Tweet
Sunday, May 22, 2005 9:58 p.m. EDT
Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean insisted on Sunday's "Meet the Press" that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay should be treated more harshly than Osama bin Laden.
In a pointedly embarrassing interview with NBC's Tim Russert, the DNC chairman spent almost the entire program under withering attack as Russert demonstrated Dean's hypocrisy on past comments he made about abortion, his criticisms of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly and the way he has tried to explain away his party's fundraising woes since he took the DNC helm in February.
The Republican National Committee was quick to seize on Dean's debacle Sunday.
"Howard Dean's unfocused performance today is emblematic of the larger problems facing the party he leads," RNC press secretary Tracey Schmitt said Sunday. "Sadly, Chairman Dean and the Democrats on Capitol Hill have become singularly focused on obstructionism and negativity, which is why they have become the country's minority party."
But Dean's performance on the top-rated Sunday talk show suggests that he may not have overcome initial concerns about his ability to handle the national leadership post.
Dean had been strongly backed for the DNC post by the party's hysterically anti-GOP left – notably Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Al Gore. The liberal troika had seen Dean as a counterweight to Hillary Clinton's growing power and her and her husband's desire to move the party to the center.
Rather than using the national program as a platform to launch broadsides against the Bush administration and aggressively tout the Democrats' agenda, Dean appeared mired in his own past.
During the show, Dean claimed, "Hypocrisy is a value that I think has been embraced by the Republican Party," and he vowed to Russert that "I will use whatever position I have in order to root out hypocrisy."
Ironically, Russert played the hypocrisy-exposing role as he repeatedly unmasked Dean's integrity on key issues, including:
Tom DeLay
Dean defended his declaration last week that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay should begin serving a jail sentence.
"I think Tom DeLay ought to go back to Houston, where he can serve his jail sentence down there courtesy of the Texas taxpayers," Dean said on May 14.
Dean stuck to his guns, telling host Tim Russert: "He hasn't been convicted yet, but ... I think there's a reasonable chance that this may end up in jail."
Asked if his harsh rhetoric toward DeLay wasn't hypocritical given his comments during the 2004 presidential campaign, when Dean said he didn't want to prejudge even Osama bin Laden, the top Democrat told Russert:
"To be honest with you, Tim, I don't think I'm prejudging [DeLay]."
Dean then ticked off several unproven allegations against the House majority leader.
When Russert noted that the top Republican had yet to be charged with even a single crime, Dean countered, "Three of the things I've mentioned he has already done and been admonished for by the House Ethics Committee."
Russert noted how little support Dean's position has, even among top Democrats, quoting Congressman Barney Frank, a liberal Democrat, who said: "That's just wrong. I think Howard Dean was out of line talking about DeLay. The man has not been indicted. I don't like him, I disagree with some of what he does, but I don't think you, in a political speech, talk about a man as a criminal or his jail sentence."
Russert asked if it was appropriate that Dean has Ok'd the posting of a bogus mug shot of DeLay on the DNC Web site, suggesting that the Republican has already been charged with a crime.
Dean sidestepped the issue, saying that DeLay should not be serving in Congress. In his answer, Dean then claimed, incredibly, that the Democrats are "not going to stoop to the kind of divisiveness that the Republicans are doing."
Abortion Claims
On the hot-button issue of abortion, Dean said he was against the procedure in one breath, but in the next he defended the far more gruesome practice of partial-birth abortion.
Noting that "there are significant numbers of pro-life Democrats in the South," the DNC chief said he wanted "to strike the words 'abortion' and 'choice'" from the Democrat lexicon.
Instead, Dean advised, "The way it ought to be framed ... is 'Do you want Tom DeLay and the boys to make up your mind about this, or does a woman have a right to make up her own mind about what kind of health care she gets.'"
Moments later, however, the top Democrat was defending partial-birth abortion, insisting, "I don't think that there is an ethical doctor in America who will do a third-term abortion without there being a reason like the health and life of the mother."
