Free Republic

DR. DEAN: I said I wasn't sure, but I said I thought there probably were. But the thing that really bothered me the most, which the 9-11 Commission said also wasn't true, is the insinuation that the president continues to make to this day that Osama bin Laden had something to do with supporting terrorists that attacked the United States. That is false. The 9-11 Commission, chaired by a Republican, said it was false.

Former presidential candidate Howard Dean yesterday made a national pitch to head the Democratic Party, saying he will create a 50-state strategy to win new voters.     "I really believe we have to stand up for being Democrats," Mr. Dean said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We have a message to sell. I frankly think it's a better message than the Republicans'; we've just got to figure out how to get it out there." [snip]The former Vermont governor said the Democratic Party has to "look at what the Republicans do well" and establish a grass-roots base of office holders.     On...

That saucy Dennis Miller still plays the recording on his program on CNBC, but now Howard Dean, the sore loserman of 2004, claims the scream that finished his campaign "never happened." Trying to explain away his crazy, red-faced rant after his loss in Iowa, Dean recently told a crowd of broadcasters in Washington that he was merely trying to make himself heard over his loudmouth supporters, Broadcasting & Cable magazine reports. He claimed that none of the (pro-Democrat) reporters on hand who heard the speech noted anything unusual and that it "was only the next day, when their editors...

"And [Gov. Howard Dean (D-VT)] also attacked Mr. Kerry's candidacy, saying he thought the senator would be a weak contender in the general election. 'He's going to have a hard time if he's the nominee,' Dr. Dean said. 'I think electability's a real issue for him. He appears to change his mind so often.' Dr. Dean went on to assert that Mr. Kerry's 'credibility is under enormous attack, repeatedly,' citing his votes in favor of the use of force in Iraq and of President Bush's education plan. 'He has this pattern,' Dr. Dean said, 'you saw it with No...

Howard Dean spent part of the morning today explaining what one network television interviewer called his "explosive" speech Monday night telling supporters he would not give up...... Dean referred to his frenetic, shouting appearance before supporters in Iowa after the caucus results became known, a performance that led NBC's Katie Couric to tell him this morning, "Some people watching feared you might implode." "Do you think things got a little out of control and you got a little over the top?" she asked Dean on the Today Show. "Can you explain that?" Dean replied, "Thirty-five hundred young people showed up...

Howard Dean's bizarre concession speech Monday night, where he roared about winning future primaries and ended with a final, screeching, "Yeeehaahhhh," left more than a few journalists wondering about the emotional stability of the former Democratic presidential front-runner. "[Dean's speech] was a little strange," Newsweek's Jonathan Alter said Tuesday. "He looked like he was off his medication or something." "He was just trying to be feisty for his supporters," Alter told radio host Don Imus. "But he just went way over the top. He was about as presidential as Howard Beale in 'Network,'" the liberal columnist observed. Alter said the...

( Des Moines)-- A Democratic rally at the Drake University Olmstead Center urged young Iowans to get out and vote. The rally -- in support of Howard Dean-- was targeted toward high school and college students, a group known for not turning out to vote. The rally featured comedian Janene Garafalo and classic rock star Joan Jett, but was interrupted by a surprise visit from some unwanted guests. A group of college Republicans at their Midwest caucus leadership conference -- being held in the same building -- heard about the Democratic event, and crashed the rally. "There are seven of...

Political Rallies End in Brawl Two political rallies turned into a brawl Saturday night in Des Moines. A Democratic rally at Drake's Olmstead Center, urged young Iowans to get out and vote. It was targeted toward high school and college students. A group known for not voting. The rally featured comedian Janene Garafalo and classic rock star Joan Jett, but it got a surprise visit from some unwanted guests. A group of college republicans at their Midwest caucus leadership conference heard about the rally and stormed in. "There are seven of us who worked really hard at putting this conference...

