Democrats dogpile on Howard Dean

[Jobber of the Week 0]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...5-2003Oct1.html

 

Presidential candidate Howard Dean has excelled throughout his political career by speaking bluntly, usually unscripted, about the problems facing the country. Now, his words are coming back to haunt him on the campaign trail.

 

Dean's rivals and some Democratic strategists see the former Vermont governor's comments past and present as among his biggest liabilities. Sens. John F. Kerry (Mass.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) are turning Dean's words against him almost daily, calling into question his commitment to Democratic causes such as Medicare and the Middle East, and portraying him as a flip-flopper on other issues. Since running for president, Dean has switched his position on at least three politically sensitive topics: Social Security, free trade and the Cuba trade embargo. In all three cases, his new position comports with the views of the key voters he is courting.

 

"Howard Dean has tried to reinvent his record on a lot of issues in this campaign because time after time . . . he is on the wrong side of seniors and working families," Kerry said recently.

 

If the charges stick, they could undermine Dean's appeal as the political outsider willing to tell it like it is, strategists said.

 

"He'd have to go a long way to alienate" his committed supporters, many of whom are new to politics, said Democratic strategist Joe Lockhart, a former spokesman for President Bill Clinton. "The problem for him is he can't win with just those people. He needs some of the people who regularly participate in the process. Those people still have reservations, and this back-and-forth plays into those reservations."

 

From debates to television interviews, Dean's words are becoming an unwelcome distraction for his campaign. On CBS's "Face the Nation" last weekend, Dean spent most of his time fending off attacks generated by other candidates over Social Security, Medicare and trade. "I have changed on some of the issues," Dean said. "That's one of the hallmarks of who I am: I am a doctor; I believe that if you have a theory and a fact comes along that changes the theory, then you throw out the theory." Dean faced similar scrutiny in last week's debate in New York, prompting the Vermont Democrat to caution his opponents that Bush, not he, is the "enemy" in this campaign.

 

Weeks of relentless pounding are showing few signs of eroding Dean's support among Democratic voters. Recent polls show Dean leading in New Hampshire and Iowa, two key early testing grounds. Dean is also on pace to raise more than twice, and perhaps three times, as much as his nearest rivals this quarter and is continuing to draw easily the largest crowds of all the candidates.

 

Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign manager, said the criticism is backfiring, as supporters and donors rally around the Vermont Democrat after each personal attack. Dean's advisers, however, noted that if Gephardt and the others spend millions of dollars on ads focused on these issues, they anticipate Dean's poll numbers will drop. Trippi said the trick now is to communicate Dean's positions clearly amid the onslaught.

 

Dean's comments over the past decade show that, perhaps more than any other candidate in the field, he has switched or modified key positions as a presidential contender. Because he rarely speaks from scripts, he also tends to make more off-the-cuff statements that land him in hot water. Kerry recently said Dean makes way too many verbal "gaffes" to be president.

 

Dean is getting hit the hardest over Medicare. Gephardt and others have accused Dean of siding with then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) in the 1995 fight to slow the growth of Medicare from 10 percent to 7 percent. Dean last weekend said the charge is false, but it is not.

 

Although Dean never explicitly said he was siding with Gingrich, he did endorse a GOP proposal, backed by the then-speaker, to slow Medicare's growth. He told a Vermont newspaper in 1995 that he could "fully subscribe" to slowing the rate of the program's growth to 7 percent, which would have been tantamount to cutting Medicare spending.

 

Dean is trying to blur the issue by saying he sided with Clinton in the fight because Clinton eventually signed a bill, in 1997, trimming Medicare's growth. But that bill scaled back the growth by $115 billion over five years, compared with the $270 billion over seven years that Dean had advocated. In 1995, Clinton opposed the plan endorsed by Dean. Jeremy Ben-Ami, Dean's policy adviser, said Dean was not alone among Democrats backing changes to Medicare in 1995, but that was a minority view in the party.

 

On Social Security, Gephardt and others have criticized Dean for saying in the 1990s that he wanted to raise the program's retirement age to 70, and, as recently as June, he said he would "entertain" lifting it to 68. Since then, Dean has switched his position and now opposes any change in the age at which one can receive full retirement benefits. Under current law, the retirement age varies from 65 years and two months to 67, depending on when one was born.

 

On trade, Dean is getting hit by Gephardt for expressing too much support for free trade and by Kerry for not expressing enough. Gephardt is seizing on Dean's verbal support in the 1990s for the North American Free Trade Agreement and for allowing China into the World Trade Organization, which broke down trade barriers for China. Dean now wants to renegotiate NAFTA and to demand stiffer labor standards, and he frequently condemns China's trade practices.

 

Kerry has hit Dean for suggesting the United States should demand that its trading partners meet U.S. environmental and labor standards, which would dramatically curtail foreign trade because most nations could not meet them. Dean has since backtracked and has said other nations should "eventually" meet U.S. standards, but he has not stated how quickly. "He's an impatient person," Ben-Ami said. "He tends to talk about [forcing countries to adopt U.S. labor standards] as soon as possible, rather than being a matter of decades."

