Howard Dean

excerpts from the Iowa Daily Report

May 2003

… Dean outlined his health care proposal yesterday during speech in New York to members of the Service Employees International Union, the same group – and in the same room – where Gephardt detailed his health care proposal last week.  Also, Quad-City Times this morning reports that Dean is making widespread use of Internet to recruit, contact potential supporters.(5/1/2003)

… Washington Post headline: “Clinton Sits Out Democratic Feud…Dean Campaign Sought Ex-President in Dispute With Kerry” Veteran political reporter Dan Balz reported yesterday: “The presidential campaign of former Vermont governor Howard Dean tried to draw former president Bill Clinton into a dispute with the campaign of Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), but the former president said he wanted no part of the feud. At the same time, Clinton threw an unexpected challenge to the candidates with strong words of praise for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, and encouraged his fellow Democrats to start a serious debate over reforming the military in ways Rumsfeld has advocated. Dean and Kerry continued to spar with each other in advance of Saturday’s Democratic debate in South Carolina, with Dean’s campaign offering Clinton in defense of its candidate on the question of whether the United States will remain the lone military superpower in the world…’I don’t want to get in the middle of Dean and Kerry,’ Clinton said in a telephone call yesterday from Mexico City, where he was making an appearance…’In all probability, we won’t be the premier and economic power we are now’ in a few decades, he said, pointing to the growth of China’s economy and the growing strength of the European Union….But he said he did not want to be misunderstood. ‘I never advocated that we not have the strongest military in the world…I don’t think a single soul has thought I was advocating scaling back our military.” (5/2/2003)

… Headline from this morning’s NH Union Leader: “Lieberman leads in new national poll” Report says survey – released yesterday by Sacred Heart University in Connecticut – has Lieberman with 20.2% followed by Gephardt (16.7%) and Kerry in third with 10.7% -- followed by Dean (6.5%) and Edwards (4.2%). (5/2/2003)

… For Lieberman, it’s too bad every state isn’t South Carolina – because he leads the Dem field in awareness, favorability and ballot preference among likely SC Dem voters. According to an American Research Group survey (conducted 4/24-29), almost half of the state’s Dem voters are still undecided (47%) – but Lieberman has nearly one-fifth (19%) the vote. Three wannabes are bunched together behind Lieberman – Gephardt 9%, Kerry 8% and Edwards (who was born in Seneca, SC) 7% with Sharpton at 3%. The 2% players are Dean and Graham, while Biden (who’s not an announced candidate), Hart (who’s not an announced candidate) and Moseley Braun (who is an announced candidate) register in with 1%. Bringing up the pack – Kucinich and Gen/CNN war analyst Clark with solid 0% showings.(5/2/2003)

… From this morning’s The State (Columbia, SC) online, headline – “Dean helps woman who collapses by shop” Excerpt: “Democratic presidential candidate and physician Howard Dean on Friday aided a woman who collapsed and struck her head outside an ice cream shop.” Dean helped the woman, who is undergoing chemotherapy treatment, and waited with her until an ambulance arrived. The incident occurred when Dean, on his way to the S. C. Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson dinner, stopped at a Ben & Jerry’s – appropriate for a former VT governor, since the ice cream company was founded there.  (5/3/2003)

… Dean, realizing Iraq war – and his main issue – is rapidly fading from TV screens and the public memory, tries to shift political gears. He delivers health care speech in New York – where Gephardt transformed himself into a somewhat viable contender and got big coverage with his heath care proposal – but the former VT gov gets only scant notice. He tried to get Bill Clinton involved in battle with Kerry over military preparedness, but Clinton passed. So, what’s a guy to do – call the Des Moines Register’s Thomas Beaumont and try to get a headline. The result: “Dean hits rivals, defends his views on tax cuts” Excerpts from Thursday’s Beaumont coverage: “Some Democratic presidential candidates are angry about what they say is rival Howard Dean’s unfair attacks regarding President Bush’s tax cuts.” Beaumont reported that Dean “defends his accusations” that Edwards, Gephardt, Kerry, and Lieberman “all have supported billions in new tax cuts during times of federal deficits while at the same time campaigning against the Republican president’s domestic policies.” Dean told the Register in an interview: “Obviously, if you support $350 billion worth of tax cuts you’re closer to the president than my position, which is you shouldn’t have any additional tax cuts because it’s bad for the economy.”   (5/3/2003)

… More from the ABC/Washington Post poll: ABCNews.com’s Langer also reports that Lieberman has now established a “statistically significant lead” over the other Dem wannabes. He notes that Lieberman is “likely the best-known Democratic candidate by dint of his exposure as Al Gore’s running mate on the 2000 ticket” – but that the ABC News/Washington Post showing is “numerically his best in any national media-sponsored poll this year.” The Big Three – the group that’s topped most recent polls – continued their dominance: Lieberman 29%, Gephardt 19%, Kerry 14%. All others in single digits, but the surprise is Moseley Braun in fourth with 6%. The rest: Edwards at 4%, three – Sharpton, Graham and Dean – at 3%, and Kucinich 2%. (5/4/2003)

… Pre-debate handicapping and analysis from yesterday’s Los Angeles Times: “Each candidate has begun to try to establish distinguishing characteristics: Kerry has sought to capitalize on his medal-winning service in the Vietnam War – where he served in a Navy unit in the Mekong Delta – to establish in voters’ mind his competence on national security issues. That could be a key in running against Bush’s record as a wartime leader …Dean, a strong critic of Bush’s policy toward Iraq, has received warm receptions from Democrats who opposed the war. The early support Kerry and Dean have attracted [was] likely to make them targets [during last night’s debate]. Edwards, an attorney before winning his Senate seat in 1998, raised more money than any of the candidates during the first three months of this year, with many of the contributions coming from trial lawyers. Lieberman, who was Al Gore’s vice presidential running mate in 2000, is seeking to appeal to party centrists. Gephardt has set out a detailed health-care proposal that aims to provide coverage for nearly all Americans – an issue dear to many Democrats. Graham, who was governor of Florida for eight years and is now serving his third Senate term, has touted himself as the most experienced candidate.” Times’ staff writers James Gerstenzang and Mark Z. Barabak concluded their report: “Braun, Sharpton and Kucinich are liberal underdogs in the race who are seeking to present themselves as realistic alternatives to the more prominent candidates.” (5/4/2003)

