Posted on 02/16/2004 10:09:33 AM PST by flashbunny
Just heard it on the radio - Howard dean announced in LaCrosse, Wisconsin that his campaign chairman has quit his campaign - one day before the Wisconsin primary.
One freeper called him "Deanilla Ice".
"Yo VIP, let's kick it...."
Go Green, go Indy, team up with Ralphy boy. C'mon the country needs you (to help Dubya get elected by a landslide).
Somebody wants Dean out. Somebody is in a hurry to lock Kerry in as the nominee. Theresa? Is that you? How much did it cost you?
Who's Al Gore ???
Dean's National Campaign Chairman Departs
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LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) -- Struggling Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean revealed Monday that national campaign chairman Steve Grossman has departed, but the former Vermont governor would not disclose the circumstances surrounding the change.
At an appearance here on the eve of the Wisconsin primary, Dean said Grossman was no longer with his campaign. "I absolutely don't feel betrayed by Grossman. I consider him to be a friend," Dean said, without elaborating.
It's the second time in recent weeks that Dean has had a major shakeup in his campaign. On the day following the New Hampshire primary, in which he finished second to Sen. John Kerry, he announced that campaign manager Joe Trippi was leaving. This came after Dean decided to give the top campaign post to Roy Neel, a longtime confidant of former Vice President Al Gore. Trippi told people at the time that he chose to resign rather than remain in the campaign in a lesser role.
Monday's revelation came as Dean had a brief exchange with reporters before appearing at a campaign event. Asked when he had last talked to Grossman, Dean said, "I have not talked to him since things came out in the newspaper."
Asked to elaborate, he replied, "My response is, I'll speak for the campaign."
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Grossman had said earlier that if Dean stumbled in Wisconsin, he would seek to convert his grass-roots network into a movement that helps expand the party and elect the Democratic nominee.
"I have no doubt he'll support the nominee in any way he can, no matter who the nominee is and obviously that nominee looks to be John Kerry," Grossman said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Vermont. "He may say that Tuesday night. He may wait until Wednesday or Thursday to say that."
But Dean, in an interview with The Associated Press, said Sunday he was staying in the race - "We are not bowing out" - although he added, "The forum we will use to stay in the race remains to be seen. Period. Anybody who says anything to the contrary has misspoken."
A defiant Dean had said earlier that he would remain in the race despite a zero-for-16 record in the presidential primaries and caucuses.
Polls point to another Kerry win Tuesday in Wisconsin, which would give the four-term Massachusetts senator 15 victories, the lion's share of delegates and a near-lock on the nomination. The same surveys look bleak for Dean.
Advisers to Dean are urging him to abandon the race if he loses Wisconsin and consider several options, including dropping from the race outright, suspending his campaign or at least acknowledging Kerry's accomplishment and redirect his own efforts. They said Dean was all but certain to effectively bow out in some way.
In recent days, Dean has signaled he is considering scaling back his campaign or reshaping it, not withdrawing, if he loses Tuesday.
And he seemed very much still a candidate Monday, going before the Islamic Society of Milwaukee to denounce President Bush, Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Patriot Act, saying that in some respects the administration ran roughshod over the rights of people of Arab descent in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Campaign officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Dean is torn between his pragmatic conclusion that the race is about over and his emotional attachment to the fight itself and his supporters. For the moment, emotions and a fighting instinct are holding sway.
But the signs on the campaign trail - huddled meetings involving aides, the absence of a formal schedule beyond Tuesday and dozens of empty chairs at events such as one in Racine, Wis., on Saturday - indicate the end is near for a candidacy that just six weeks ago was first in polls, fund raising and momentum.
A good chunk of the $41 million Dean raised last year has been spent, although aides and the candidate insist there's still enough money on hand to continue toward the 10-state contests on March 2.
One possibility is for Dean to suspend active campaigning without formally withdrawing from the race. Some campaign aides said, however, that the shift would probably be more subtle because Dean does not want to quit. The question then would become how Dean could carry on or shift his supporters to a new cause or another candidate.
Campaign manager Roy Neel did not dispute assertions that Dean would give up his presidential bid, but cautioned that Dean was still mulling his options should he lose Tuesday.
Neel also posted a message on the campaign's blog assuring supporters that Dean wasn't giving up.
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AP Political Writer Ron Fournier contributed to this report.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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