Russert countered by noting that "several heads of the American Medical Association endorsed banning third-term abortions because they said life of the mother is one thing but the health is a much different issue. It can be defined in so many different ways, it was a major loophole."
A deflated Dean responded: "It is an incredibly difficult area. It is an area which is conflicted."
Dean also insisted that both pro-choicers and pro-lifers could work together on "common ground” – that both sides wanted to greatly reduce the number of abortions in America.
Despite Dean's claims, Russert noted that at almost every turn the Democrats oppose efforts to restrict abortion.
"But, Governor, the problem for Democrats has been that many request abortion on demand, "Russert said, adding, "When there are attempts to say that there should be parental notification for children under 18 – to be notified with a judicial bypass, if there's a spouse, a parental abuse situation – many Democrats oppose it. Third-trimester abortion, 'partial-birth' abortion, Democrats opposed it. ... President Clinton vetoed it. Every time there's a vote to restrict abortion, the majority of the Democrats seem to vote against it."
Mocking Limbaugh and O'Reilly
DeLay claims the Democrats are taking the political high road.
But Russert asked the DNC chief about his questionable rhetoric.
"January, [you] mentioned that 'I hate the Republicans, what they stand for, good and evil, we are the good.' In March, you said, 'Republicans are brain dead.' You mentioned you're a physician – and this is April – "[Dean] did draw howls of laughter by mimicking a drug-snorting Rush Limbaugh. 'I'm not very dignified,' Dean said."
Confronted, Dean quickly admitted: "Well, that's true. A lot of people have accused me of not being dignified."
Russert pressed him on suggesting that Rush Limbaugh had snorted cocaine. "But is it appropriate for a physician to mock somebody who has gone into therapy and the abuse for drug addiction?" Russert asked.
But Dr. Dean seemed unrepentant about his comments, instead placing the blame on the top conservative talk hosts.
"Rush Limbaugh has made a career of belittling other people and making jokes about President Clinton, about Mrs. Clinton and others. I don't think he's in any position to do that," Dean complained. "Nor do I think Bill O'Reilly is in a position to abuse families of survivors of 9/11, given his own ethical shortcomings."
Dean concluded: "Frankly, my moral values are offended by some of the things I hear on programs like 'Rush Limbaugh,' and we don't have to put up with that. Our problem in this party is we didn't stand up early enough and fight back against folks like that who thought they were going to push us around and bully us, and we're not going to do it anymore."
Socialist Bernie Sanders' Endorsement
Russert caught the one-time presidential candidate off guard when he asked about his recent endorsement of self-professed socialist Rep. Bernie Sanders to replace retiring Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords. "Well, first of all, he's not a socialist, really," Dean protested. When Russert noted that Sanders had acknowledged in writing: "Outside or in the House, I am a Democratic socialist," Dean offered meekly, "Well, a Democratic socialist – all right, we're talking about words here."
Russert also revealed that until recently Dean had fiercely opposed Sanders.
"In 1996 you said you would never have voted for Bernie Sanders," Russert said. "Instead, you opted in recent years to leave the ballot blank."
Dean, once again cornered, flip-flopped.
"Bernie and I have had our difficulties over the years," Dean said. "We've had our strong disagreements."
"We're fighting for the future of America, and a Bernie Sanders in the United States Senate is going to be a whole lot better than somebody who will vote to confirm right-wing judges, somebody who will vote to undo minority rights, somebody who will vote to kill Social Security. This is a battle where personalities and differences have to be put aside, and we have to do what's right for America."
Caught in one change of opinion after another, Dean's greatest vulnerability among top Democrats is that he has not won over the party's leadership – and that may be hurting the party's bottom line: raising money.
"The Political Hotline published by National Journal [said] of the 17 states that you went to, a Democratic governor or Democratic senator has not appeared with you in those states," Russert said, asking, "Are people running from you?"
Apparently, Democratic donors are. The Republicans National Committee reports that during the first quarter of 2005 it raised $32 million. Dean and the DNC have raised just half of that amount.
Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean insisted on Sunday's "Meet the Press" that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay should be treated more harshly than Osama bin Laden.
In a pointedly embarrassing interview with NBC's Tim Russert, the DNC chairman spent almost the entire program under withering attack as Russert demonstrated Dean's hypocrisy on past comments he made about abortion, his criticisms of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly and the way he has tried to explain away his party's fundraising woes since he took the DNC helm in February.
The Republican National Committee was quick to seize on Dean's debacle Sunday.
"Howard Dean's unfocused performance today is emblematic of the larger problems facing the party he leads," RNC press secretary Tracey Schmitt said Sunday. "Sadly, Chairman Dean and the Democrats on Capitol Hill have become singularly focused on obstructionism and negativity, which is why they have become the country's minority party."
But Dean's performance on the top-rated Sunday talk show suggests that he may not have overcome initial concerns about his ability to handle the national leadership post.
Dean had been strongly backed for the DNC post by the party's hysterically anti-GOP left – notably Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Al Gore. The liberal troika had seen Dean as a counterweight to Hillary Clinton's growing power and her and her husband's desire to move the party to the center.
Rather than using the national program as a platform to launch broadsides against the Bush administration and aggressively tout the Democrats' agenda, Dean appeared mired in his own past.
During the show, Dean claimed, "Hypocrisy is a value that I think has been embraced by the Republican Party," and he vowed to Russert that "I will use whatever position I have in order to root out hypocrisy."
Ironically, Russert played the hypocrisy-exposing role as he repeatedly unmasked Dean's integrity on key issues, including:
Tom DeLay
Dean defended his declaration last week that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay should begin serving a jail sentence.
"I think Tom DeLay ought to go back to Houston, where he can serve his jail sentence down there courtesy of the Texas taxpayers," Dean said on May 14.
Dean stuck to his guns, telling host Tim Russert: "He hasn't been convicted yet, but ... I think there's a reasonable chance that this may end up in jail."
Asked if his harsh rhetoric toward DeLay wasn't hypocritical given his comments during the 2004 presidential campaign, when Dean said he didn't want to prejudge even Osama bin Laden, the top Democrat told Russert:
"To be honest with you, Tim, I don't think I'm prejudging [DeLay]."
Dean then ticked off several unproven allegations against the House majority leader.
When Russert noted that the top Republican had yet to be charged with even a single crime, Dean countered, "Three of the things I've mentioned he has already done and been admonished for by the House Ethics Committee."
Russert noted how little support Dean's position has, even among top Democrats, quoting Congressman Barney Frank, a liberal Democrat, who said: "That's just wrong. I think Howard Dean was out of line talking about DeLay. The man has not been indicted. I don't like him, I disagree with some of what he does, but I don't think you, in a political speech, talk about a man as a criminal or his jail sentence."
Russert asked if it was appropriate that Dean has Ok'd the posting of a bogus mug shot of DeLay on the DNC Web site, suggesting that the Republican has already been charged with a crime.
Dean sidestepped the issue, saying that DeLay should not be serving in Congress. In his answer, Dean then claimed, incredibly, that the Democrats are "not going to stoop to the kind of divisiveness that the Republicans are doing."
Abortion Claims
On the hot-button issue of abortion, Dean said he was against the procedure in one breath, but in the next he defended the far more gruesome practice of partial-birth abortion.
Noting that "there are significant numbers of pro-life Democrats in the South," the DNC chief said he wanted "to strike the words 'abortion' and 'choice'" from the Democrat lexicon.
Instead, Dean advised, "The way it ought to be framed ... is 'Do you want Tom DeLay and the boys to make up your mind about this, or does a woman have a right to make up her own mind about what kind of health care she gets.'"
Moments later, however, the top Democrat was defending partial-birth abortion, insisting, "I don't think that there is an ethical doctor in America who will do a third-term abortion without there being a reason like the health and life of the mother."