 

Dean's advisers said the candidate sometimes get himself in trouble by choosing the wrong words. They said his evolving position on the Middle East is a perfect example.

 

On the Middle East, Kerry and Lieberman have accused Dean of sending mixed signals regarding the peace talks. He has. Dean told a New Mexico audience several weeks ago that the United States should not pick sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. When asked a few days later by The Washington Post if he stood by his comment, Dean backtracked, saying the United States should pursue an "even-handed" approach.

 

Soon after, under pressure from the Jewish community, an influential Democratic constituency that considers the use of phrases such as "even-handed" as a softening of the U.S. government's pro-Israel stance, Dean emphasized that his Middle East policies would be no different from Clinton's.

 

Dean also generated controversy by calling the suicide bombers of the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, soldiers, not terrorists, and by suggesting that Israel should dismantle the "enormous" number of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. He has since said negotiators should decide the settlement issue.

 

In all four issues, Dean aides chalked up the miscommunication to a "poor" choice of words.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

Gephardt comparing Dean to Gingrich is hilariously desperate; they even set up a website based around five quotes (I believe) that Dean said back in 1995 about Medicare reform.

 

In other news, Dean raised 10 million dollars more than any other candidate this quarter.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

Gephardt comparing Dean to Gingrich is hilariously desperate; they even set up a website based around five quotes (I believe) that Dean said back in 1995 about Medicare reform.

 

In other news, Dean raised 10 million dollars more than any other candidate this quarter.

 

I'm so passionate about this subject that I double posted for emphasis.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Dean's comments over the past decade show that, perhaps more than any other candidate in the field, he has switched or modified key positions as a presidential contender. Because he rarely speaks from scripts, he also tends to make more off-the-cuff statements that land him in hot water. Kerry recently said Dean makes way too many verbal "gaffes" to be president.

Oh Lord -- so that's what makes a POTUS now?

 

So political rivals are attacking a front-runner over stuff he said years ago.

 

And in other news, the sun is about to set in the West, for the 1,000,000,000,000+ consecutive time...

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

And in other news, the sun is about to set in the West, for the 1,000,000,000,000+ consecutive time...

 

Source, please.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Source, please.

I made a call up to God, but he currently has me on hold. I'll get back to you...

[Vyce 0]

What Dean supporters should be embarassed about is that he actually took time out of his day to comment on the Rush Limbaugh situation.

 

Remember, folks: Vyce for America 2004!

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

Why would they be embarassed? It's not like he called a press conference specifically on that, he just said it during his speech today in Georgia (I think... not sure where he was). He was probably even asked a question about it.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

OMG -- Howie can't be president now! He screwed up McNabb's team!...

 

http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,1261...5,00.html?tnews

 

By Wednesday, three Democrat candidates for President seized on the controversy, including former Vermont Governor Howard Dean who blasted Limbaugh's "unacceptable" take on the Philadelphia "Jets" star. (Dean's staff later corrected the statement, the Los Angeles Times said.)

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Way to show you don't have much connection with the common man there.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Next thing you know Howie won't be able to figure out how groceries get scanned at a supermarket...

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

He won't be able to beat the Philly cheesesteak ordeal no matter how hard he tries.

[Guest MD2020]

OMG -- Howie can't be president now! He screwed up McNabb's team!...

 

http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,1261...5,00.html?tnews

 

By Wednesday, three Democrat candidates for President seized on the controversy, including former Vermont Governor Howard Dean who blasted Limbaugh's "unacceptable" take on the Philadelphia "Jets" star. (Dean's staff later corrected the statement, the Los Angeles Times said.)

That's it--Dean's out. And since Kerry proved he's a goddamn moron by putting Swiss cheese on a Philly cheesesteak, the Democratic field is dwindling...

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

Bahahahaha.

[Guest JMA]

I'm still hoping "Howie" gets the nomination. I feel he's the best choice out of the entire bunch. I plan to vote for "Howie" if he gets the nod from the Dems. I'm very pessimistic about his chances of winning, though.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Next thing you know Howie won't be able to figure out how groceries get scanned at a supermarket...

But will he be able to properly eat a pretzel?

[Guest MikeSC]

Next thing you know Howie won't be able to figure out how groceries get scanned at a supermarket...

But will he be able to properly eat a pretzel?

Well, if he can, in fact, differentiate his ass from a hole in the ground, he'll be a step up on his competition.

-=Mike

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Gephardt comparing Dean to Gingrich is hilariously desperate

Did you see Dean telling Gephardt to fuck off on TV the other day?

 

HI-LARIOUS! Go, Howie, you'll beat Jimmy Dean yet (although I think Jimmy locked in the omlette vote)

[BX 0]

Next thing you know Howie won't be able to figure out how groceries get scanned at a supermarket...

But will he be able to properly eat a pretzel?

Well, if he can, in fact, differentiate his ass from a hole in the ground, he'll be a step up on his competition.

-=Mike

Keep it coming Mikey. I've already got half of page 19 of the MikeSC Bullshit Index filled!

