Full Story in The Washington Post, Sunday, November 9, 2003For Dean, Two Big Steps AheadDemocrat Rejects Public Financing, Gains Key Labor Support
By Jim VandeHei and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, November 9, 2003; Page A01
Former Vermont governor Howard Dean is shaking up the Democratic presidential race by busting federal spending constraints, locking up the campaign's two of the biggest endorsements and, for the first time, threatening to pull away from the pack. (....)
Strategists for several candidates said the campaign is going to get even nastier and more personal in the weeks ahead. Their plan is to try to drive a wedge between Dean and his liberal base by hammering his past or present support for gun rights and for changes in the Social Security and Medicare programs. "The more liberals find out about his record as governor of Vermont, the more they're going to be uncomfortable with him," said Jim Jordan, campaign manager for Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.). (....)
Steve Murphy, Gephardt's campaign manager, said the race is "narrowing" into a two-person contest. "It's either going to be Howard Dean or Dick Gephardt," he said. Gephardt is making his stand in Iowa, where he plans to spend most of the next three months. He has essentially pulled out of New Hampshire in recent weeks. (....)
Yet even if Gephardt wins in Iowa, he could meet the same fate as he did 1988: victorious in the Hawkeye State but lacking the money to challenge for the nomination nationally. Dean, who broke Bill Clinton's fundraising record last quarter, has leaped way ahead of many of his rivals in organizing for primaries held later in the campaign in places such as Wisconsin.
Kerry may be hurt most by Dean's rise, strategists said. Kerry, who fashioned himself as the front-runner early in the race, is struggling to keep Dean from pulling away in New Hampshire, which is widely considered a make-or-break state for the senator.
Kerry is almost singularly focused on undercutting Dean, mostly with increasingly sharp and personal attacks on his character, consistency and honesty. But the attacks do not appear to be working. (....)
Kerry is considered the biggest disappointment by many Democrats, who say he has failed to clearly articulate a vision for the country and has been too negative. "I think Senator Kerry needs to shake things up and get back on his message," (Donna) Brazile said. (....)