Carol Moseley Braun drops out of race, endorses Dean
By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY
CARROLL, Iowa — Former Illinois senator Carol Moseley Braun dropped out of the Democratic presidential race Thursday and endorsed Howard Dean for the party's nomination, saying he was "a Democrat we can all be proud to support."
Howard Dean appears with Carol Moseley Braun after she announces she is dropping out of the race
Timothy A. Clary, AFP
"Gov. Dean has the energy to inspire the American people, to break the cocoon of fear that envelopes us and empowers President Bush and his entourage from the extreme right-wing," Braun said.
Dean and Braun appeared together in Carroll, Iowa, where Dean was campaigning for Monday's Iowa caucuses, which begin the nomination season. Braun will campaign for Dean three to four days a week, starting Saturday in South Carolina. (Related audio: Braun announces her withdrawal)
"She's a principled person. We just hit it off. I like her a lot," said Dean at the joint appearance. "It's going to be a big help to us."
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Carol Mosely Braun is the latest Democrat to exit the race for the party's nomination. Whom do you think should be the next Democrat to drop out?
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The high-profile endorsement comes as the race here is tightening and Dean, a former Vermont governor, appears to be losing some ground in tracking polls. MSNBC reported Thursday that it's virtually a four-way tie for the lead in Iowa, according to its polls. Sen. John Kerry, Dean, and Rep. Dick Gephardt are all neck and neck with Sen. John Edwards close behind.
It also comes four days after a debate in which rival Al Sharpton attacked Dean on his affirmative action record in Vermont, and Braun came to Dean's defense. Sharpton and Braun are both African-American.
Braun has been in low single digits in polls nationally and in early primary states, and she expects to report raising less than a half-million dollars for 2003. She does not bring a raft of followers to Dean's fold, but her stamp of approval could help Dean with minority voters who are important in upcoming primaries, including the Feb. 3 contest in South Carolina.
The Dean campaign will pay Braun's expenses when she campaigns for him and may eventually put her on the payroll as a consultant, sources close to the Dean campaign said.
Braun is making the move, they said, because she has been disturbed by recent attacks on Dean by rival candidates, among them Sharpton and Gephardt. During the testy exchange Sunday night with Sharpton, Dean conceded that he had not named any minorities to his Cabinet while governor.
"We have to have an honest conversation about race in this country. I think Howard's right about that," Braun said when it was her turn to speak.
Later, she reprimanded Sharpton by name. "The fact of the matter is, you can always blow up a racial debate and make people get mad at each other," she told him. "But I think it's time for us to talk about, what are you going to do to bring people together? Because ... people cannot afford a racial screaming match."
Vermont has a tiny minority population. Dean has had awkward moments on race matters several times in the campaign, particularly during one debate when he argued with Sharpton and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards over his remark that he wanted votes from people with Confederate flags on their pickups.
Even as he pounds against "the establishment," Dean has been on a roll with high-level endorsements. On Sunday he is scheduled to visit former president Jimmy Carter in Plains, Ga. The trip is not expected to yield an endorsement, merely high praise, according to the Dean campaign.
Contributing: Associated Press |