[Guest MikeSC]

Next thing you know Howie won't be able to figure out how groceries get scanned at a supermarket...

But will he be able to properly eat a pretzel?

Well, if he can, in fact, differentiate his ass from a hole in the ground, he'll be a step up on his competition.

-=Mike

Keep it coming Mikey. I've already got half of page 19 of the MikeSC Bullshit Index filled!

Ah, B-X --- contributing NOTHING to life since birth.

 

Having fun being perenially irrelevant?

-=Mike

[BX 0]

Ah, B-X --- contributing NOTHING to life since birth.

 

Having fun being perenially irrelevant?

-=Mike

You're right.

 

You are absolutely right.

 

I've been wasting my time on the inconsequential matters of life.

 

I've neglected sitting around in my underwear, eating my body weight in Cheetos, while sweat pours from the tattoo of Bill O'Reilly that's prominently featured on my right asscheek. All the while, frantically mashing the B button so that I can leap over those flaming barrels, climb the ladder, and save the princess. Stupid fucking sub-human monkey..

 

I've neglected to find a poster whose ass I could burrow into, where I can hopefully retreat to anytime another poster made a valid point that I can't disprove.

 

I've neglected to find my own personal hero. Perhaps I'll find one soon. A hero who can spurt rhetoric and lies like a diseased bowel spurts feces. A hero who is not afraid to let fluctuating hearing loss stop him from being a political commentator and media whore. And he needs to be a pill fiend too.

 

Worst of all, I've neglected my post-count. Someday soon, by the grace of God, I may also have more then 1600 posts. It'll require countless hours of computer time, but hell, I'll be Contributing To Life. And that's the important thing.

 

-===-=_+_=_+-+_=_=_+_B-X

 

BTW, the word is spelt "perennially", dipshit.

 

"It's funny, cuz' it's true".

[MrRant 0]

 

Remember, Jimmy Dean > Howie Dean.

[Vyce 0]

BTW, the word is spelt "perennially", dipshit.

 

I've seen this countless times, and it's always retarded whenever someone does it.

 

If someone consistently misspells numerous words in a sentence or paragraph, along with grammatical mistakes, I can see some admonishment.

 

Making an issue out of one wrong word is just fucking weak.

 

I'm not making you the posture child for this, but it's done a lot. I've seen it on this board at least a couple times in the last week or so. What's the deal? Does it make the person feel bigger for making this minor, assinine of insults? Or are they just that desparate for material with which to attack.

[Guest JMA]

I've seen this countless times, and it's always retarded whenever someone does it.

 

If someone consistently misspells numerous words in a sentence or paragraph, along with grammatical mistakes, I can see some admonishment.

 

Making an issue out of one wrong word is just fucking weak.

 

I'm not making you the posture child for this, but it's done a lot. I've seen it on this board at least a couple times in the last week or so. What's the deal? Does it make the person feel bigger for making this minor, assinine of insults? Or are they just that desparate for material with which to attack.

Mike has done the same thing--to me, no less. And I have excellent grammar.

[treble 0]

I'm not making you the posture child for this, but it's done a lot. I've seen it on this board at least a couple times in the last week or so. What's the deal? Does it make the person feel bigger for making this minor, assinine of insults? Or are they just that desparate for material with which to attack.

Uh, was that intentional?

[Guest MikeSC]

 

I've seen this countless times, and it's always retarded whenever someone does it.

 

If someone consistently misspells numerous words in a sentence or paragraph, along with grammatical mistakes, I can see some admonishment.

 

Making an issue out of one wrong word is just fucking weak.

 

I'm not making you the posture child for this, but it's done a lot.  I've seen it on this board at least a couple times in the last week or so.  What's the deal?  Does it make the person feel bigger for making this minor, assinine of insults?  Or are they just that desparate for material with which to attack.

Mike has done the same thing--to me, no less. And I have excellent grammar.

Once to you.

 

Stop your whining.

 

Geez, I don't bitch about the shit thrown MY way.

-=Mike

[Guest MikeSC]

BTW, the word is spelt "perennially", dipshit.

 

I've seen this countless times, and it's always retarded whenever someone does it.

 

If someone consistently misspells numerous words in a sentence or paragraph, along with grammatical mistakes, I can see some admonishment.

 

Making an issue out of one wrong word is just fucking weak.

 

I'm not making you the posture child for this, but it's done a lot. I've seen it on this board at least a couple times in the last week or so. What's the deal? Does it make the person feel bigger for making this minor, assinine of insults? Or are they just that desparate for material with which to attack.

Just ignore him/her.

 

That's my gameplan now.

-=Mike

[BX 0]

See Tyler, I proved it.

 

You owe me $5 bucks.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

WTF, I don't owe you SHIT!

 

You said he wouldn't reply AT ALL. I WIN.

[Guest JMA]

Once to you.

 

Stop your whining.

 

Geez, I don't bitch about the shit thrown MY way.

-=Mike

I was simply responding to Vyce's post. I was stating that you yourself have used the same tactic--which you have. That's not whining, it's the truth.