Gephardt Uses Dean's Words Against Him

[quinnox]

Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt is returning to the Iowa airwaves Saturday with a new television commercial that uses front-runner Howard Dean's own words against him.



The two are in a fierce fight in the Jan. 19 caucus state, and Dean began airing an ad this week that took Gephardt to task for supporting President Bush on the Iraq war. Gephardt, who had not run ads for two weeks, responded with his own spot.

Titled "Tough," Gephardt accuses Dean of flip-flopping on the issue of Bush's request for $87 billion to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan a supplemental spending bill and going back on his position that he wouldn't use his rivals' votes in Congress on that issue in his campaign.

The 30-second ad that will air statewide suggests that Dean criticized Gephardt for a position the former Vermont governor supported. It shows Dean answering a question at a September debate in New York about whether he would support Bush's plan.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=694&e=3&u=/ap/20031121/ap_on_el_pr/gephardt_ad

Way to go Gep! Always gotta punch back.

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Gep's already dead in the water..

Once Dean captures Iowa, NH, and SC....

Gep should drop out already.. he's already going to get under even more fierce attack with his IWR vote, has-been presidential candidate, etc.

Hawkeye-X

[teevee]

5. only one prob with yr logic

clark's got S.C., baby

[Hawkeye-X]

7. So could Edwards and Dean....

Your point being???

[_NorCal_D_]

23. Don't be so sure.

Dean is doing pathetic in South Carolina:
http://americanresearchgroup.com/sc/

Oct
Carol Moseley Braun 5%
Wesley Clark 17%
Howard Dean 7%
John Edwards 10%
Dick Gephardt 7%
John Kerry 4%
Dennis Kucinich 1%
Joe Lieberman 8%
Al Sharpton 5%
Undecided 36%

[pruner]

26. but he's in 2nd (behind Edwards) in North Carolina

he's got 25% there and is he only candidate (besides Edwards) in double digits.

[BJ]

31. Yeah, it looks like Undecided's gonna kick butt!

[Hawkeye-X]

2. Dupe

pls delete

[Larkspur]

3. At least Gephardt is dealing with recent history, not something said 10

years ago, but I'm sure that Geppy has distorted Dean's position again. Dean had opposed that $87 billion unless Bush repealed the tax cuts.

[slinkerwink]

4. yep, that's true

[Zynx]

6. He also wanted different structure to it.

Less pork and that sort of thing. He supported supporting the troops.

[AP]

14. Dean said that he had no problem with the 87 bil so long as the tax

breaks were rescinded.

It was kind of a lame way to be on both sides of the issue.

The thing is, Dean's for rescinding the tax cuts, so, essentially, he was saying that, if he were president, taxes would go up, and that money would be spent in Iraq according to the priorities Bush had established.

Kerry, Edwards, Kucinich, and Sharpton took issue with the way the money would be spent (ie, on Halliburton and Bechtel). If Dean had that problem, he didn't mention it at the debate.

I criticized Dean for this here after he said this. It was amazing that nobody commented on it. When I noted that Dean didn't have a problem with this, Will Pitt posted that he didn't know that Dean had said that. I had to paste the quote from the transcript. Gephardt is right to make an issue of this.

If he criticized Gep for this vote, he's crazy, because he was for it. And then he criticizes the others for being Iraq enablers?

[slinkerwink]

15. I'm glad you changed your sig line....

that was a bad picture of Cesar Chavez....

[AP]

17. I hope you don't have a problem with Chavez? Have you seen the movie?

?

[slinkerwink]

18. no, it's just the picture looked really bad, like he was pissed

[AP]

35. He'd just survived a coup. Of course he's gonna LOOK pissed. But, actually

he was in great spirits. He was in a great mood. He knew he was going to be back in the palace, he said.

[BJ]

32. Is this the Dean quote?

(-snip-)
""I would oppose President Bush's latest request for a blank check unless the President submits a new plan that is paid for out of the tax cut.The new plan must give our troops what they need and bring them home safely, share this burden with other nations, ensure the stabilization and rebuilding of Iraq, and make sure that the billions of dollars we are spending are not wasted and used to pay off big corporations. Congress must demand that the President submit this new plan immediately."
(-snip-)
Link to decidely pro-Dean web forum

I think what's being said is that the $87 billion in aid for Iraq Brush asked for and received should not be new spending, further exacerbating the budget deficit, but found in a roll-back of the gratuitous tax cuts for the wealthy. Anyway, the greater portition of this funding measure doesn't go directly to the troops in Iraq or their families at home, but to defense contrators and civilian construction companies for the "rebuilding" of the Iraqi infrastructure.

Gephardt's reaching.

[AP]

16. Dean said that he had no problem with the 87 bil so long as the tax

breaks were rescinded.

It was kind of a lame way to be on both sides of the issue.

The thing is, Dean's for rescinding the tax cuts, so, essentially, he was saying that, if he were president, taxes would go up, and that money would be spent in Iraq according to the priorities Bush had established.

Kerry, Edwards, Kucinich, and Sharpton took issue with the way the money would be spent (ie, on Halliburton and Bechtel). If Dean had that problem, he didn't mention it at the debate.

I criticized Dean for this here after he said this. It was amazing that nobody commented on it. When I noted that Dean didn't have a problem with this, Will Pitt posted that he didn't know that Dean had said that. I had to paste the quote from the transcript. Gephardt is right to make an issue of this.