… Before last night’s debate – and with Dean in South Carolina anyway – a former commanding general at Parris Island challenged Dean to explain over the weekend why he believes the United States won’t always have the strongest military. Retired Brig. Gen. Steve Cheney – who headed the Marine Corps Recruit Depot from 1999-2001 (and was an unsuccessful Dem candidate for the SC House last year) -- sent the former VT governor a letter saying Dean’s comments raise questions about his ability to become commander in chief. Associated Press reported that the Dean campaign issued a response to Cheney’s letter, saying the former VT governor believes that strong diplomacy and multinational institutions are critical to America’s future and that his words have been “twisted, distorted and spun” by the Kerry campaign. (5/4/2003)

… Washington Post coverage of the Saturday South Carolina Dem debate by political reporter Dan Balz: “The Democratic presidential candidates tangled here over Iraq and who can keep the country safe, and they differed sharply over how to provide health care to all Americans in a lively debate that helped kick off the next phase of the battle to become the party’s challenger to President Bush in 2004. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) pointedly criticized former Vermont governor Howard Dean for opposing the war in Iraq and attacked Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) for seeming to be ambivalent about supporting Bush on the war. ‘No Democrat will be elected president in 2004 who is not strong on defense, and this war was a test of that strength,’ he said. Kerry disagreed, saying that his quarrel was over whether Bush had exhausted all other options for disarming Iraqi President Saddam Hussein before going to war. But he said he supported that objective. ‘There’s no ambivalence,’ he said. Dean said Bush had waged ‘the wrong war at the wrong time’ and said the United States could face new threats if Iraq falls into the hands of Islamic fundamentalism. But he said he was ‘delighted to see Saddam Hussein gone,’ a stronger declaration than he has made previously.”  (5/5/2003)

… Under the headline “Media Love Bush-Hating Howard Dean,” NewsMax.com reports: “Here’s why long-shot White House wannabe Howard Dean is getting so much positive press. The former Vermont governor is a favorite of the media establishment. Not coincidentally, he’s also one of the most left-wing of the countless Democrat would-be presidents. Dean is ‘the media’s favorite long-shot for president’ and enjoys an ‘adoring national press,’ confirms Editor & Publisher magazine. Why? Because he loathes President Bush even more than his rivals do and attacks him on everything possible: Operation Iraqi Freedom, tax relief, education reform, national defense …He has more in common with the Bush administration than he’d like to admit, however, notably the secrecy he so hypocritically attacks. The frequently out-of-state guy refused to reveal his campaign trips on his schedule. It took a lawsuit by a local yokel newspaper and an order by the Vermont Supreme Court to force him to make public his trips campaigning for the White House. By the way, here’s the inside story of why Bush-hating cartoonist Garry Trudeau gave Dean extra publicity in ‘Doonesbury’: The two are longtime friends who met at summer camp when they were 13, a fact Trudeau fails to disclose in his free plugs.” (5/6/2003)

… More post-debate analysis: Washington Post’s Dan Balz – headline, “Debate Bares Democrats’ Great Divide” – wrote in yesterday morning’s editions: “Democrats are united in their determination to send President Bush back to Texas in November 2004, but the first debate of the presidential campaign exposed the limits of that unity and the near-total absence of consensus about how best to challenge the president in the general election. The president was barely a presence at Saturday’s 90-minute debate on the campus of the University of South Carolina, attacked from time to time for his tax cuts and record on the economy but hardly the main focus of the nine candidates on the stage. Instead, the Democrats turned on one another – in some cases to bare serious differences over the war in Iraq or how to expand health care coverage; in other cases to reveal personal animosities and to begin in earnest the jockeying for position in what now promises to be an especially tough battle for the nomination.” Balz noted that during the debate Kerry and Dean “attacked one another” …Edwards attacked Gephardt … Lieberman “attacked any number of his rivals” …Graham and Sharpton, at different points, “urged their fellow candidates to aim their fire at the president, rather than give the Republicans ammunition to use against the Democratic nominee – but to no avail.” (5/6/2003)

They haven’t exactly been acting like buddies over recent weeks – or during last Saturday night’s debate – but Dean and Kerry probably have more motivation this morning to escalate the two-wannabe exchange of charges and countercharges: A new New Hampshire poll shows them in a 23%-all deadlock. The Franklin Pierce College poll (conducted 4/27-5/1) indicates they have left the rest of the field in the political dust with Lieberman a distant third (9%) and Gephardt in fourth (8%). An indication of the overall situation – Dean and Kerry have 23% each and 31% are undecided, leaving the other nine wannabes (and potential wannabes) included in the poll to divide up the remaining 23%. Making the poll even stranger, two non-candidates – Hart and General Wesley Clark – are next, registering 2% each. Then, at 1% -- Edwards, Graham, Kucinich and Moseley Braun. Sharpton, as in most NH polls, registered a solid 0%. Two more notes: The number of undecideds dropped 7% -- from 38% a Franklin Pierce poll early last month.  Although most of the Dem candidates are not well-known in New Hampshire, six of the wannabes have higher unfavorable ratings than favorable impressions – Clark, Graham, Hart, Kucinich, Moseley-Braun and Sharpton. The worst unfavorable rating – Sharpton (60%) to a 5% favorable showing, followed by Hart (52% unfavorable, 23% favorable).(5/7/2003)

Testing, probing IA Democrats? In his “Washington Whispers” column in U. S. News & World Report, Paul Bedard – under the subhead, “First phone attack” – wrote: “Straight-talking Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean is testing his attack message in Iowa. Political operatives say Dean’s phone polling is probing for weaknesses in support for Sens. John Edwards and John Kerry and Rep. Dick Gephardt.  For rookie pol Edwards, it’s about experience. For Gephardt, it’s his alliance with Bush on key issues. Questions about Kerry test Iowans’ reaction to his vote backing the war in Iraq.” (5/7/2003)

