AP/Mercury News: "Dean Assailed for 'Tough Choices' in Vermont."
bayarea.com
Dean Assailed for 'Tough Choices' in Vt.
RON FOURNIER
Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa - Howard Dean's record and words came back to haunt him Monday as Democratic presidential rivals accused him of flip-flopping on social spending, Medicare and even his most potent political issue: Opposition to the war in Iraq.
The former Vermont governor denied the charges or dodged the questions during a two-hour debate, adding with a sarcastic sidebar, "I most certainly appreciate all this attention that I'm getting."
The barbs came from the usual corners: Rep. Dick Gephardt, who is tied with Dean in Iowa polls, and Sen. John Kerry, who is trying to salvage his candidacy by erasing Dean's double-digit lead in New Hampshire.
Gephardt said Dean cut social spending while serving as Vermont's five-term governor, and supported one pro-war congressional resolution on Iraq as a presidential candidate. Kerry demanded that Dean promise not to slow the inflation-driven growth of Medicare.
"I'd like to slow the pace of this debate," Dean shot back.
After repeatedly slipping the question, he finally declared, "We will not cut Medicare in order to balance the budget."
Dean knows that most Democrats consider slowing the growth of Medicare the same as a cut, but he did not bother with that distinction. Party strategists said that must have been by design.
"It's hard to judge whether they hurt Dean, because he never admits to being wrong or falters once he says something," said Carol Khare of South Carolina, chairman of the Democratic National Committee's rules committee.
"He sticks to it. The man just doesn't blink," she said. "That's the method he uses in these debates. He obviously is playing it as safe as possible to remain the front-runner."
While the top three candidates sparred, Khare and other Democratic activists took notice of those who played nice.
One was Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, who said Republicans are attacking Democrats while Democrats "are all at each other's throats."
His plea: "People are tired of listening to politicians yell at each other. What they want from us and what we have to offer in order to win is something other than anger and something other than criticism."
"We have to offer a positive, optimistic, uplifting vision for this country. The American people are hungry for it," Edwards said. "I, for one, I intend to offer them that positive vision."
Khare said it was a shining moment. "He stood out from a messy crowd," she said.
Greg Haas, a Democratic strategist in Ohio, said retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark gets better with every debate, and may take advantage of the sniping.
" They're playing into Clark's hands. He can win this through a battle of attrition," said Haas, who is not committed to any candidate and is just beginning to give the former four-star general a serious look.
As for Dean, the debate revealed his vulnerabilities. He has said the growth of Medicare may need to be restrained. He did make cuts in Vermont to programs for the elderly, blind and disabled while balancing budgets. And he did support a resolution that would have allowed the use of military force to disarm Saddam Hussein.
"When you're the governor," Dean said, "you've got to make tough decisions."
And live by them. |