If he criticized Gep for this vote, he's crazy, because he was for it. And then he criticizes the others for being Iraq enablers?

[Cocoa]

8. I remember Dean saying he wouldn't use the vote as a campaign issue

"I don't think this Iraq disagreement frankly rises to the level of a big campaign issue and I don't, I don't intend to make whether you voted for it or against the supplemental appropriation a campaign issue."


I'm always looking for things to give Dean credit for, and I gave him credit for this one. I thought it was counterproductive to make that vote into an issue. Oh, well.

[Eloriel]

9. I bet that's the debate where the questioner

insisted on forcing Dean into a yes or no, when his position was that he'd support it IF Bush found a way to pay for it by reversing some of his tax cuts.

If so, Gep's going to have to continue with the intellectual dishonesty (or, in some cases, downright lies) in order to pin that on Dean.

Criticizing an opponent is one thing, misrepresenting his positions or outright lying is another. Gep made himself unsupportable for me when I saw him outright lie about Dean the other day on TV.

Eloriel

[blm]

21. Didn't Dean tell people the others supported Bush's taxcuts

for the wealthiest when NONE of them did? I believe it was Jan. 23 when he made that accusation.

[pruner]

22. post a link or…

[blm]

37. It's been posted a thousand times. Here it is AGAIN.

http://www.cmonitor.com/stories/news/local2003/012303dean_2002.shtml
>>>>
I can't wait for those four guys from Congress to come up here and explain to us why they wanted to raise your property taxes after they supported a tax cut for the wealthiest people in America," he said.
>>>>

[ozone_man]

25. Tell that to AP.

I forget where I heard it, but my interpretation was the same. It doesn't sound like a policy statement, but more like an off-the-cuff remark.

I remember him also saying that the $87B could fund (partially) health care system, instead of paying for Iraq war.

[knight_of_the_star]

28. That's funny

You mean like how Dean misrepresented Kerry's position on IWR even though essentially their positions on it were the same but Dean somehow made Kerry look like a war criminal and make himself look like the peace candidate?

[Scott Lee]

36. Gep? Lie? I'm shocked...SHOCKED I say!

But then again he's battling a Dem candidate who is uh....how do the power pundits put it....oh yes, "unelectable".

[pruner]

10. this is what I find most intresting…

Gephardt had been on the air in Iowa with moderate $100,000 buys every week in Iowa since September until his two-week hiatus. Murphy said the new ad buy was larger than the campaign's typical purchase, but he would not elaborate.

Gephardt might playin right into Dean's hands…

the state spending cap limit has gotta be creeping up on Gephardt about now.

[slinkerwink]

11. I think Dean'll be able to sink Geppy with another ad....

and Geppy won't have the money to respond back. ouch.

[Cocoa]

12. this really has become to be what Dean is about

money and the horse race aspect.

I'm going to continue to look for what Dean stands for. He gave an interview on PBS where he made a fantastic analogy between voters and patients. It really did give me an insight into Dean's thinking. I think he meant it.

He also said someting about his anger really being hope that was believable.

[slinkerwink]

13. I loved that interview on PBS!

I believed what he said and he was so matter-of-fact.

[pruner]

19. I'm not suggesting Dean's intent was to "bait" Gephardt…

into running ads that he can't afford to…

I'm just saying it looks like that's what the result of Dean's latest ad is turning out to be.

[slinkerwink]

20. who knows? but the dean campaign's done a good job so far.

[KaraokeKarlton]

34. This might help you understand Dean better

He refuses to use "handlers"...he won't have it. He doesn't use speech writers either. Anything you hear coming out of his mouth is his own words. Because they are his own words and not someone else's, he believes whole heartedly in what he says. This is one of the big things that sets him apart from the others. He comes across as more sincere and honest because of this. He is sincere and honest anyway, but it's easier to see it because of these things I've mentioned. It also is why he occassionaly uses a less than favorable choice of words when making a point. That doesn't hurt him though because it makes him human, which makes it easier for people to relate to him on a more personal level.

[BJ]

24. Dean didn't vote on the $87 billion for Iraq

(-snip-)
"Still, the legislation brought the differences of the candidates into sharper relief. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina and John Kerry of Massachusetts opposed the money, while Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri supported it."
Link to October 18, 2003 AP story at Yahoo.com

Sorry, Dick's a dick.

[knight_of_the_star]

29. Dean didn't vote

For the simple fact of because he IS NOT IN CONGRESS.

[BJ]

30. How thoughtful of you to point that out to me.

But, please, explain Congressman Gephardt's vote.

[Scott Lee]

27. Once again, Warlord Gephardt lies.

Here's what a Gephardt campaign official said about the attack ad on Dean...

"Gephardt campaign manager Steve Murphy, who earlier this week said Gephardt would not engage in a slugfest with Dean, said the ad sets the record straight."

So what does Warlord Gep do? He goes back on his word and starts a slugfest with Dean.

Well, what do you expect. Gep is losing, so he's angry and desperate, and very willing to go back on his own words while pointing fingers at Dean for allegedly doing the same.

[pasadenaboy]

33. if only he had this amount

of fight when he was minority leader.

He's much tougher on fellow democrats than Bush. He's a sell out.