From Rich Galen’s “Mullings” column on the South Carolina Dem debate: “John Kerry and Howard Dean really don’t like each other. Dean is trying to climb down from the Leader-of-the-Anti-War-Faction cliff on which he placed himself. Kerry can’t let more that seven minutes go by without reminding everyone of his service in Vietnam. Both are tiresome …Dick Gephardt bothers everyone else because – even though his health care plan is wrong in its conception – Gephardt is the ONLY candidate who has come up with an original idea.” (5/7/2003)

The Dartmouth Online – “The online edition of America’s oldest college newspaper” – reported yesterday that Dean called GWB the “most conservative and economically destructive president in our lifetime.” Reporting on a Dean speech in Hanover Tuesday, the Dartmouth Online report added: “Dean also declared that his own unabashed party principles and straight-talking manner make him the only Democrat who can beat Bush in 2004. The former Vermont Governor elicited his loudest cheers by urging Democrats not to be intimidated by the Bush administration. ‘Stand up, Democrats! Stop being cowed by enormous poll ratings, right-wing talk radio show hosts and fundamentalist preachers,’ Dean said to the crowd of over 150 comprised mostly of students and area residents.” (5/8/2003)

And another problem with the coverage of Dean’s remarks – proving he learned his political hide-and-seek lessons well – was that they received minimal media play. It’s not that unusual for candidates to slip off the political radar – away from the most intense media spotlights -- to deliver some of their most inflammatory accusations. For example, readers of The Union Leader online across the state in New Hampshire would have seen AP coverage of Dean’s Hanover visit under the headline, “Dean promotes plan for health care in Hanover.” The Associated Press coverage said: “Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean said Tuesday that his national health care plan will work because it builds upon the current system instead of reinventing it. Speaking at a retirement community, Dean said past attempts to provide universal health insurance coverage failed because they were vulnerable to attacks from special interest groups.” To be fair, the AP coverage included the following Dean quote: “This president has been the most divisive president since Richard Nixon. Our party has gone to sleep at the switch, and we need to fight back.”(5/8/2003)

Headline from yesterday’s The Union Leader, “Dean not surprised by Halliburton deal on Iraq oil contract.” Associated Press coverage of Dean visit to Concord, NH reported that Dem wannabe “said yesterday he is not surprised Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company has a more lucrative role in managing Iraq’s oil than originally believed. His statement was in response to an Army admission that Houston-based Halliburton Co. not only has a contract to fight oil fires in Iraq, but also to operate the oil field for a time and distribute petroleum. ‘This coziness with Halliburton doesn’t surprise me a bit,’ Dean said while meeting with state union leaders. ‘It’s an emblem of an administration that has sold this country down the river.’ The former Vermont governor was critical of the Bush administration’s relationships with certain corporations, including some he said treat their employees poorly, ‘This administration has been devious about their relationship with corporations all along,’ he said.”(5/9/2003)

In Kansas yesterday, AP reported Dean “told fellow Democrats Thursday that they needed to take back their party from moderates who Dean says have not stood up to President Bush.” Dean quote: “Everywhere I go, Democrats around the country are just as mad at the Democrats as the Republicans.” In Miami, FL yesterday, AP reported “Dean called on Gov. Jeb Bush to veto a bill dealing with the restoration of the Everglades Thursday joining others in his party in opposition to the plan.” (5/9/2003)

Item from caucus column by the Des Moines Register’s Thomas Beaumont: Subhead – “A Grand Old Poll” Beaumont wrote: “A poll conducted by a Republican firm out of Davenport and released last week shed little light on the caucus race, with former caucus winner Gephardt of Missouri leading. Lieberman, Kerry, Dean and Edwards followed Gephardt, according to a poll released by Victory Enterprises, the political consulting firm run by former Republican Party Chairman Steve Grubbs. Gephardt has almost 30 percent, Lieberman had about 12 percent and Kerry had 10.6. But the results were based on responses from only 150 Democrats contacted for the poll, in which 400 people were asked to rate their approval of President Bush. It provides a look at the race so far, but from a sample hardly large enough to get an accurate picture of the candidates’ real support.” (5/9/2003)

Quad-City Times this morning reports Dean will outline details of a national health-care proposal tomorrow. His aides say the Dean plan would cost less than half of the one offered by Gephardt and bring more Americans into the system. The Dean approach would expand programs that provide health coverage to children of the working poor, offer a new private insurance benefit with a refundable tax credit for the uninsured who can’t afford the premiums and give tax incentives for businesses to offer coverage. Associated Press quoted Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi” “We’re going to do it side-by-side with Gephardt’s plan. It will provide coverage for more Americans than the Gephardt plan and cost under half of what the Gephardt plan would cost.” Copyright story in today’s DSM Register says Dean will propose an $88 billion approach in speech tomorrow at Columbia University. (5/12/2003)

In Des Moines, three Dems say GWB vulnerable in 2004. Register’s Thomas Beaumont yesterday reported on Saturday night event at state fairgrounds: “Three Democratic presidential candidates said in Iowa that President Bush can be defeated in 2004 despite his postwar popularity, but they differ on why they think the president is vulnerable. ‘The outcome of the 1992 election indicates that the association with the troops and the prominence gained are not guarantees of re-election,’ said Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., referring to Bush’s father, former President Bush, who saw his postwar popularity evaporate by Election Day …Graham said President Bush is vulnerable because his approval rating today is 10 to 15 points lower than his father’s was at the end of the Persian Gulf War …Dean accused Bush of failing to buy stockpiles of plutonium used in building nuclear weapons to keep the radioactive material out of terrorist hands …Kucinich said he believes Bush can be beaten mainly because he believes the president misrepresented the purpose of the war …Kucinich was the most outraged of the three by Bush’s aircraft carrier landing on May 2 ….’The president, by that stunt, sends a message that the military is in control of our government,’ Kucinich said. ‘It’s against every tradition and principle of a democracy.’”(5/12/2003)

