Graham noted that he "voted to eliminate all of President Bush's tax cut" -- a reference to the fact that although he ultimately joined Lieberman, Edwards and Kerry in supporting the $350 billion alternative to Bush's failed $726 billion tax cut proposal on March 21, Graham was the only one of the four, and one of only 22 senators, to support an amendment that would have eliminated Bush's tax cuts altogether.
"I don't think you can vote for a new doctrine of presidential preemptive war and still maintain our values," Dean said in just the most recent of his Iraq-related shots against Kerry, Edwards, Lieberman and Gephardt.
Woodruff noted a Dean quote from 1996 in which he defended welfare reform by declaring that liberals like Marian Wright Edelman are wrong: "The bill is strong on work, time limits assistance and provides adequate protection for children." Dean sneered that the quote was seven years old, joked that he would never stand by such a quote in front of Edelman, and then defended welfare reform -- a bill that prompted Edelman's husband, former assistant health and human services secretary for planning and evaluation Peter Edelman, to resign from the Clinton administration in protest.
With the first primary more than nine months away, candidates are generally loath to enter the muck of attacking one another -- with the exception of Dean, whose poll numbers have jumped as a result of his having done so. Now is more the time for preparation -- raising money, securing endorsements, hiring staffers, plotting strategies. Edwards has raised the most money, $7.4 million, with Kerry a close second with around $7 million and Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., a far third with $3.6 million.
As for endorsements, all nine of the candidates except for Graham spent Wednesday morning strutting and preening at the AFL-CIO's Building and Construction Trades Department Annual Legislative Conference. Dean announced the endorsement of Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and last week rolled out a New Hampshire brigade that included two former Gephardt supporters upset with their former candidate's stance on Iraq. Wednesday, Lieberman was endorsed by Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar, the highest-ranking Democrat in a reliably Republican state, and plans to announce 10 congressional supporters this week, including Democratic Reps. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Ellen Tauscher of California, both Gephardt pals. Gephardt -- the former House minority leader, who resigned from the position last November after his fourth unsuccessful attempt to win back the House -- counts as supporters powerhouse Democrats like Reps. John Spratt of South Carolina and John Murtha of Pennsylvania. On Wednesday, Gephardt rolled out the endorsement of the International Iron Workers Union.
The next candidate forum will probably have even more candidates. National security expert and former Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colo., who on Tuesday told the Des Moines Register that a decision about his candidacy was only days away, and retired Gen. Wesley Clark, whose possible candidacy was given some attention with the appearance of two Web sites promoting a draft movement, DraftWesleyClark.com and DraftClark.com, both have been discussed by strategists who think the Democrats need to do more to shore up their national security and military credentials.
When asked Wednesday why voters overwhelmingly support Republicans on such issues, Edwards claimed it was "because they haven't heard our case!" Insisting that Bush had botched much of the national security and foreign policy work voters care about, he noted that he'd been a trial lawyer for 20 years before running for the Senate in 1998. "This is the easiest case I ever had to argue," he insisted.
About the writer
Jake Tapper is national correspondent for Salon.
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