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The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
Game-set-match?
By John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
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Al Gore applauds Howard Dean on Tuesday before announcing his endorsement of the former Vermont governor at a rally in Harlem.
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WASHINGTON -- Considering the day Howard Dean's about to enjoy, you have to wonder why his '04 Dem rivals would bother showing up at all for tonight's debate in New Hampshire. We're thinking, specifically, of Joe Lieberman, Dick Gephardt and Wesley Clark, whose own rage toward Al Gore today must come close to matching Dean's sense of elation.
Superlatives and sports cliches aside, Dean's elation today should be off the charts, and rightly so. Few endorsements could more perfectly complement Dean's campaign, which despite its front-runner status still struggles for acceptance among party insiders, black voters and mainstream/centrist activists. At 8 a.m. EST in Harlem, and again at 1 p.m. CST in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gore is single-handedly changing all that.
Gore's blessing helps Dean with any number of groups, from black voters still angry about Florida 2000 to Iowa labor activists torn between Dean and Gephardt. But while the winner of today's big story is obvious, we think this story is just as notable for its losers.
Foremost among them, of course, is Lieberman, who had refused to run if Gore did and suffered in early fundraising because of that delay. Then, once he joined the race, he actively sought Gore's support. Gore's nod will open doors to Dean at the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, which Lieberman once considered his private domain. Lieberman issued a terse but polite statement last night, and aides were quick to note that Gore did not bother to call the senator before deciding to endorse Dean.
"I was caught completely off guard, no notice," Lieberman told Matt Lauer this morning on NBC's "Today" show. Perhaps anticipating what's on everyone's mind, Lieberman then insisted that he's in the race to stay.
"Al Gore is endorsing someone who has taken positions diametrically opposite of what Al Gore has supported in the past," Lieberman said. "He'll have to explain why he's supporting someone, I think, [who] will take this country backward, not forward."
When Lauer asked if he would still, as he said last month, consider naming Gore to a senior post in his administration, Lieberman was candid. "I'd say that's less likely this morning," he said.
While Lieberman's frustration is personal, Gephardt's is political.
Gore enjoyed deep loyalties in '00 among Iowa's industrial unions, like the United Auto Workers and the Teamsters, which form a crucial part of Gephardt's base in the must-win Hawkeye State. Gore's endorsement could give Dean, whose union base is primarily service-oriented, an entree into a new community of political organizers, further complicating Gephardt's Iowa strategy.
Gephardt, who was first among the '04 Dems to endorse Gore in '00, issued an even terser statement last night, noting that he fought with Gore to pass the Clinton economic plan, ban assault weapons, and defend Medicare and affirmative action. "On each of these issues, Howard Dean was on the wrong side," said Gephardt's communications director, Erik Smith.
Things could get more dire for Gephardt. One Dem source in Iowa said that Gore's move "raises the likelihood" that Sen. Tom Harkin, who has remained steadfastly neutral in the primary race, could jump behind Dean. A Harkin endorsement, while far from a sure thing, would further bolster Dean with Iowa labor folks, to say the least. Harkin is considered far more likely to wade into the primary than Gov. Tom Vila, who harbors VP ambitions.
For his part, Clark's still-novice campaign has established his legitimacy among political pros in part by attracting a stable of veteran campaign aides with presumptive pipelines into Planet Gore -- Chris Lehman, Mark Fabian and Ron Klan, to name a few. Can Clark still be considered the candidate with implicit support of the Clinton White House?
John Kerry said he "respects" Gore and notes that he "worked with him in the Senate" and "endorsed him early in his hard-fought campaign" in 2000. "But," he added, "this election is about the future, not about the past. I have the experience and the vision to reverse George Bush's radical agenda and putting America back on track on my first day in office. This election will be decided by voters, across the country, beginning with voters in Iowa."
The candidate who appears to be taking the news best is John Edwards, whose campaign's only response (as far as we're aware) was to tout another "endorsement" they're receiving, from former Phoenix Suns star Charles Barkley. "There's nobody in the Democratic Party right now that floats my boat except John Edwards," Barkley said on MSNBC.
Here's another angle: Why would Gore do this? Didn't Dean once threaten to challenge him in '00? Theories abound.
Some Democrats say Gore, who has spoken regularly with Dean since late last year, mostly about their mutual opposition to the war in Iraq, is highly impressed with Dean's campaign and its effective use of the Internet.
Insiders also say Gore is bidding to reclaim the mantle of party leader, a title Hillary Rodham Clinton is poised to claim if Democrats lose in '04. Not lost on several observers: Gore is appearing with Dean at a forum in Harlem just one block away from Bill Clinton's offices.
So, how did this friendship and/or alliance develop? After all, wasn't it Dean who once openly entertained the notion of challenging Gore in '00?
Hmmm ... Gosh, it seems like just yesterday that ... (Cue the flashback sequence effect) ...
Dean and then-VP Gore, both with darker hair and more of it, met at the White House on December 3, 1997, almost six years ago to the day, to discuss Dean's possible bid against Gore in 2000. Gore/Kerry strategist Michael Whouley confirmed in the book "Campaign for President: The Managers Look at 2000," that the purpose of the meeting was specifically to discuss Dean's aspirations.
Dean was in DC at the time for a Democratic Governors Association meeting and had been publicly mulling a bid for the White House. He had said he wouldn't make a decision about running until about February 1999. Dean met with Gore the following day in the White House, and not only told Gore that he was considering a run, but that he was definitely going to run for the nomination in 2000.
According to the AP's Ron Fournier, Gephardt tested his presidential campaign rhetoric with a speech that harshly criticized the administration's politics and policy. It deepened a rift between the White House and Gephardt, prompting Bill Clinton and the Missourian to seek peace in a late-night telephone call.
After smoothing things over with Gephardt, Clinton shared some political gossip: Dean had warned Gore that he was running for president. Word leaked out and Dean, fearing voter backlash at home, quickly told the AP, "I have not stated in any conversation with anyone that I'm going to run for the presidential nomination."
Dean's supporters say the governor, acting on the recommendation of his political team, met with Gore only to let the vice president know in person that he was considering a presidential race. But White House and Democratic officials in Washington said Dean left no doubt he was running.
About a month later, Dean announced he wouldn't run. "I'm not running," he said at his announcement on January 4, 1998. Dean said he had discussed the decision over the holidays with his family, and that his wife and kids were reluctant about a White House bid.
Dean eventually backed Gore over Bill Bradley on January 19, 2000, in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and was immediately touted as a possible secretary of Health and Human Services in a Gore administration.
Oh, by the way, Dean also picks up the backing of the New Hampshire chapter of the National Education Association today -- which, on a normal day, would be considered a nice coup.