On CNN’s “Capital Gang” Saturday, Novak (from the CNN rush transcript) gave the following assessment of the Dem campaign – “The only candidates who have any excitement are those who can’t possibly be elected president. My friend Al Sharpton is not going to be elected president. Governor Dean is not going to be elected president. And what you have is that there was some hope that John Kerry was Mr. Excitement and boy, he looked more dreary in that debate than anybody. They said he had some – people said he has laryngitis, or hay fever, that he didn’t look good. The thing about Joe Lieberman, who has the name ID, I really can’t find any Democrat who thinks he’d going to be the nominee.”  (5/12/2003)

Leftover from last week – commentary on the first Dem debate in James Taranto’s “Best of the Web Today” column on OpinionJournal.com. An excerpt: “No doubt Kerry doesn’t need any lectures in courage from a pipsqueak like Dean, but why is he even dignifying Dean’s comments with a response? Unfortunately, this is par for the course for Kerry. He’s constantly whining that people are questioning his patriotism, lecturing him on courage, etc. For a man who served with valor and distinction in Vietnam, he sure is a big baby. As for Dean, he backed away from some of his recent statements for which Kerry and others had rightly criticized him. He proclaimed himself ‘delighted to see Saddam gone’ (last month he said he didn’t know if Saddam’s ouster was good or not), and he said he wouldn’t allow America to lose its military superiority (last week he suggested that such a decline was inevitable).”(5/12/2003)

Wannabe alert: Dean will outline his approach to national health care coverage in New York today – but, by the time he opens his mouth, it will be old news to most Dem voters and the media. For at least the past 24 hours, Dean and his lieutenants have been pumping the story – including copyright story in yesterday’s DSM Register and actualities playing on IA radio stations – to prepare the world for his announcement. (Iowa Pres Watch Note: Dean acts like this is his latest, greatest issue – proving that he must agree major conflict has ended in Iraq since he’s trying to establish his credentials on other issues – further reinforcing the widespread belief that his stand on national health care will be no better than his antiwar theme. And one more question: Before developing his national health care plan, did he consult with the nation’s foremost health care expert – Hillary?)(5/13/2003)

Dean wants gun laws left to the states” That was the headline on a Kathie Obradovich report in the Quad-City Times from Dean’s IA visit last weekend on an issue that was ignored in most of the media coverage. Even better, he apparently developed his position for political – not ethical or moral – reasons. Obradovich’s report: “Noting that gun issues drive some union members away from the Democratic Party, presidential candidate Howard Dean targeted labor leaders Saturday with a message favoring state’s rights on firearms control. ‘We have 20 percent of our union membership every year who vote against their economic interest because of guns,’ Dean said, adding later that he heard the statistic from an Iowa United Autoworkers leader. The former Vermont governor said he would enforce existing federal laws and he would not call for any to be rolled back. Additional gun laws, he told union members, he would leave up to the states. ‘Most hunters I know don’t think they need an assault rifle to kill a deer,’ he said. ‘But I also believe that every state ought to make their own gun laws.’ Dean told reporters later, however, that he also would support expanding federal laws to require background checks for purchases at gun shows. Other restrictions, such as requiring gun locks, should be up to the states, he said.” Dean made the comments at a district meeting of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades on Saturday in Ankeny.(5/14/2003)

New York Post columnist Deborah Orin – under the headline, “Doc Dean Unveils Health-Care Operation” – wrote: “Democratic 2004 presidential candidate Howard Dean yesterday [Tuesday] outlined a plan to expand health care with a novel twist that penalizes companies that don’t provide it. Dean, a doctor and former governor of Vermont, became the second Democratic contender to present a health plan. Sens. John Kerry (Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (Conn.) will offer their ideas next week, showing Democrats see health care as a hot issue a decade after the debacle of the Bill and Hillary Clinton push for universal coverage. ‘In the richest and most advanced country in the 21st century, it’s unbelievable that a sick child can go without seeing a doctor because her parents can’t afford it,” Dean said at Columbia University. His plan would cover those up to age 25 with limited income, let small business buy into government-style plans, and punish big firms that don’t provide it by limiting their tax deductions and government contracts. Dean says his plan would cost $88 billion a year.” (5/15/2003)

Under the headline “Dean blasts the president on foreign policy, tax cuts,” the Portland Oregonian’s Jeff Mapes reported that Dean “received a raucous welcome Wednesday in Portland from about 400 supporters who cheered his unabashedly left-of-center attacks on President Bush. As he has since before the war in Iraq, the former Vermont governor hammered Bush for a foreign policy he likened to the conduct of a schoolyard bully. And Dean, 54, won loud applause for opposing the Bush tax cut and for demanding universal health-care coverage. If history is any guide, the Democratic presidential race will be decided long before the Oregon primary is held 12 months from now. But Dean has clearly cultivated a following here that appears unmatched by any of his eight Democratic rivals …The only other Democrat who has made a serious foray into Oregon is North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who has raised more than $60,000 from Oregonians, much of that from fellow trial lawyers …Clearly buoyed by the size of the crowd, Dean wasted no time in jabbing Bush – and Democratic rivals who are willing to cut a deal with the president on his tax-cut package.”(5/16/2003)

National political reporters scurried around, in wake of Gephardt announcing congressional endorsements, to see how the Dem wannabes are doing in the endorsement derby. From yesterday’s Los Angeles Times – under headline, “Gephardt Leads Pack in Endorsements by Colleagues” – staff writer Nick Anderson wrote: “In the jostling among Democratic presidential contenders for endorsements from elected officials, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri laid claim Wednesday to being king of the hill – Capitol Hill, that is.” The Times report said Gephardt “scooped up the formal backing” of House leaders Pelosi and Hoyer – and 28 other House members – which places him “well ahead of his rivals in the hunt for congressional support.” The endorsements, Anderson noted, are important because congressional Dems are among the 800 “super-delegates” eligible to vote on the eventual nominee at the party’s national convention. The count, according to the Times coverage: Lieberman has a dozen, Dean has four, Kerry has “at least four” and Moseley Braun has two Illinois congressional backers. (Note: For the Quad-City Times, the Gephardt announcement was a local story. The Times’ Ed Tibbetts reported that Dem Rep. Lane Evans – who represents the Illinois side of the Quad-Cities – was among those endorsing Gephardt’s candidacy. The Times noted that Evans, the ranking member on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has been a “beneficiary” of Gephardt’s campaign help over the years.)(5/16/2003)

