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| Dean once more |
| 2003-11-05 |
| EFL NASHUA, N.H. -- Howard Dean said Wednesday he regretted the pain he caused by saying that the Democratic Party must court Southerners who display the symbol of the Confederacy in their pickup trucks. "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry it makes my head spin. Mea maxima culpa. Could you ever, ever, EVER forgive me?" Speaking in New York about campaign finance, the former Vermont governor sought to quell the dispute that erupted over his recent comment and his unwillingness to apologize for it during Tuesday night’s debate. "I regret the pain that I have caused, but I will tell you there is no easy way to do this and there will be pain as we discuss it and we must face this together hand in hand as Dr. (Martin Luther) King and Abraham Lincoln asked us to do," Dean said. Rival John Edwards, who had complained on Tuesday about Northerners telling Southerners what to do, said during a campaign stop in New Hampshire that he accepted Dean’s apology. "It sounds like he’s done the right thing. It would have been better if he’d done it last night," the North Carolina senator said, adding that it remains to be seen how the American voters view his statements. Dean came under fire from his foes Tuesday night in a Democratic presidential debate that veered from hip to heated. The candidate refused to recant his recent statement that the party must court Southerners who display the symbol of the Confederacy in their pickup trucks. "It’s a racist symbol but I also think the Democratic Party has to be a big tent," Dean said Tuesday night. "Poor white people need to vote their economic interest." Earlier Wednesday, one of Dean’s rivals sought to undercut his front-running status, criticizing the former Vermont governor’s comments and his refusal to apologize. "Howard Dean offended both blacks and whites in the South by using the Confederate flag as a political symbol and should admit he was wrong," Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut said during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, adding, "a leader has to be strong enough to admit a mistake." Edwards and Al Sharpton sharply challenged Dean on the debate stage, and even one prominent Democratic officeholder who has yet to endorse any of the contenders questioned Dean’s strategy. "Governor Dean was trying to reach out to disenfranchised voters in the South, but he needs to be more careful," said Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico. "I don’t think this is serious, but it has put a little bit of a dent in his front-runner status." Dean’s rivals can only hope so, with the kickoff Iowa caucus and New Hampshire presidential primary contests less than three months away and the former Vermont governor continuing to run strongly in polls in both states. And even as the debate was unfolding, there was fresh evidence of the difficulties Democrats face in the South as they prepare to challenge President Bush next year. In off-year balloting hundreds of miles from the debate site, Republicans elected a governor in Kentucky for the first time in 32 years and ousted the incumbent Democratic governor in Mississippi. |
| Posted by:Atrus |
| #10 Jarhead--once again we agree--Edwards has done jack for NC and I say that as a Democrat--if the weak candidate/hack he replaced had been a Democrat he would have run as a Republican--can you say rich opportunist?--he's spent all his time in DC trying to become president--he will definitely cause the Dems to lose a Senate seat in NC which makes me extremely agitated--although Liddy Dole seems nice! I think Dean's point was that the Dems have lost the Southern Blue collar vote--many of whom DO drive pick-ups with Confederate flags--but vote the NRA line--not their economic interests |
| Posted by: NotMikeMoore 2003-11-5 11:56:17 PM |
| #9 "Professional Offense-Takers, a constituency that must be appeased if a candidate is to get anywhere in the primaries, but has little connection-- and much contempt-- for the average citizen in the heartland." -O.G. - well said. "professional offense-takers" is a great analogy. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2003-11-5 9:25:11 PM |
| #8 North Carolinians as a majority have already dumped Edwards. His poll numbers for re-election as senator were very bad. That's one reason he decided to not run again for the senate here even though he could have done so while still running for president. He hasn't done a thing for NC while up in Washington and the people here know it. |
| Posted by: Anonymous NC 2003-11-5 8:36:18 PM |
#7 Good comment on this from PhotoDude (in Atlanta):As a white "midwestern type" (although not from a small town, but one that thinks like one), my take is that the guys with the Confederate flags on their trucks were probably more amused than offended by the inital remark, but now they'll call Dean a wuss for backing off. The ones who made most of the noise were the party's (mostly urban and bicoastal) Professional Offense-Takers, a constituency that must be appeased if a candidate is to get anywhere in the primaries, but has little connection-- and much contempt-- for the average citizen in the heartland. |
| Posted by: Old Grouch 2003-11-5 8:34:46 PM |
| #6 betcha he doesn't lol |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-11-5 7:21:37 PM |
| #5 We need input from a small town mid-western type. Betya NMM's got a PU made in the US and drinks pure ethanol. (Stayin on message) |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-11-5 4:54:55 PM |
| #4 That sound you're hearing is the stampede of the last few white Southern Democrats making their move to the Republicans. Mr. Metrosexual managed to tee off blacks and southern whites in one fell swoop. And George Bush is a moron? hahahahaha! |
| Posted by: R. McLeod 2003-11-5 4:38:04 PM |
| #3 "Poor white people need to vote their economic interest." Or if I may paraphrase: "C'mon, whitey, you can hate rich folks, too!" |
| Posted by: eLarson 2003-11-5 3:51:43 PM |
| #2 Heck, he's a puss for apologizing. If you say you're for poor southern whites, many who fly the Confederate battle flag (I'm a northerner living in S.C. & see it every day) then don't apologize for it. Have some balls. BTW - most southerners who fly the thing look at it as heritage, states rights, and dixie history. Rightly or wrongly they don't equate it to slavery. The flag issue is so stupid and blown outta proportion it takes away from actual debate that really affects most Americans. Maybe a stupid move by Dean but Edwards is jumping on this purely for political points. I wouldn't be surprised if some good ole boys in N.C. (where I've also lived over three years) jump ship on him. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2003-11-5 3:06:39 PM |
| #1 the key point here is not so much the insult to blacks (though that may hurt Dean) as the insult to white southern democrats, many of who have pickups, but very few of who have confedarate flags. Like Edwards said, if a white Southerner had said this he'd be out of the race. Its got to be infuriating that Dean can say this and get away with it. Its also bizarrely stupid. Dean notes that these blue collar folks have an economic interest in Dem policies. What does he think is keeping them away from the Dems? Could it be candidates who have dovish foreign policies, who are identified with Yankee "activists" and social liberalism, and whose main claim to moderation is their fiscal conservatism, the one conservative policy NOT likely to appeal to blue collar dems? Does Dean really think his pro-gun stance makes up for all that? If the dems want blue collar southern votes they should nominate Edwards, or Gephardt, NOT Dean. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-11-5 2:41:17 PM |