Dean Gets Hit Again
Thursday, Dec 18, 2003; 1:42 PM
Media Notes - Howard Kurtz
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Howard Dean is getting smacked from all sides.
I just got off a conference call with Dick Gephardt's campaign chief, Steve Murphy, who blasted Dean for "contradictions" and "double talk" involving Enron.
Murphy's beef is that Dean continues to "stubbornly refuse" to release his Vermont gubernatorial records, including those relating to a '97 law that he said reduced disclosure requirements on companies such as Enron. And what was Dean doing, he said, giving tax breaks to companies like the reviled Enron? (Lots of states and cities do the same thing to attract business.)
Such behavior "would surely come back to haunt him in a general election," said Murphy. Asked why the issue hasn't caught on, he said it's received far less press attention than, oh, well, let's say the Gore endorsement.
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(The Dean camp just hired longtime Gore aide Roy Neel. Wonder if that was part of the endorsement.)
Dean spokesman Jay Carson hit back hard with the following response:
"The Washington politicians like Dick Gephardt are getting more desperate and more reckless everyday. They have absolutely nothing positive to say so now they're molding the facts to fit their argument. The American people are sick of this kind of politics and it's why we need not just to change presidents but to change the way Washington works."
Dean also gets kicked around by the press today, most notably in a stinging Washington Post editorial about this week's foreign policy speech, saying he has moved "beyond the mainstream."
"Mr. Dean's carefully prepared speech was described as a move toward the center, but in key ways it shifted him farther from the mainstream. A year ago Mr. Dean told a television audience that 'there's no question that Saddam Hussein is a threat to the United States and to our allies,' but last weekend he declared that 'I never said Saddam was a danger to the United States.' Mr. Dean has at times argued that the United States must remain engaged to bring democracy to Iraq, yet the word is conspicuously omitted from the formula of 'stable self-government' he now proposes. The former Vermont governor has compiled a disturbing record of misstatements and contradictions on foreign policy; maybe he will shift yet again, this time toward more responsible positions.
"His most serious departure from the Democratic mainstream is not his opposition to the war. It is his apparent readiness to shrink U.S. ambitions, in Iraq and elsewhere, at a time when the safety of Americans is very much at stake."
You can just hear Republican fax machines whirring, with the first line: "Even The Washington Post agrees . . . "
The second part of the one-two punch is a front-page Post piece:
"Howard Dean's penchant for flippant and sometimes false statements is generating increased criticism from his Democratic presidential rivals and raising new questions about his ability to emerge as a nominee who can withstand intense, sustained scrutiny and defeat President Bush."
The Los Angeles Times pursues a similar line of inquiry:
"As his rivals have stepped up their criticism of his stance on Iraq, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's public statements about the war are under increasing scrutiny, revealing a candidate whose off-the-cuff style has sometimes led him to take contradictory positions.
"A close examination of Dean's comments during the last 15 months shows that he has consistently voiced opposition to the United States invading Iraq without the support of the United Nations and repeatedly argued that President Bush did not make the case for going to war.
"But Dean, who acknowledges that his outspoken manner often gets him in trouble, has made conflicting statements about the danger posed by Saddam Hussein and the conditions under which he would support going to war."
So much for the liberal press being in bed with one of the more liberal candidates.
But all this may not be affecting Dean much -- at least not yet -- says AP superscribe Ron Fournier:
"By declaring America no safer after Saddam Hussein's capture, Howard Dean defied conventional wisdom and opened himself to intense criticism from his Democratic presidential rivals -- again.
"But baiting his foes and plowing new political terrain didn't irreparably harm Dean when he opposed a popular president's push toward war, subjected his candidacy to the whims of the Internet or abandoned the public finance system. And several Democratic strategists and independent analysts predict there will be no immediate backlash this time, either.
"They believe the Democratic front-runner is up to his old tricks: Preaching to the choir of primary voters angry at President Bush as well as party leaders."
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