Al Gore endorses Howard Dean.
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| Tue, 12-09-2003 - 9:17am |

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/12/09/elec04.prez.gore.dean/index.html
Al Gore endorsed Howard Dean's bid for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination on Tuesday, substantially deepening Dean's fast-developing drive for dominance in the nine-candidate field of would-be challengers to President Bush.
"I'm very proud and honored to endorse Howard Dean as the next president of the United States of America," Gore said.
The announcement in Manhattan's Harlem, coming on the morning of another debate between the "'04 Dems," as they're called, could cement Dean's status as the leading Democratic candidate heading into the kickoff contests now just weeks away in Iowa and New Hampshire.
"We need to remake the Democratic Party, we need to remake America," Gore said.
"This nation cannot afford to have four more years of a Bush-Cheney administration," he said.
Prior to Tuesday's endorsement, a source told CNN that Gore -- the Democratic Party's presidential candidate in 2000 -- thinks a protracted primary campaign would serve only to help President Bush.
"In a field of great candidates, one candidate clearly now stands out and so I'm asking all of you to join in this grassroots movement to elect Howard Dean president of the United States," Gore said.
Dean thanked Gore for his leadership: "We have needed a strong steady hand in this party and I appreciate Al's willing(ness) to stand up and be one," Dean said.
Gore said part of the reason he chose to endorse Dean was his ability to appeal to the nation's "grassroots" elements, a reference to Dean's success in organizing and raising funds on the Internet and in small voter gatherings.
Gore also praised Dean's opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The former vice president called the Iraqi war a "catastrophic mistake" by the Bush administration, a move that leaves the United States less effective in the nation's battle against terrorism. He said the United States is now in a "quagmire" in Iraq.
Gore said that he and Dean would travel together to Iowa following the announcement. Gore was to give a speech later in the day in Cedar Rapids. The Iowa Caucus is set for January 19.
Dean was expected to travel on to New Hampshire for Tuesday evening's Democratic debate s-sponsored by ABC News and WMUR-TV. The New Hampshire primary is scheduled for January 27.
The announcement came nearly three years to the date from Gore's concession in the 2000 election, when he won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote.
Sen. Joe Lieberman, Gore's vice-presidential running mate in 2000 and a current presidential hopeful, said he would continue to "to fight for what's right, win this nomination, and defeat George W. Bush next year."
"I have a lot of respect for Al Gore -- that is why I kept my promise not to run if he did," Lieberman said.
"Ultimately, the voters will make the determination and I will continue to make my case about taking our party and nation forward," Lieberman said in a written statement.
A source close to Lieberman said Gore, who was Clinton's vice president, did not call Lieberman to inform him of the decision.
Dean pulling ahead
With the Dean campaign gaining momentum, a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows Dean widening his front-runner status among the eight other Democratic candidates.
The poll showed that 25 percent of registered Democrats surveyed support Dean as their nominee, with retired Gen. Wesley Clark coming in second with 17 percent. (Poll: Dean's New Hampshire lead increases)
In an interview before the news broke on CNN's "Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics," Dean played down his front-runner status.
"The pundits in Washington have been talking about me as the front-runner for a long time," Dean said.
"Well, guess what, the people of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Arizona and so forth get to decide who the front-runner is. So, it's nice talk but I'm not buying it."
Caught off-guard
Erik Smith, a campaign press secretary for Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, sounded as if the Gephardt team was caught off-guard by the news, as were Dean's other rivals.
Dean and Gephardt are the top two candidates in Iowa. (Gephardt calls for increased homeland security funding)
"Dick Gephardt fought side-by-side with Al Gore to pass the Clinton economic plan, pass the assault weapons ban and defend against Republican attacks on Medicare and affirmative action. On each of these issues, Howard Dean was on the wrong side," Smith said.
Saying he respected Gore and fought for his campaign four years ago, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said, "This election is about the future, not about the past." (Kerry: Bush administration arrogant, reckless)
"This election will be decided by voters, across the country, beginning with voters in Iowa," he said.
Paul Begala, a political adviser to President Clinton and now a host of CNN's "Crossfire," called the endorsement an "enormous boost" that would clearly give Dean momentum going into Iowa and New Hampshire.
"It's very good for him," Begala said. "I wouldn't go so far as to say it locks anything up, though, because people want to make up their own minds."
cl-Libraone


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And after having said all that...I'm not voting for either Dean or Lieberman. I'm voting for Clark.
Interesting article & links.
The two tier sytem works something like the HMO my DH & I can belong to, if we choose.
The same with public education. I suppose we should all do away with that one too?
That's exactly what I said. It wouldn't make a bit of difference to Dean supporters.
I didn't single you out; I didn't even know you supported him.
<>
It's my right to judge any behavior I wish to and my right to say so just as other people have have been free to make all sorts of remarks and value judgements about positions and values I hold.
Renee
Now they're flying patients to India for surgery since it costs so much less there.
Renee
Renee
In the first place, I didn't believe you 'singled' me out.
The middle class is not shrinking because more people are falling into poverty.
The percentage of people in poverty has been shrinking and we currently, the percentage of black children living in poverty is at an all time low (even after the poverty line was increased by $4000 over and above the rate that adjusted for inflation).
People have been moving out of poverty and into the middle class. So why is the middle class shrinking? Because even more people in the middle class are moving to the upper class.
From New Democrats Online:
he assumption of rising poverty and near-poverty is false. Indeed, the percentage of low-income families is two points below where it was in 1972, at the end of the fabled post-war boom. The heart of the middle class is shrinking - being hollowed out - not because poverty is on the march, but because millions of Americans are surging into the ranks of the upper middle class and wealthy.
In 1968, only 23 percent of the population earned $50,000 or more (in 1996 dollars). By 1996, the proportion of the population earning at that level had jumped to 34 percent. During that same period, the heart of the middle class (families earning $25,000 to $50,000 a year) declined from 39 percent to only 30 percent of the population. Even if we define the "middle class" more broadly, the results are about the same. From 1968 to 1996, the percentage of American families earning in excess of $75,000 (in 1996 dollars) rose by almost 10 points, from 6.8 to 16.4, while the percentage earning $25,000 to $75,000 declined by more than seven points.4
Renee
Geesh, I'd like to say a few things about the fickleness of Clark supporters, but I'm not sure why I should bother because no doubt you would then claim to be thinking about voting for Kucinich.
Renee
Wrong again...fickleness is when someone constantly changes their mind.
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