Bauer Comments on Democratic Dissent about Howard Dean
by Bill Fancher and Jody Brown
December 31, 2003
(AgapePress) - There appears to be an "anybody but Howard Dean" movement brewing in the Democratic presidential race. The former governor of Vermont is being pummeled with criticism these days -- and the attacks are originating from within his own party.An editorial in Sunday's Washington Post -- one of the nation's most liberal newspapers -- skewered Democratic frontrunner Howard Dean. The opinion piece used such phrases as "quick to bristle, slow to admit error" and "loose-lipped" to describe Dean. It also portrayed him as having a "smarty mouth" with "a tendency to glib remarks and unsubstantiated assertions."
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Gary Bauer |
Gary Bauer, president of the Campaign for Working Families and himself a former GOP presidential candidate, notes that the Post's editorial did not state what he sees as obvious: that a Dean nomination would likely pull the Democratic Party so far to the left that it would guarantee a landslide re-election victory for George W. Bush in November 2004. Bauer claims that "the more responsible liberals are in a panic over that prospect" and are trying desperately to derail the "Dean bandwagon.""I think the establishment of the Democratic Party is looking increasingly like they're ready to have a nervous breakdown over the prospect of Howard Dean being the nominee of the Party," he says. Dean has asked party leaders to help quell his critics, but the leaders are refusing.
The conservative spokesman adds that he finds it interesting that some of the other Democratic presidential hopefuls cannot say enough bad stuff about Dean. For example, Senator Joseph Lieberman stated earlier this week that Dean would "melt in a minute" under GOP attacks should he become the Democratic nominee.
And Senators Richard Gephardt and John Kerry -- who like Lieberman are running for their party's presidential nomination -- both are critical of Dean for being able to give it, but not take it. "Howard Dean has spent the last year criticizing me and other candidates at every opportunity," Gephardt recently told the Washington Post. "Now, as he makes a series of embarrassing gaffes that underscore the fact he is not well equipped to challenge George Bush, he suddenly wants to change the rules of the game."
According to Bauer, such reactions from within the Party and from the liberal media are an indication of something more serious for the Democrats. "The big story that's being ignored by most of the media is the developing split in the Democratic Party and what it could mean in the months ahead," he says.
Bauer says many Democrats are convinced that the more centrist their message, the more votes they will get. However, the liberal wing of the party -- represented by Dean -- refuses to compromise on its message.