<p>January 16, 2004 -- Embattled Democratic front-runner Howard Dean yesterday vowed to tone down his aggressive attacks on rivals after a key ally warned that harsh words could cost him votes, with the battle for Iowa now in an unpredictable four-way tie. Dean also softened his image by sporting a comfy hunter-green sweater instead of his usual rolled-up-for-action shirtsleeves as he headed toward the Monday vote.</p>

CAPTION THIS

Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean blew his stack at an Iowa voter on Sunday who had asked him to end his "slam, bam and bash" rhetoric attacking President Bush. "Please tone down the garbage, the mean-mouthing of tearing down your neighbor and being so pompous," said Dale Ungerer during a question-and-answer session initiated by Dean after he had delivered his standard stump speech at the Oelwein Community Centre on Sunday. Dean's response was calm at first, telling Ungerer, "George Bush is not my neighbor." But when the Iowa Republican stood and tried to interrupt, Dean shouted: "You sit down. You...

The next few weeks will determine whether or not the year's most extraordinary political story has legs. Not twelve months ago, Howard Dean was a nobody, the former governor of a tiny state -- Vermont -- who was launching the kind of candidacy that usually appeals to the kinds of liberals who write about politics, and no one else. But there was something in the intensity of his demeanor and the bluntness of his message -- a full-frontal attack on the administration of George W. Bush -- that fired up millions of potential voters who were sick of the usual...

The media vs. Howard DeanDemocrats haven't voted yet, but reporters have got the story: The former Vermont governor is angry, gaffe-prone and unelectable. How do they know? Republicans, and anonymous Democrats, told them so. - - - - - - - - - - - -By Eric BoehlertJan. 13, 2004  |  When the Washington Post introduced readers to Howard Dean in a long Page 1 feature July 6, part of a series of "meet the Democrats" candidate profiles, the paper went for the jugular, literally, with a cartoonish, unflattering description to open the article: "Howard Dean was angry. Ropy...

(CNSNews.com) - Billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros, who has pledged $15.5 million to liberal interest groups, said Monday he would likely up the ante in his quest to oust President Bush from the White House this November. Speaking before the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., Soros declined to say how much he would give or when he might make the next donation. But he said the attacks he has endured from conservatives -- the Republican National Committee and the Bush campaign are two of his biggest critics -- have fueled his restlessness. "I've been really quite...

Howard Dean expresses admiration for President Bush's father in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, but says the current president's "obsession with re-election is hurting the country." "I admire George Bush's father," Dean told the magazine during the course of two question-and-answer sessions last month. "There were some things I strongly disagreed with him on, but he tried to be a good president." He said President Bush is the opposite of his father. "This president is not interested in being a good president." "He's interested in some complicated psychological situation that he has with his father," the Democratic presidential front-runner...

Since Jan. 2, Iowans have been getting to know Mary Schlicte, R.N. In a barrage of folksy television spots and clever mailings, the veteran nurse has been telling them about her deep roots in Cedar Rapids, her seven children and her devotion to Howard Dean. "I’ve looked Howard Dean in the eye," says Ms. Schlicte, as the soft focus catches the flowers over her left shoulder. "I believe him when he says he’s going to work for me." Ms. Schlicte, with her earnest delivery and blond bangs, is pure Iowa. But the man who’s making her a star is just...

OELWEIN, Iowa (Reuters) - Dale Ungerer, a 66-year-old retiree from Hawkeye, Iowa, succeeded on Sunday where eight Democratic presidential hopefuls have failed -- he made front-runner Howard Dean show a flash of his much-discussed temper. The former Vermont governor had just finished his standard stump speech blasting President Bush for, among other things, his Iraq policy and his stewardship of the economy. He asked, as is his custom, for "questions, comments or rude remarks in the New England tradition." Ungerer, wearing a T-shirt bearing the words "Mr Fix It," rose to his feet and condemned what he called the incivility...

NASHUA, N.H. -- Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean on Friday cited the higher terror alert and the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq in arguing that he was right to say Saddam Hussein's capture didn't make America safer. "They got all excited, but here we are," Dean told a town-hall meeting. "We've lost 10 more troops and F-16s are escorting foreign passenger jets into our air space because we're now more worried than we were before."