Graham’s problems with his home-state environmentalists may pale compared to the Democratic Leadership Council’s criticisms of Dean and Gephardt. The Washington Times’ Donald Lambro reported yesterday that the two wannabes were singled out for “lurching to the left on positions that would ensure President Bush’s re-election next year.” Lambro wrote that the DLC criticized Dean for “what it called a message of weakness on national security” and Gephardt for “his universal health care plan, which the DLC derided as a liberal, big-government proposal that was doomed to fail.” The DLC was especially critical of Dean, basically describing him as a George McGovern clone (or George McGovern wannabe). The Associated Press report on the DLC statement said: “ ‘What activists like Dean call the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party is an aberration: The McGovern-Mondale wing, defined principally by weaknesses abroad and elite interest-group liberalism at home.’  (5/17/2003)

New England media reports indicated that Dean’s family net worth was nearly $4.24 million – an increase of about $326,500 over the past year. He earned $85,235 as governor of Vermont last year. (5/17/2003)

After weeks of attacking each other and spending the past week or so pretending to be universal health care experts, the Dem wannabes in Des Moines yesterday shifted their focus to red meat politics – attacking GWB. Associated Press Iowa watcher Mike Glover reported that virtually all of the Dem contenders “charged that Bush is pushing tax cuts for the rich as the nation’s economy staggers and budget deficits swell.” Quote fFrom Dean: “We’ve lost a lot in the last 2 ½ years. This president’s prescription for everything is take two tax cuts and call me in the morning. (5/18/2003)

Although some of the Dem wannabes were scheduled to be lingering in the state this morning after yesterday’s AFSCME cattle call in Des Moines, the spotlight clearly focuses on Dean this afternoon as he participates in a Harkin-sponsored forum in Davenport – and gets live C-SPAN coverage. Even Dean knows what’s at stake this weekend with the AFSCME event and Harkin forum, telling the Quad-City Times: “This is a big weekend in Iowa.” Coverage by the Times’ Ed Tibbetts: “Howard Dean is already known to politically active Iowans. He’s running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, and he has been to the state about three dozen times. In fact, the ex-governor of Vermont has stepped inside the Quad-Cities’ borders more times than other candidates have even made it to the entire state. So this Sunday, when he faces 200 of the most-politically engaged Democrats in the Iowa Quad-Cities in the second “Hear it From the Heartland” forum, it might seem as if he has little to say that they have not already heard. Not so, Dean said. Earlier this week, Dean laid out a detailed universal health-care plan in New York. And, he said, he’s got a few ideas about homeland security and ‘corporate responsibility and ethics’ he wants to lay out [today].’” (5/18/2003)

A different Dean view. Friday’s Morning Report (5/16/03) highlighted comments by Dean in the Portland Oregonian, citing the newspaper’s coverage of his comments about foreign policy and tax cut, but there’s another version – the Associated Press coverage -- that deserves attention. The AP report – headlined, “Dean describes Bush as catering to bigotry, hate” on The Union Leader online – said Dean “predicted that U.S. troops will be forced to remain in Iraq for at least a decade to ensure a stable democracy after toppling Saddam Hussein. ‘This president has made a fateful decision, and he’s going to be there a lot longer than he says he is,” Dean said of President Bush …But Dean reserved his harshest words for Bush for not denouncing recent remarks by Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a Republican who compared homosexual behavior to incest or polygamy in comments about a pending Supreme Court case on a Texas law. ‘For him (Bush) to put his arm around Sen. Santorum and say he’s an inclusive person is pathetic catering to bigotry and hatred and is not becoming of the president of the United States,” Dean told reporters following a campaign speech at an Oregon fund-raiser.”  (5/18/2003)

Dean's bombastic bombardment of Bush escalated Sunday in Davenport, Iowa. According to the Kansas City Star newspaper, Dean said the reelection of President Bush would mean the nation would be plummeted into a depression. "If we reelect this president, we'll be in a depression. That's 8 million jobs in 8 years."(5/19/2003)

Dean unloads on GWB in what seemed to be a made-for-Dean forum sponsored --- and engineered -- by IA Sen Harkin in Davenport yesterday. Headline from today’s Des Moines Register: “Bush’s war stance has cost U.S., Dean says at forum” Register’s Thomas Beaumont reported that Dean “sharply criticized President Bush’s record on foreign policy during a forum Sunday, and he also chastised some of his party rivals for failing to fully oppose the president’s tax cut. (Iowa Pres Watch Note: This has become a prevailing Dean theme over the past week – especially the attacks on other Dem wannabes for supporting GWB policies -- which also surfaced during Oregon and New Hampshire appearances in recent days.) Dean quote from yesterday: “The president has used humiliation as a weapon, not only against our enemies but against our friends.” (5/19/2003)

Headline from this morning’s Quad-City Times: “During Davenport visit, Dean rips into Bush, not Democratic rivals” Times’ Ed Tibbetts reported: “The United States will go into economic depression if President Bush is re-elected, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said in the Quad-Cities on Sunday. He said the president has divided the country along race, income and gender lines, that he’s botched the job of defending the country and lost millions of jobs, while giving away billions of tax dollars to wealthy friends.”(5/19/2003)

Headline from this morning’s top political story in New Hampshire’s The Union Leader – “Dean: Bush reelection will mean depression” Coverage by AP’s Mike Glover said Dean “asserted yesterday that the nation will face an economic depression if Bush is reelected.” Glover reported that Dean is “sharpening his attacks” on the president. (5/19/2003)