Russert countered by noting that "several heads of the American Medical Association endorsed banning third-term abortions because they said life of the mother is one thing but the health is a much different issue. It can be defined in so many different ways, it was a major loophole."
A deflated Dean responded: "It is an incredibly difficult area. It is an area which is conflicted."
Dean also insisted that both pro-choicers and pro-lifers could work together on "common ground” – that both sides wanted to greatly reduce the number of abortions in America.
Despite Dean's claims, Russert noted that at almost every turn the Democrats oppose efforts to restrict abortion.
"But, Governor, the problem for Democrats has been that many request abortion on demand, "Russert said, adding, "When there are attempts to say that there should be parental notification for children under 18 – to be notified with a judicial bypass, if there's a spouse, a parental abuse situation – many Democrats oppose it. Third-trimester abortion, 'partial-birth' abortion, Democrats opposed it. ... President Clinton vetoed it. Every time there's a vote to restrict abortion, the majority of the Democrats seem to vote against it."
Mocking Limbaugh and O'Reilly
DeLay claims the Democrats are taking the political high road.
But Russert asked the DNC chief about his questionable rhetoric.
"January, [you] mentioned that 'I hate the Republicans, what they stand for, good and evil, we are the good.' In March, you said, 'Republicans are brain dead.' You mentioned you're a physician – and this is April – "[Dean] did draw howls of laughter by mimicking a drug-snorting Rush Limbaugh. 'I'm not very dignified,' Dean said."
Confronted, Dean quickly admitted: "Well, that's true. A lot of people have accused me of not being dignified."
Russert pressed him on suggesting that Rush Limbaugh had snorted cocaine. "But is it appropriate for a physician to mock somebody who has gone into therapy and the abuse for drug addiction?" Russert asked.
But Dr. Dean seemed unrepentant about his comments, instead placing the blame on the top conservative talk hosts.
"Rush Limbaugh has made a career of belittling other people and making jokes about President Clinton, about Mrs. Clinton and others. I don't think he's in any position to do that," Dean complained. "Nor do I think Bill O'Reilly is in a position to abuse families of survivors of 9/11, given his own ethical shortcomings."
Dean concluded: "Frankly, my moral values are offended by some of the things I hear on programs like 'Rush Limbaugh,' and we don't have to put up with that. Our problem in this party is we didn't stand up early enough and fight back against folks like that who thought they were going to push us around and bully us, and we're not going to do it anymore."
Socialist Bernie Sanders' Endorsement
Russert caught the one-time presidential candidate off guard when he asked about his recent endorsement of self-professed socialist Rep. Bernie Sanders to replace retiring Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords. "Well, first of all, he's not a socialist, really," Dean protested. When Russert noted that Sanders had acknowledged in writing: "Outside or in the House, I am a Democratic socialist," Dean offered meekly, "Well, a Democratic socialist – all right, we're talking about words here."
Russert also revealed that until recently Dean had fiercely opposed Sanders.
"In 1996 you said you would never have voted for Bernie Sanders," Russert said. "Instead, you opted in recent years to leave the ballot blank."
Dean, once again cornered, flip-flopped.
"Bernie and I have had our difficulties over the years," Dean said. "We've had our strong disagreements."
"We're fighting for the future of America, and a Bernie Sanders in the United States Senate is going to be a whole lot better than somebody who will vote to confirm right-wing judges, somebody who will vote to undo minority rights, somebody who will vote to kill Social Security. This is a battle where personalities and differences have to be put aside, and we have to do what's right for America."
Caught in one change of opinion after another, Dean's greatest vulnerability among top Democrats is that he has not won over the party's leadership – and that may be hurting the party's bottom line: raising money.
"The Political Hotline published by National Journal [said] of the 17 states that you went to, a Democratic governor or Democratic senator has not appeared with you in those states," Russert said, asking, "Are people running from you?"
Apparently, Democratic donors are. The Republicans National Committee reports that during the first quarter of 2005 it raised $32 million. Dean and the DNC have raised just half of that amount.
...
Comment