Reaction to Howard Dean's Announcement

[Karmadillo]

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/7216011.htm

Reaction by Democratic presidential candidates to Howard Dean's announcement Saturday that he will forgo public financing and the accompanying spending limits in the 2004:

"I'm a strong believer in the campaign finance system. I think it brings integrity to the process. I'm disappointed Governor Dean has reversed his position." - Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

"It's a shame that Howard Dean has broken his word and abandoned his earlier pledge never to bypass the public financing system. America needs a leader who will stick to the promises he makes. We call on Governor Dean to comply with the spirit of the law - and his own previous statements - and pledge to spend no more than $45 million in the Democratic primaries and to limit his spending to the specific spending caps in the states." - Statement from the campaign of Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

"It's disappointing that Howard Dean so conveniently abandoned a long-held position of principle out of mere political expediency. After Howard Dean so passionately and ardently announced that if any candidate left the public system it would be an issue, then sought a political fig leaf in an Internet poll slyly worded to predetermine its results, it's clear an alleged straight talk candidacy has turned out to represent politics as usual." - Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

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[ALago1]

1. Translation:

Crap, he's really gonna beat us now.

[mandyky]

5. Uh huh

Major sour grapes

[alcuno]

2. What a bunch of whiners.

At this point, I don't care what some Democrat has to do to get rid of this administration.

"I'm disappointed......" They sound like a bunch of teachers with an errant student.

[Eric J in MN]

3. ideally, the campaign finance system will be improved after

Ideally, the campaign finance system will be improved after this election.

In the meantime, since Bush has opted out, the Democratic candidate needs to do the same to compete.

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

4. Kudos to Clark

"I think it's important for people to look at what he said earlier and the pledge that he made. I think we'll leave it up to the people to decide whether this is a good or a bad thing." - Wesley Clark's spokesman, Kym Spell.

[Khephra]

12. As a Dean supporter

I will say that Clark's is the best response of them all, imo.

[Rowdyboy]

13. What more could any reasonable person ask?

My personal preference is to get rid of Bush no matter what we are forced to do. Just get him out!

[Andromeda]

28. Clark is really a class act.

So far he has always taken the high road.
:thumbsup:

[Tatiana]

35. Clark shows he's a class act again.

I'm so sick of the other candidates trying to take cheap shots at Dean.

It's old already. They need to focus on criticizing this administration and their own campaigns.

[dean4america]

6. and here's my reaction:

Don't bring a plastic knife to a gunfight with the bastards on the Right. WHOMEVER the nominee is, I have no problem with them foregoing public financing to face the Bush juggernaut.

The only one of the three candidates listed above that makes a decent point is Lieberman, about Dean adhearing to the spirity of caps in the primaries.

Kerry, on the otherhand, can just go eff himself -- I'm so sick of HIS politics as usual bullshit that I'd just as soon vote for Lieberman over Kerry. i guess no one bothered to tell Kerry it was politically expedient to vote for the IWR, eh?

the quote of the day though, err, rather, the RIDICULOUS quote of the day goes to Gephardt, who called the Internet voting a gimmick (Kerry says as much, but Gep used the word "gimmick' in his statement).

[mrgorth]

7. blah, blah, blah,

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[KittyWampus]

8. Tough Call Though... Seems Necessary

One would hope Dean would stay under certain limits until after the primaries.

The way Dean handled this was kind of sickening though. Letting your supporters know you want to forgo public financing and then setting up a vote to make it look like it was their decision. Yucky but effective.

[fabius]

11. The deal with letting supporters vote:

Was partly to hit us up for more money. Well, it makes sense. My wife and I pledged another $250. There will be more than that probably.

It's a lot cheaper than moving to France.

[Scott Lee]

15. WTF are you talking about?

Resulting from current realities, and Bush's ever increasing campaign war chest, Dean sees a necessary shift on opting out of public campaign caps. So in spirit with his campaign so far, he takes the question to his supporters...

And you call that "sickening"??

Perhaps you'd prefer the strategem of President Bunnypants, where you do whatever the hell you want and tell your fellow citizens "who cares what you think"?

[fabius]

9. I want the Democratic nominee to be fully armed...

...whether it's Dean, Kerry, Clark, whoever.

And I pledge to support whoever looks like the nominee (we'll probably know by about April) with my financial support, volunteer work, etc. etc. and work just as hard for him or her as I do for DEAN.

I want the Democratic candidate to have $200 mil to clobber Smirk. Show that flight suit moment over and over. Show "bring it on" followed by helicopter crash footage. Pound him. Show no mercy.

[Demobrat]

10. And tomorrow on the morning news shows

Kerry and Edwards will do the Dean bash two-step. And it won't help them at all. Not the teeniest-tiniest least little bit.

[Evanstondem]

19. Edwards response wasn't that bad

Kerry's is another story, but we've come to expect this from him.

[bpilgrim]

14. whaddaya expect them to say?

yeah, we are psyced that dean is gonna blow by us in the fund raising dept.

the way i look at it whoever loses should toos any left over funds back into the dem party anyways since by then it is ABB :bounce:

peace

[RetroLounge]

16. A bunch of whiners. Who the F*ck cares what they think.

They know that are gonna lose. So when Kerry opts out, will he say "Well, Dean did it first"?