The Washington Post reported over the weekend that Republican-who-abandoned-the- party Sen. James M. Jeffords is “complaining about extremism and divisiveness again” – and has countered Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) criticisms of prez wannabe Dean. Coverage by the Post’s Brian Faler said “this time, the senator, who famously fled a Republican Party he considered intolerant, is training his sights on Democrats – specifically, the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist group within the party.” The DLC last week accused Dean of being a member of the party’s “McGovern-Mondale” wing, which prompted Jeffords to issue a statement about fellow Vermonter Dean – that, Faler wrote, “sounded strangely familiar.” Jeffords quote: “I am disappointed to see leaders of the Democratic Leadership Council characterize [Dean’s] position as extreme and elitist, and I call on them to stop their divisive tactics. I have heard such charges coming from Republicans most of my political life, but I find it incredible to hear such charges from Democrats.” (5/20/2003)

One of the mysteries of the Harkin-sponsored forum featuring Dean in Davenport over the weekend was why – or how – so many reporters missed his assertion that eight million U.S. jobs will be lost if the president is re-elected? Iowa Pres Watch didn’t miss it – and neither did AP or Greg Pierce, who writes the “Inside Politics” column in the Washington Times. An excerpt of Pierce’s report about Dean’s comments from yesterday’s Times: “Sharpening his attacks on President Bush’s policies, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean asserted [Sunday] that the nation will face an economic depression if Mr. Bush is re-elected. Mr. Dean said that 2.5 million jobs have been lost during Mr. Bush’s term, laying the blame on the White House’s handling of an economy that has remained sluggish. ‘Two and a half million jobs in 2 ½ years,’ Mr. Dean said. ‘If we re-elect this president, we’ll be in a depression. That’s 8 million jobs in eight years.’ Mr. Dean sounded a sharply liberal theme as he sought to differentiate himself from others in the nine-member Democratic field, the Associated Press reports.” (5/20/2003)

IOWA DEM WANNABE POLL CITED. Under the headline, “Field of 9 down to leaders, longshots” – Donald Lambro reported in yesterday’s Washington Times: “The nine-member field of Democratic presidential candidates has been effectively whittled down to about three or four top contenders in the early nominating contests, with everyone else nearly off the radar screen. Democratic strategists say it will be difficult for anyone to catch up to Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt in the Jan. 19 Iowa caucuses, where the former House Democratic leader has widened his lead to 25 percent or more. His closest rival, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, trails behind in second place with 13 points, according to pollster John Zogby. None of the other candidates is running even close to the two front-runners in the state. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who was catapulted into contention earlier this year as a result of his opposition to the war in Iraq, has fallen back in the caucus state, drawing around five points. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut doesn’t fare much better than that. Freshman Sen. John R. Edwards of North Carolina is ‘barely on the radar screen’ in Iowa, Mr. Zogby said.” Lambro wrote the rest of the field – Moseley Braun, Sharpton, Kucinich and Graham – are “at 1 percent or 2 percent or register no support at all.” In making his case that the field is narrowing down, Lambro also noted that Kerry and Dean lead the Dems in New Hampshire with Gephardt and Lieberman following – and “the rest of the field registering 1 percent or less.” He noted, however, that Lieberman has been leading in national polls at 19 percent, followed by Gephardt (14%) and Kerry (12%).(5/22/2003)

Headline from The Union Leader online this morning – “Dean meets with his Utah supporters” Associated Press coverage from Salt Lake City: “No, Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean didn’t take a wrong turn in Albuquerque. Utah, a bastion for conservative Republicans, hasn’t drawn many Democrats for the 2004 presidential election, but Dean made a quick stop here anyway on his way to California. ‘There’s a caucus here,’ the Vermont governor said, ‘that means Utah matters.’…Dean spent about 15 minutes speaking to the crowd focusing on his campaign message of balanced budgets, creating jobs and a nationwide health care package…’You have the power to take this party back, the White House back and the country back.’” (Iowa Pres Watch Note: The story referred to Dean as the “Vermont governor” – and, although all Iowans know he’s actually a “former Vermont governor” it’s probably an academic consideration. By the time the Dem presidential caravan rolls into Utah, Dean will be just another failed presidential wannabe and back in Vermont as just another common citizen.”  (5/22/2003)

Reports and headlines from the coverage of the EMILY’s List forum – which attracted seven of the nine Dem candidates – were included in yesterday’s Morning Report, but some of the comments and accusations against the Bush Administration should be noted and remembered: Dean – “I don’t think we can win this race without standing up to the president...We are paying for what we did in Iraq because when you see al-Qaida come back that is the price we pay for taking our eye off the ball.” (5/22/2003)

Illinois poll revealed. Excerpt from coverage of the Dem candidates by Chicago Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief Lynn Sweet: “In a poll of 1,000 Illinois Democratic Senate primary voters conducted by one of the Illinois U.S. Senate candidates from April 22-24, Braun and Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) led the pack with each polling 17 percent.” Lieberman had 16%, Kerry 11%, Dean 5%, Edwards 4%, Sharpton 2%, and Graham 1%. The poll has 26% as undecided with a margin of error of 3.1%. More excerpts from the Sweet coverage: “For months, Edwards has been making trips to the Chicago area to woo local donors, fund-raisers and the political elite…an Illinois Senate campaign shared the poll with the Sun-Times on the condition that its name not be used because it did not want to get involved in presidential politics. The poll, in an oversight, forgot to include Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio). In looking at the bottom rungs of an April ABC News poll, Braun polled 6 percent to 4 percent for Edwards and 3 percent or less for Dean, Sharpton, Graham and Kucinich.”(5/23/2003)

Under the headline “Quotable candidates turn media-shy,” San Francisco columnist Carla Marinucci wrote Sunday: “Is the famously plain-speaking former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean losing his nerve as a presidential candidate? Or are the pressures of a national race showing up on a fledging campaign that has rocketed suddenly to the top of the interest list? The questions come to mind after watching Dean in San Francisco on Thursday night at an event that had all the ingredients of a winner. Hundreds of supporters showed up to greet him in a colorful setting – Chi Chi’s on Broadway, site of the city’s first lesbian bar. And some important Silicon Valley rainmakers turned out to support his campaign: Steve Kirsch, who ranks as one of the nation’s most deep-pocketed Democratic donors, and venture capitalist Joe Kraus. It was the kind of intimate retail campaigning that makes for good coverage indeed, but Dean’s campaign stubbornly barred TV and print reporters from attending. So it didn’t get covered at all. ‘It’s absolutely inconsistent with the needs of a Democratic challenger,’ says political communications Professor Barbara O’Connor of California State University at Sacramento…The issue of what makes a presidential campaign appearance newsworthy – and how much access it deserves – will be raised again and again as a host of Democratic hopefuls crisscross California in search of cash over the next week.” Marinucci’s column adds that Gephardt, Graham, Kerry and Edwards are “planning fund-raisers, most of them out of the glare of the media spotlight.”(5/26/2003)

