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Politics : THE VAST RIGHT WING CONSPIRACY -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (5821)	1/28/2004 6:43:45 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 6358

Dean Shakes Up Presidential Campaign Jan 28, 5:25 PM (ET) By NEDRA PICKLER (AP) Democratic presidential hopeful former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean waits for a morning satelite... Full Image BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - Howard Dean shook up his presidential campaign on Wednesday after absorbing back-to-back defeats, replacing his campaign manager Joe Trippi and bringing in a longtime associate of former Vice President Al Gore to try and stabilize his faltering candidacy, Democratic sources said. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Dean told congressional supporters in a telephone conference call that he was installing Roy Neel as campaign CEO. Dean added that Trippi would remain on the payroll, the source said. But another source said that Trippi had decided to depart the campaign rather than accept the change. In the call with lawmakers, Dean expressed his determination to remain in the race, and said he hopes to finish at least second in the upcoming round of primaries and caucuses. At the same time, several lawmakers bluntly told the former Vermont governor that he needed to demonstrate his ability to win in states - and that second place wouldn't suffice. "He said he understood," said one lawmaker who was involved in the call. Before leaving the campaign, Trippi thanked the staff, telling them how proud he was of their efforts. "I may be out of the campaign, but I'm not out of the fight," Trippi was quoted as saying. One official said Dean asked Trippi to stay aboard, but the Trippi declined. The changes unfolded on the day after Dean absorbed a double-digit defeat in the New Hampshire primary at the hands of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. That came eight days after Dean faded to third in the Iowa caucuses. Kerry finished first there, as well, and stands as the Democratic presidential front-runner as the campaign makes the turn into a series of delegate-rich contests over the next several weeks. Neel, Gore's former senatorial chief of staff, served as chief executive of the U.S. Telecom Association in Washington before working on Gore's 2000 presidential campaign. Neel was named to head Gore's transition team in anticipation of the former vice president winning the White House. Neel pledged to join Dean's campaign after Gore endorsed the former Vermont governor on Dec. 9. At the time, it appeared that Gore would help stabilize Dean at a time when he was suffering from the perils of being a front-runner, his record and campaign performance subject to increased scrutiny. Trippi, who has a quarter-century of experience in Democratic politics, is widely credited with helping Dean assemble the campaign that transformed him from asterisk in the polls to front-runner over the course of months of campaigning. Trippi's departure sent shockwaves through the campaign, where he is a popular boss and something of an icon to the thousands of Internet-savvy supporters across the country. It is not unusual for crowd members to look for Trippi's autograph before Dean's at campaign events. The decision to shake up the campaign was made in a series of discussions in Burlington, Vt. - on a day that his rivals were already out campaigning for votes in the seven states that hold primaries and caucuses on Feb. 3.