Thank you General Clark for having the most sane and sensible response. You continue to be a class act.

[Rowdyboy]

23. And thank you for giving Wesley credit where it is due...

He's not playing the attack, tear down and destroy game that seems tom have become a central part of our political system. I hope he manages to keep himself clean...

[Hokie]

17. The only way to beat the friggin" bastards is with money

We can be right and have the principles but the fact is that 50-60% of the "Americun" idots have an IQ lower than the average temperature. The only way to beat these bastards is to answer every lie, every half truth, every exaggeration, with the truth and that costs money. They have the media in their pocket they have lots of money. It will be an uphill battle. Money will win if it predomninates.

[moz4prez]

18. great news, but he oughta hold out until he secures the nomination

TO UNLEASH THE BEAST

it's only fair, and less wasteful

these are his "colleagues" after all — barring Clark who is really the swellest guy

now if only his candidacy would swell accordingly . . .

[killbotfactory]

20. Quit crying in your teacups, losers.

It makes sense...

It's in keeping with the spirit of campaign finance reform to have thousands of small donations from average people, etc...

It's going to help beat Bush...

Dean laid out his case and got his supporters blessing...

But he made a pledge before knowing all this would be possible. Boo hoo.

Dean revolutionized fundraising, and did it out in the open, while these weinies scoffed and shook their head. Too bad, so sad.

[Eloriel]

21. Oh, I've been waiting for this one from Kerry

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/09/16/hard_to_pull_for_kerry/


So let's go back to 1996, to Kerry's reelection campaign against then-Governor Bill Weld, specifically to the night Weld met Kerry at the senator's wife's Beacon Hill mansion. They finalized an unprecedented agreement to limit advertising spending to $5 million apiece, and to limit the use of personal funds in the campaign to $500,000 apiece.

Good government types hailed the agreement as a major breakthrough. Kerry and Weld basked in the plaudits of editorialists the nation over. Kerry described the pact as "a model for campaign reform across the country."

But a funny thing happened on the way to Election Day. Kerry didn't just violate the deal, he pulverized it. Running out of money in the waning days of October, Kerry mortgaged and remortgaged the Louisburg Square house, ultimately pouring $1.7 million in personal funds into his campaign. For those of you keeping track at home, that's $1.2 million more than the agreement allowed.

As he made a mockery of the pact, he did something else distinctly distasteful. He accused Weld of violating the agreement, a charge that seemed specious at best, an outright lie at worst.

---

I guess Kerry forgot about his own past.

Eloriel

[Khephra]

22. Like he'd like to forget about his Iraq vote?

Ooooppps....did I just say that?

Yeah, I think I did.

:evilgrin:

[sfecap]

24. John Kerry...sanctimonious, hypocritical, loser.

And a liar.

Bye, bye, Johnny!

[Rowdyboy]

25. Good God, you people are harsh.

John Kerry is not my first, second, third or 4th choice for the nomination. That said, he is not DEMON SPAWN!!!!!!!!

My God, you guys are mean and ruthless...

[Karmadillo]

30. True believers often need a demon, and it appears

some DUers have selected Kerry to fill that role.

[JNelson6563]

31. Kerry has worked hard for it

In an hourlong interview on a public radio program in Concord on Wednesday, Mr. Kerry, who two months ago publicly chastised his campaign manager for assailing Dr. Dean, again and again turned questions about his own views into attacks on Dr. Dean, until his host finally politely asked that Senator Kerry use his time to talk about Senator Kerry.

"Howard Dean is now the favorite and we're the underdog, and John Kerry and his campaign are now fighting like we're the underdog," said Judy Reardon, who runs Mr. Kerry's campaign in New Hampshire. "I remain optimistic that we're going to pull this thing out."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/09/politics/campaigns/09DEMS.html?pagewanted=2&hp

Throughout this campaign it is Kerry and his supporters who have been beyond vicious. "Fighting like....the underdog" indeed!! More like a cornered animal! Just scroll around GD and you will see that the most vicious and counter-productive posts around are from Kerry supporters (though there are a handful of Clarkies givin' 'em a run for their money).

Kerry obsesses over Dean as do his supporters.

In spite of it all Dean, his campaign and supporters don't see Kerry as the demon here. Outside of DU Kerry's n'ary a blip on the screen for most of us. We know the real demon is Bush.

Julie

[Karmadillo]

33. Not sure I'd want to join Andrew Sullivan in embracing Adam Nagourney's

reporting. If you check the Daily Howler archives, you'll find he's not much of a fan of Kerry (or Gore) (or, I'm guessing, Democrats, in general). I linked to one article at the end of this post.

Seriously, going back to the NY Times coverage of the 2000 election, you might want to think twice before accepting their characterization of events as accurate. Did Kerry "attack" Dean or did he point out differences in policy and the kind of position changes so often discussed on DU? If so, it would have been, in light of Dean's status as front runner, sound political strategy. Given Nagourney's previous reporting, one can't really be sure what happened. Until one has corroboration from more reliable sources, I wouldn't think the paragraphs you quote qualify as the damning evidence needed to elevate a politician to demonhood.