Over the weekend, the Mason City Globe Gazette headlined that “Howard Dean brings his universal health care plan to North Iowa” The Globe Gazette coverage Saturday – reporting on Dean’s participation in a health care roundtable in Mason City on Friday – said the former VT guv was “touting his plan to provide every American with health insurance.” Based it on the Globe Gazette story, it was fairly standard Dean rhetoric about his health care proposal. Excerpts: “’Why is it a good plan? Because it will pass,’ he said. ‘In the past, health care plans, including President Clinton’s, failed because Democrats fought it and Republicans killed it. So we’re not trying to reform the system. We want 42 million uninsured Americans in the system first. Then we’ll fight about it’…’If you give people a choice between the president’s tax cut and health insurance that can’t be taken away, they’ll say health insurance. And this would cost half of the president’s tax cut.’” (5/26/2003)

Headline from today’s The Union Leader: “No front-runner, Democrats plot strategy for nomination” Analysis by AP’s veteran political reporter Ron Fournier: “The campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination will pit the tortoises against the hares, three patient plodders hoping to overtake three confident sprinters after the race’s first lap.” Fournier described Kerry, Gephardt and Dean as “the pacesetters. Following the traditional nomination path, they are seeking victories Jan. 19 in Iowa or eight days later in New Hampshire to build momentum for the first multistate showdown Feb. 3.” He wrote that three others – Lieberman, Edwards and Graham – are “betting their candidacies on a largely untested theory that they can wait until Feb. 3 or beyond for their first victories. They will need a lot of money and a bit of luck to pull it off. At least one of the slow-starters, Edwards, may air the campaign’s first ads early this summer to jump-start his bid.” Another excerpt: “Eight months before the first vote is cast, no front-runner has emerged in a campaign that may last just six weeks in early 2004, according to Democrats in key states and the candidates’ own strategists…After the Feb. 3 elections in Arizona, South Carolina, Delaware, Missouri, New Mexico and Oklahoma, eight more states plus the District of Columbia select delegates in the next three weeks. Then comes Super Tuesday on March 2, when California, New York and at least seven other states choose delegates. After that big day, more than half of the 2,161 delegates needed for the nomination will have been awarded.”  (5/26/2003)

Los Angeles Times headline from Sunday – “Democrats’ Plans Could Be Costly… Party analysts fear the presidential candidates’ spending proposals will undermine their economic argument against reelecting Bush.” Times political ace Ronald Brownstein writes – “Even with the federal government facing record budget deficits, many of the 2004 Democratic presidential contenders are advancing much larger spending programs than Al Gore was willing to risk as the party’s 2000 nominee. Some Democratic analysts are increasingly concerned that these substantial new proposals may threaten the party’s ability to challenge President Bush in next year’s election on what could become a major vulnerability: the federal budget’s sharp deterioration, from record surplus to massive deficits, during his presidency. ‘At some point, the Democrats will be called to task to see if their own programs meet the fiscal test they are holding up for the Bush administration,’ said Elaine Kamarck, senior policy advisor to Gore in 2000. Already, the spending proposals – especially for health care – are emerging as a key divide in the Democratic race. Three leading contenders – Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, John Edwards of North Carolina and Bob Graham of Florida – are questioning whether health-care plans by three rivals – Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and, especially, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri – are affordable, economically and politically. Yet the pressure to produce bold ideas attractive to Democratic primary voters may be triggering a spending competition that will make it difficult for all of the candidates to hold down the cost of their agendas. And that prospect has Republicans practically salivating at the opportunity to portray the Democrats as recidivist big spenders.” (5/26/2003)

The Washington Times yesterday reported that Gephardt dominates while Graham and Kucinich lag in endorsement battle. Headline: “Gephardt takes early lead in ‘endorsement primary’” Coverage by Times’ Charles Hunt says Gephardt “leads the pack of presidential hopefuls in the so-called ‘endorsement primary.’ Earlier this month, Mr. Gephardt announced endorsements from 30 House colleagues, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat…Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut Democrat, has the second-highest number of endorsements from congressional colleagues – 12 – from eight states, including fellow Connecticut Democratic Sen. Christopher J. Dodd.” The Times report continues to note that Edwards has “rounded up support from six congressmen from his state and one more from Texas,” Kerry has is supported by Sen. Edward Kennedy and three other members of Congress, Dean has endorsements from both Vermont senators and two House members, Moseley Braun has two congressional endorsements, and Sharpton announced last week that “he had the support of Rep. Jose E. Serrano, New York Democrat.” Graham and Kucinich haven’t listed any endorsements yet, but the Times noted “Mr. Graham’s office said he has not yet sought endorsements from fellow legislators.” The significance of the endorsement battle – outside of generating media coverage and showing a support base – is that members of Congress are voting super-delegates to the Democratic national convention. (5/28/2003)

During a weekend visit to New Hampshire, Dean “criticized the state Senate vote requiring that parents be told if their minor daughter seeks an abortion.” Under The Union Leader Monday headline “Dean says he disagrees with parental notification bill,” he was quoted as saying, “I don’t think it’s the government’s business to interfere in the relationship between the doctor and the patient. The vast majority of minors bring their parents with them…For the small percentage that don’t there’s usually a good reason.” The report continued: “Dean, a doctor, said every conscientious health care practitioner will try to convince a minor who is considering an abortion to involve their parents.”  (5/28/2003)

