Dean Alleges Dirty Attacks in Iowa
story.news.yahoo.com
By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
DOVER, N.H. - Howard Dean said Saturday the
was surprised by the "under the table" campaigning he faced during the
Iowa caucus and said the state needs to prevent such negative attacks if
it wants to keep the nation's leadoff presidential vote.
Dean said his rivals "had their folks really
beating up on the people who went in, trying
to get them to change their minds in
caucus."
"I think Iowa is going to have to change the
way it conducts its caucuses if it wants to
continue to be first," he told reporters in an
interview on his campaign bus in New
Hampshire.
Democratic National Committee rules prohibit any state from
holding a nominating caucus before Iowa's
caucus and New Hampshire's primary.
Officials from other states have protested
that the two state have such a
disproportionate influence on the
presidential election. But Iowa and New
Hampshire are fiercely protective of their
special status.
Dean came in a distant third in Iowa behind
Sens. John Kerry of
Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina. He's looking for
a win in New Hampshire to help recover from
the disappointing showing.
Dean has blamed his Iowa loss on negative
attacks that he suffered as a one-time
front-runner in the race. He said Saturday
that he would not start attacking Kerry in an
effort to bring him down.
But he did point out that he and Kerry had
taken different positions on both wars
against Iraq . Dean
supported the invasion under the first
President Bush while
Kerry voted against it. Dean opposed the
invasion of Iraq last year while Kerry voted
for the resolution authorizing the U.S.-led
war.
"Here is a gentleman who's running, who
votes no in 1991 when there are troops in Kuwait and the oil fields are on
fire, and then votes yes and there turns out not to be a threat," Dean
said. "I would be deeply concerned about that kind of judgment in the
White House. His voting record on Iraq is exactly the opposite of mine,
and I think my position has proven to be right twice."
Asked Saturday for specifics about the negative attacks, Dean pointed
to a book distributed by North Carolina Sen. John Edwards' campaign
that instructed supporters how to attack other candidates during the
caucuses. For example, it told campaign captains in Iowa to describe
Dean as an "elitist from Park Avenue in New York City."
"I never dreamed that would happen," Dean said. "And I don't think that's
a healthy thing for democracy. It's enough to have it go on for weeks and
weeks in the press, but when it goes on inside the caucus, I don't think
that's good," he said.
Edwards, who has credited his strong second-place showing in Iowa to
campaigning on a positive message, said he did not know about the
book until this week. He said he took full responsibility for it and
instructed his campaign never to let it happen again.
Dean came in a distant third in Iowa, while Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts won the state. Dean said the negative tactics are "a real
problem for Iowa."
"I mean, I like the Iowa caucuses a lot and I think they should be first,
but they've got to have a process that's good for democracy," he said.
"And the kind of stuff that's gone on - you know on the phone calls and
all that stuff under the table - is not particularly good for democracy."
After Dean's remarks, his spokesman, Doug Thornell, clarified that Dean
would protect Iowa's right to have the nation's first caucus.
"Governor Dean loves Iowa and when elected president, he will ensure
that Iowa retains its status as first in the nation," Thornell said.
Meanwhile, Dean has cut back his television advertising in states with
Feb. 3 contests to concentrate his spending on New Hampshire. He is
pouring in about $500,000 through Tuesday's primary and his ads in New
Mexico ended Wednesday. Commercials in South Carolina and Arizona
will stop running this weekend.
"Things are closing fast," he said Saturday in Somersworth, N.H. "We
can win this. What we are seeing in the last few days is that people who
went away from us after we lost Iowa are coming back."
"There are a lot of people who are going from other
candidates into the undecided column," Dean told a
rally of volunteers.
Jay Carson, a Dean spokesman, said the campaign has
not yet decided how many days it will be in the dark in
New Mexico, Arizona and South Carolina.
"We're assessing that right now. We still have strong
organizations in all of those places," he said. "But we're
focusing on New Hampshire right now in terms of our
advertising." |