And given the nature of campaigning, don't you think Dean wouldn't be "attacking" Kerry if the poll numbers were reversed? Here's a link that suggests he would:

http://www8.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/28/sprj.irq.democrats.ap/

Dean first to single out Democratic presidential rivals for criticism

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Howard Dean has brought an end to the polite public tone of the Democratic presidential primary by singling out John Kerry's position on Iraq.

Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, and Dean, former governor of Vermont, are virtually tied for the lead among nine Democrats in a recent poll of New Hampshire voters.

Dean has gained support among anti-war voters for his opposition to the invasion of Iraq and in recent days has ramped up his criticism that Kerry's stance has been unclear.

"To this day I don't know what John Kerry's position is," Dean said Thursday in a speech to Iowa activists. "If you agree with the war, then say so. If you don't agree with the war, then say so, but don't try to wobble around in between."

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And here's a link to a Howler on Nagourney's "reporting":

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh073102.shtml

<edit>

SULLIVAN (7/29/02):
TWO SUPERB REALITY-CHECKS: Who says I can’t praise the Times? Their invaluable reporter Adam Nagourney reminds me today of why it still publishes superb, measured journalism <referring to article on Democrats and Gore>. Here’s one smart piece of analysis. And one little scoop.

<edit>

Why did Sullivan like this piece? Can we suggest the obvious possibility? He may have liked it because Nagourney drew conclusions which Sullivan favors. But those conclusions, however pleasing, don’t make this into a piece of “superb, measured journalism.” Indeed, there are obvious problems with Nagourney’s approach. For example, what difference does it make if “several people” or “some people” express certain views about Gore, pro or con? Nagourney’s sample is small and scientifically worthless, and he doesn’t explain how he chose the two people who were actually quoted about Gore. (Both made highly negative statements.) As Andrew Sullivan knows quite well, this type of journalism is routinely used by scribes who want to reach preconceived “conclusions;” journalists routinely gimmick up stories using precisely the methods employed here. And by the way, there are actual polls about the issues at question—polls which Nagourney’s piece ignores. In a Zogby poll conducted last week, for example, 38 percent of Democrats favored Gore for the Dem nomination. Tom Daschle came next: 9 percent.

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[Scott Lee]

36. You've noticed this too??

I have been combing the anti-Dean threads here on DU for some time, and almost never do I see Dean supporters attacking the other Dem candidates with the aggressiveness and ferocity that Dean detractors do.

That speaks volumes, to me.

[Classical_Liberal]

26. My reaction! Yay Howard Dean

at the end of this he will have just as much money as the repuke. When a democrat is funded well he can't be beat.

[Andromeda]

27. Let's give them some cheese with their whine...

I would have expected nothing less from our esteemed candidates. Dean's the one to beat so they're trying to knock him down. They would do the same thing if they had raised as much money as Dean but since they haven't all they can do get their knickers in a knot.

Dean didn't want to be hamstrung with a $45 million spending limit because George Bush has already raised over $200 million plus. Gore accepted the matching funds in 2000 and I think it hurt him a lot.

They need to raise the $45 million cap so the Democrats can be competitive with the Republicans who traditionally raise more money. This political race is too important to be short of funds because it's going to take a lot of money to win.

Kerry said, and I don't have a link because I heard it on CNN, that if Dean doesn't accept matching funds then he will be forced not to either.

I say, go for it!

Dean says he wants 2 million people to send him $100 (how much is that?}.

They should clearly raise the spending cap on matching funds because it's just not fair when you have a Republican raising gazillions of dollars to beat you.

[jeter]

29. I have no idea what the other Dems are talking about

By forgoing the system. It makes no difference to the primary challeneges, since the primaries are so front loaded. It's about that period after the nomination is won and we have to fight Bush and his 80,000,000 dollar propaganda machine.

If Dean loses the nomination, then the point is moot. His money will probably go into some PAC for the Democratic Party. Other Democrats will have 35 to 45 million dollars to fight Dean in what is essentially a 6 week race for the nomination. If he wins, he still has cash on hand to fight off the GOP. This is more sniping at the front runner. It has NO EFFECT on the Democratic challenge for the nomination. Dean should recommend that all Democrats do the same thing to have a fighting chance against Bush. This has nothing to do with them. They know this to be true. But Democrats desperate for any kind of traction will attack anything and everything at this point.

Dean did the right thing.

[Gin]

32. Fight fire with fire....in this case fire is "GREEN"....

Bush started this...now... we will beat him at his own game!

[Scott Lee]

34. ...and neither do potential voters, according to polls

You have to believe and hope that voters in Nov of 2004 are much more enlightened than some of the antiDeaners here at DU.

[Rose Siding]

37. John McCain, reform champion says-

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a champion of campaign finance reform and former presidential candidate, said in light of Bush’s fundraising records and the current federal matching fund rules, Dean’s decision is “probably the right one.”

http://www.thehill.com/story.asp?id=136

Now, I never go looking for McCain's opinion but he is up on campaign finance reform so this is relevant, imo