In a candidate profile piece, the News & Observer of Raleigh – Edwards’ home state newspaper – reported that Dean “presents himself as the only Democrat running for president who can energize the party’s disaffected liberal wing while drawing a large number of votes from independents and Republicans. ‘I’m a Democrat from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party,’ Dean declares in his trademark line, suggesting disdain for his rivals for the party’s 2004 White House nod.” Lawrence M. O’Rourke of The News & Observer’s Washington Bureau – reporting from Des Moines – wrote: “With one breath, Dean sounds like a committed liberal, pointing to his early and aggressive opposition to the war against Iraq. He accuses his rivals of voting for the tax cuts proposed by President Bush. Dean warns that Bush is leading the country ‘into a depression.’ ‘I’m an unusual candidate who is not driven by the polls,’ said Dean, noting that as governor of Vermont for 11 years he signed the nation’s first law extending equal rights to gays and lesbians. But Dean is far from being a consistent liberal by national Democratic standards. His plan to provide ‘health insurance that can’t be taken away’ relies more on private industry and less on government revenue than proposals of other Democratic candidates.” (5/29/2003)

Vilsack names Gephardt, Kerry and Dean as the top three in the nine-wannabe field. Fox News reported: “Iowa’s Democratic caucus voters are weighing the candidates and have some bad news to would-be presidential contenders – not many of them can count on making it very far in the primary season. Democratic Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, the unofficial gatekeeper of the crucially important first presidential caucuses in the nation – scheduled for Jan. 19, 2004 – said that with eight months to go, he has already narrowed down the field of nine to three serious contenders – Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. ‘The first tier is Gephardt, Dean and Kerry. They either have very aggressive organizations or they’ve spent a lot of time in the state,’ Vilsack told Fox News. This could come as tough news for the likes of Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bob Graham of Florida, whom Vilsack relegates to second-tier competitors. The Iowa governor has all but anointed Gephardt the man to beat if the former House minority leader can win over Iowa’s influential labor unions. ‘If Gephardt gets those endorsements as I think folks expect him to, then he’s clearly in the driver’s seat. If he fails to get those endorsements, it’s going to be a very, very competitive race,’ Vilsack said.” (5/30/2003)

The Union Leader headline: “Tax hike a top priority for Dean if elected” The report yesterday noted that Dean – while standing on Manchester sidewalk under an umbrella – “called for repeal of the $350 billion tax cut that President Bush signed into law Wednesday, describing it as ‘part of a radical agenda to dismantle Social Security, Medicare and our public schools through financial starvation.’ Dean’s rival, Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, labeled the tax cuts – the third largest in the nation’s history – ‘unfair, unaffordable and ineffective’ as several of the Democratic candidates stepped up their criticism of the president’s economic policies. Their complaints came as Bush signed the bill in an East Room ceremony surrounded by congressional Republican leaders…In stark contrast to that fanfare, Dean stood in the rain on a Manchester, N.H., sidewalk to assail the bill, sharing his umbrella with two reporters who showed up. He said all of Bush’s tax cuts – including those passed in 2001 – must be repealed…The former Vermont governor, like his Democratic rivals, cited 2.7 million jobs lost during Bush’s tenure in the White House and pointed to the fact that a day earlier, the president signed a bill allowing the federal government to borrow as much as $7.4 trillion to increase the federal debt limit. ‘The president promises everything and delivers nothing,” said Dean.”(5/30/2003)

More Dean in New Hampshire. From coverage of Dean visit to Warner in this morning’s The Union Leader: “’I’ve never lost an election and I have no intention of losing this one,’ Howard Dean told a crowd huddled inside a bookstore in Warner last night as he campaigned for the Democratic nomination to take on George W. Bush in 2004. ‘My career is not about getting elected and elected and elected,’ the former Vermont governor said. ‘My career is about changing this country and changing America for the better and including people and building a country where we respect each other and we’re responsible for each other,’ Dean said while explaining his position of support for gay rights. ‘I believe that’s the only way we can beat George Bush,’ he said.”  (5/30/2003)

News services and most major newspapers gave the following story solid play and – for somewhat obvious reasons – Iowa Pres Watch has chosen to go with the San Francisco Chronicle headline: “’The most pro-gay field ever’…Advocacy group rates Democratic presidential candidates on the issues” Excerpts from the Chronicle coverage: “Democratic presidential candidates running in the 2004 election are more sympathetic to gay and lesbian issues than any field in history, according to a report released Wednesday. A study by the country’s oldest national gay and lesbian political organization details differences among the nine announced Democratic candidates, from former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s support for federal civil unions to Florida Sen. Bob Graham’s opposition to allowing gays to serve openly in the military…’As a group, this is the most pro-gay presidential field ever,’ said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which has compiled records of candidates since 1988.” The Chronicle report said Moseley Braun “received the highest rating, agreeing with the group on all 11 issues identified as most critical to gay rights.” Dean, who signed a civil unions measure in 2000 as governor, came in second while Graham was last – primarily because he opposes gay marriages and voted in 1994 against spending federal dollars on educational material that discussed homosexuality. Foreman said, however, that even Graham is hardly ‘terrible on gay issues,’ the Chronicle reported.  (5/30/2003)

Leftover from earlier in the week (Tuesday), Boston Herald headline: “Republicans grin as Dean attacks foe” Andrew Miga reports from DC: “You can almost hear Republicans cheer whenever the sniping breaks out between Democratic presidential hopefuls Howard Dean and Sen. John F. Kerry. ‘Howard Dean is pretty much doing our dirty work,’ laughed one senior Massachusetts Republican. ‘We’re enjoying the show for now.’ The bitter feud between Kerry (Mass.) and the former Vermont governor has provided plenty of fireworks and political theater as the 2004 White House race unfolds. Kerry and Dean pointed accusatory fingers when they shared the stage at the Democratic debate in Columbia, S.C., earlier this month, squabbling over health care, gay rights and who is fit to be president. Dean’s caustic criticism has, to some degree, slowed Kerry’s early ascension to the top tier of Democratic candidates. Dean’s unabashed liberalism has forced Kerry to court his party’s left wing. Dean has made strong inroads in New Hampshire, a must-win state for the Bay State senator. Most Democratic analysts agree that Kerry botched a golden opportunity to lift himself from the pack at the South Carolina debate, sparring with Dean instead of offering a positive message.” (5/30/2003)

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