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The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
Game on! (Iowa, Iowa, Iowa)
By John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
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In the cold but hardly out: Howard Dean leaves the studios of Iowa Public Television after getting debate rivals to vow to support the Democratic presidential nominee.
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VIDEO
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CNN's Candy Crowley on Dean's 'touche.'
CNN's Kelly Wallace on Dean as a moving target.
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UPCOMING PRIMARIES |
• Tuesday, January 13: District of Columbia primary • Monday, January 19: Iowa Caucuses • Tuesday, January 27: New Hampshire primary When is your primary? For more key dates in the 2004 election season, see our special America Votes 2004 Election Calendar
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SPECIAL REPORT
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- We took a much-needed break over the past two weeks. But as anyone with an e-mail inbox knows, the '04 Democrats did not.
Since we last checked in with you, Howard Dean has reported raising more than $40 million, held a virtual house party with Al Gore (Tipper joined in, Judith did not) and found his public voice on religion, at least in the South. He has squabbled with Wesley Clark over whether he floated a VP offer before the general's nose, done cover-boy duty on two major newsweeklies and has weathered attacks from all sides.
John Kerry has raised much less money, but he loaned himself $6.4 million and has seen his poll numbers move slightly, at least in Iowa. Clark, who claims a $10 million-plus haul from '03, has toured the South and buddied up with Bill Clinton, at least in new TV commercials. Dennis Kucinich has buddied up with Danny Glover, at least in new TV commercials.
Meanwhile, in South Dakota, Republican John Thune spent the holidays mulling another Senate bid, this one against Tom Daschle. Thune, who lost to Democrat Tim Johnson by 524 votes in '02, will announce his decision tonight. (Thune edges closer to challenging Daschle; more in a Morning Grind Extra.)
Deft in Des Moines
And just yesterday, during a largely civil debate in Des Moines, Dean artfully forced everyone -- except no-shows Clark and Al Sharpton -- to vow to back the Democratic nominee, even if it's (gasp!) him.
The two-hour debate wasn't without some sizzle. Perhaps the most notable clash occurred when Joe Lieberman, armed with pen-and-paper props, pushed Dean to issue his most detailed explanation to date on why he won't release gubernatorial papers. Dean said he was acting in part to protect the privacy of homosexuals. "If somebody is gay and they write me that, and they don't care to have that information disclosed to the public, that's their right," he said.
Following the debate, however, a rival Democratic campaign released a two-page letter that raises doubt about Dean's response to Lieberman's question. In the letter, dated September 14, 1992, a man wrote to then-Gov. Dean to protest an increase in Vermont's health care costs. Urging Dean to keep the letter confidential, he then disclosed that he was a "34-year-old gay male with HIV infection." The letter, which the man signed, is among the Dean administration documents that the Vermont secretary of state's office has released since Dean left office last year.
Spokesman Jay Carson said Dean was referring during the debate specifically to homosexuals who had written to Dean regarding the civil unions debate. Carson also said the governor's counsel was responsible for deciding what can and cannot be disclosed. "It's very strict and it's laid out in statute in Vermont," he said.
Moving on
And that just about brings us up to today, when Clark is scheduled to travel to Nashua, New Hampshire, to deliver what's being described as his first major speech on domestic policy.
For his part, Kerry is also to talk about the economy today, unveiling in Des Moines a "comprehensive" plan said to create jobs, improve the economy and ensure that government fights on the side of people, not corporations. And Lieberman plans to begin airing TV commercials in Arizona, Oklahoma and South Carolina. Later this week, expect new Lieberman commercials in Delaware.
President Bush is to host a major fund-raiser today in St. Louis, marking his 15th trip to swing state Missouri as president. This single event could raise as much as $2.5 million.
And this just in: Former Sen. Bill Bradley is set to endorse Dean on Tuesday at an event in New Hampshire, according to sources close to both Dean and Bradley.