Dean raises cash, party spirits
Critiques will remain 'in your face,' he says
By Sarah Schweitzer, Globe Staff | June 21, 2005
In a defiant speech at a party fund-raiser in Boston, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean vowed yesterday to continue his fiery critique of the Republican Party and followed up with a pointed jab at Vice President Dick Cheney.
''We are going to be much tougher and in-your-face with the Republicans when they say things that aren't true," Dean said, in an apparent response to criticism outside and inside the Democratic Party that he is using over-the-top language to rally his party.
Dean also responded directly to Cheney, who last week said of Dean, ''Maybe his mother loved him, but I've never met anybody who does."
''I don't care if Dick Cheney likes my mother or not; we are going to fight back," Dean told a boisterous crowd of about 300 Democrats at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. ''I think it's great that Dick Cheney went after me. At least they know there's a Democratic Party that's not going to put up with this stuff anymore.
''As the head of the Democratic Party, I will not be lectured about morals by Tom DeLay and Rush Limbaugh." he said, referring to the House majority leader and the prominent conservative radio host.
Outside the hotel, 15 Republican protesters gathered under signs that read ''Dean Is Mean" ''Dean is Nuts," and ''Say No to Mr. Scream, " a reference to Dean's outburst following his loss last year in the Iowa Democratic caucuses when he ran for president.
The Republicans said they were protesting what they considered divisive and offensive language used by Dean. In recent weeks Dean, has said that Republicans ''have never made an honest living in their lives" and called the GOP ''pretty much a white, Christian party."
''It's hate speech, what he says," said Shawn McNamee, 24, of Mansfield, a loan processor and a registered independent who said he votes Republican. ''And he says Republicans don't work well. I just came from work."
But Democrats inside the hotel praised Dean's comments.
''Anyone who can stand up to all the Republican rhetoric, more power to them," said Spiros Depew, 55, a baker from Sturbridge. ''He should keep saying exactly what he's been saying, so long as it's the truth."
The Boston event was the latest in a string of fund-raisers Dean is holding for the Democratic National Committee. Over the weekend, he was in Texas for several events; he flies to Washington, D.C., tomorrow for another fund-raiser. Yesterday's event in Boston was expected to take in $250,000.
Dean's spokeswoman, Laura Gross, said the Democratic National Committee has raised $22.7 million since January. Republicans reported yesterday that they have raised $53 million in the same time period. Dean, a former Vermont governor, assumed the helm of the national committee in February.
In his tenure, Dean has drawn fire for what some called incendiary rhetoric. Some Democrats cringed at the controversial comments and sought to distance themselves from them. Earlier this month, leading Democrats came together in Washington to stage a public display of support for Dean, though Harry Reid, the Senate minority leader from Nevada, said Dean had ''misspoken."
For his part, Dean has remained unbowed. When asked earlier this month if he believed he had misspoken, Dean declined to answer directly. He instead blamed Republicans for seeking to divert attention from their shortcomings and blamed the press for engaging in a ''media circus."
Gross said yesterday, ''This isn't a problem out in the states, and even in Washington, the Democrats are rallying."
Republicans have reveled in the attention Dean has drawn. Republican National Committee spokesman Danny Diaz said yesterday that Dean will continue to draw criticism with commentary that he called ''angry and pessimistic."
''My advice to Governor Dean and Democrats is that they can probably have better success with Republican voters if they don't insult them," Diaz said.
Philip Johnston, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, said in an interview yesterday that Dean might have chosen his words differently in recent criticisms of Republicans. But, he said, ''He's done a terrific job, under very difficult circumstances. He assumed the post immediately following a presidential loss."
He added, ''I believe for the most part, the attacks on him are orchestrated by the RNC."
During his run for president, Dean was an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq and of President Bush's tax cuts, a message that resonated with many Democrats. But Dean's concession speech following the Iowa caucuses, in which he ended with a raucous scream, would prove fodder for late-night comics.
Last night, he was buoyant and kept up the heat on the GOP: ''We can't win if we don't fight.""
boston.com |
