. And web blogs are breaking stories which the conventional media has missed. But to equate an Internet phenomenon with the Democratic "base" is nonsense.

You also seem to conveniently ignore the fact that Dean has been the leading pit bull in the Democratic race. And now he wants to call the dogs off?

If he's strong and mature enough to handle Rove & Co. then he will withstand any legitimate questions raised by other Democratic contenders.

Like any of the other candidates have advantages with any of the other consituencies?

What heat from the repugs? The repugs float somethingm like anger and the Dems run with it. Who needs repugs?

As if technically and educationally advantaged white voters own the base.

No, wait, the Republicans claim that base.

As if people like me aren't part of the base. Lifelong liberal Democrat, lesbian, urban dweller, antiwar, who has lived in integrated environments for decades. A pragmatic person who believes that four more years of Bush is a terrifying thought and is a much more important topic than the DLC.

Naw, ya gotta be a Dean supporter to be part of the "base."

must be in the wrong party then? As if people like me aren't part of the base...I suppose I could play that game. Actually.. would make a better socialist myself. ;-)

Your point?

or do you think Dean already has nomination wrapped up, so he doesn't need any other dem. voters?

?

it must be bigger than Kerry's. And if Dean ain't making waves, how come he has so many here in an uproar? Shouldn't Lieberman be rallying the numbers, since according to you, he seems to be what most folks want?

The combination made me laugh out loud - sadly.

First Kerry and the other candidates are bad bad bad because they criticize Dean - giving Republicans fodder.

Then, when asked about Dean's criticism of other Dem candidates, the reply is - of course, entirely justified.

Way to go Dean!

They attack Dean with Republican talking points--like Dean is "too angry"(so much for the "death of outrage", eh Bill Bennett, you hypocritical sack of sanctimonious crap)--they can kiss my ass.

Dean is attacking the other Dem candidates because he is the frontrunner, and wants to keep it that way. Now that he is the frontrunner, he wants the other candidates to stop attacking, so he can stay the frontrunner.

The other candidates are attacking Dean because they don't want him to be the front runner.

Its a primary, that is how it works.

If it is fair for Dean to attack other candidates, it is fair for other candidates to attack Dean.

Me, I say I'd like more civility, more dignity. But only if the playing field is level (all players behaving in the same manner).

Edit to correct spelling and to add to last sentence.

"These politicians are acting like children throwing their marbles at the one who beat them. In this, they display their bitterness not simply at Dean but at the growing legions of Democratic voters who support him. In Washington, the pros worry that these attacks can only help Bush if Dean gains the nomination. But the energy unleashed by the remarkable Dean campaign will continue to grow.

And no matter who gets the nomination, the real question of the election will be whether voters want to fire George Bush or not. Remember, the last insurgent Democrat to win, Bill Clinton, was introduced to most Americans as a man who cheated on his wife, claimed he didn't inhale, ducked the draft and wore boxers, not briefs. Clinton won because voters wanted to get rid of George the First. And like Clinton but unlike his petulant opponents, Dean will at least remind voters clearly of why getting rid of George the Second is equally necessary."


http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040112&s=editors

Dean hasn't beaten anybody yet.

And he won't beat anybody if he continues his whining and if he doesn't unify the party behind him.

unify the party, attacks from within the party, hmmm.

I hope he doesn't and lets this die, it will only draw attention to the rift growing in the party and rove will enjoy it too much.

ROFL.

It's the primaries. Every candidate who won or lost got through it.
HD already had Gore, media playing favorites. The attack ad has been taken off the site - not even W got results like this. This primaries start looking like the banana republic elections of my youth: someone, take my opponents to the shed, I can't win if I am attacked. Or, like Scalia's argument: counting votes would be agaist W's interest - it would create the appearance he didn't win...
I have news for you: no candidate is entitled to win the primaries. Not EVEN HD!

And what's with the constant whining? Maybe Al should mention '88 and Willie Horton.

"Petulance is seldom considered a prime presidential attribute. George W. Bush's smirk notwithstanding, Americans prefer adults as Presidents. That makes the poisonous attacks unleashed on Howard Dean by other contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination doubly noxious. These desperate Democrats are writing the script for Bush's future TV ads in unfounded assaults on Dean while providing ample evidence to Democratic voters that they are unfit to lead..."

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040112&s=editors

This from the Nation, who had no problem publishing a hate piece on Wesley Clark written by a known supporter of Milosevic without so much as a footnote?

The Nation asking us to back off legitimate concerns about Dean because we would hurt his chances in the general election?

I'd feel a whole lot better about accepting the Nation's view if they weren't saying it only about the candidate they happen to support. If they said it about all Democrats including Dean, then the Nation would have my support.

Sounds like, be careful what you say.....it will be noted in the building...

like being...."too angry" for example.

because that is how they are acting.

These whining Dems dissed the Dem base last year during the lead-up to the IWR vote and now they are getting a taste of their own bitter medicine. Karma is a b*tch!

the man has no guts. What a wimpering crybaby. What an embarrassment if we nominate him.

:eyes:

to kiss the hem of the Chimp's robe and give him everything he wants. Doesn't leave much for the Dems to run against since they okayed all the Chimp's botched-up messes from education to illegal wars.

Who will Dean complain to in the general election?

He and his are expected to attack...Who on his side would attack him? After all, they want to win.

was one of the first candidates to start "bashing" other candidates, I think Sir Howard needs to take his blankie and go sit in a corner for a timeout until he learns how to take what he dishes out.

"you can't beat George Bush if you behave like the Democrats are behaving."

Waaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaah! :cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry:

Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean yesterday blasted new 2004 candidate Wesley Clark as "a Republican until 25 days ago" who has become the "desperation" candidate for establishment Democrats.

"What you see in the Wes Clark candidacy is somewhat of a desperation by inside-the-Beltway politicians," Dean told the CBS program "Face the Nation."

"You've got a lot of establishment politicians now surrounding a general who was a Republican until 25 days ago, voted for Ronald Reagan, voted for Dick Nixon, supported the war last October."

Howie needs to look in the mirror.

Please continue the discussion here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=36151&mesg_id=36151



Thank you.

DU Moderator