Gore Endorses Dean for Party Nomination
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By RON FOURNIER, AP Political Writer
NEW YORK - Former Vice President Al Gore
endorsed Howard Dean for the Democratic
presidential nomination Tuesday, adding momentum and political
prestige to Dean's front-running campaign.
Gore said Dean "really is the only candidate
who has been able to inspire at the
grass-roots level all over the country." He said
the former Vermont governor also was the
only Democratic candidate who made the
correct judgment about the Iraq war.
"Our country has been weakened in its ability
to fight the war against terror because of the
catastrophic mistake the Bush administration
made in taking us into war in Iraq," Gore said.
Dean said it was an honor and a privilege to
receive Gore's endorsement.
Gore's political impact was immediately
evident at the event when Roy Neel, a
longtime operative, pledged to join Dean's
campaign, bringing his network of Gore
supporters with him.
While praising the party's other presidential candidates, Gore said
Democrats should unite behind Dean or at least stop attacking him.
"We don't have the luxury of fighting among ourselves to the point where
we seriously damage our ability to win on behalf of the American
people," Gore said just hours before the candidates debated in New
Hampshire.
Five weeks before Iowa's kickoff caucuses, Gore and Dean were flying to
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where Dean is locked in a tight race with Rep. Dick
Gephardt (news - web sites) in the Jan. 19 Democratic caucuses.
Gore won the popular vote by half-a-million votes in 2000 but conceded
to Republican George W. Bush after a tumultuous 36-day recount in
Florida and a 5-4 Supreme Court vote against him. The election still
rankles Democratic activists, many of whom are still loyal to Gore.
The approval of Bill Clinton (news - web sites)'s No. 2 bolsters Dean's
case that he can carry the party's mantle in November and represents
more than an Internet-driven outsider relying on the support of largely
white, upscale voters.
Dean hopes the coveted endorsement also eases concerns among party
leaders about his lack of foreign policy experience, testy temperament,
policy flip-flops, campaign miscues and edgy anti-war,
anti-establishment message.
"What this says is that all these Washington insiders who have been
gnashing their teeth, wringing their hands and clinging to their cocktail
cups can relax now. Dean's been knighted by the ultimate insider," said
Democratic consultant Dean Strother of Washington. "It's game, set and
match. It's over."
Other Democrats offered more cautious appraisals, but the overwhelming
consensus was that Dean's coup makes him the overwhelming favorite
to claim the nomination. Even advisers to Dean's rivals conceded they
were stunned and disheartened by the news.
"I was caught completely off-guard," Sen. Joe Lieberman (news - web
sites), Gore's running mate in 2000 and a hopeful for the nomination,
said Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show. That many of Gore's positions are
opposite to those of Dean made the decision a surprise to him,
Lieberman said.
"Al Gore has endorsed someone here who has taken positions
diametrically opposite" of the former vice president, Lieberman said.
"What really bothers me is that Al is supporting a candidate who is so
fundamentally opposed to the basic transformation that Bill Clinton
brought to this party in 1992," moving it to a more middle-of-the-road
stance on economic policy and other areas, he said.
Asked on "Today" whether he felt betrayed by the former vice president,
Lieberman said, "I'm not going to talk about Al Gore's sense of loyalty
this morning."
Jenny Backus, a Democratic strategist from Washington, said Gore will
help Dean gain access to "some key constituencies, African-Americans
and women and organized labor, and in Iowa."
But while Dean leads in polls in New Hampshire
and Iowa, the race has not taken shape beyond the
initial voting states and Gore's endorsement will not
erase every doubt about the former Vermont
governor. Analysts noted that Gore's uneven
performance in 2000 alienated many party leaders,
thus his endorsement has limited appeal, and they
predicted an anti-Dean movement will eventually
form behind one of his eight rivals.
Some rank-and-file Democrats were stung by Gore's
decision.
"It isn't fair that he turned his back on Lieberman,"
said Mohammed Islam, a New York taxi driver and
longtime Democratic voter. "If he was good enough
for him in 2000, why not now?"
In an unusual response, Democratic candidate
Wesley Clark issued a statement
touting the number of former Gore staffers working
on his campaign.
The White House had little reaction to Gore's
endorsement, which spokesman Scott McClellan
called "all part of the Democratic primary." However,
McClellan rejected Gore's charge that invading Iraq
had been a "catastrophic mistake" by Bush.
"The president has worked to make the world a safer
and better place, and America more secure for future
generations," McClellan said. "And he has worked to
make America more prosperous and compassionate
at home. And the American people know that."
In 1998, Dean considered challenging Gore for the
Democratic nomination in 2000 but backed away
amid pressure from the vice president's office, and
opposition in Vermont. He quietly lobbied to be
mentioned as a vice presidential candidate, but did
not make Gore's short list.
The pair have differed on many key issues, such as
gun control. While Gore fought the National Rifle
Association, Dean was embraced by the lobby.
Gore is pre-eminent among the party's
establishment, second only to former President
Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton , D-N.Y. Officials
close to both Clintons said Monday that they would
not endorse in the primary race.
Gore announced Dec. 15, 2002, that he would not
make another run for the White House, saying a
rematch with Bush would force him to revisit the
recount ordeal of 2000. |
