What with Wesley "Precious Bodily Fluids" Clark threatening to "beat the sh*t" out of people and Joe Lieberman sitting on Santa's lap, I missed out on the big Demo campaign story of last week - The Era of Big Clinton Is Over. At least according to Howard Dean.
Now Dean is using the Clinton economic program as his latest doom and gloom target in stump speeches around the country, and Clinton isn't happy about it.More in a similar vein in Slate and Newsday.
Dean has been telling just about any audience listening to him that Clinton's claim that the era of big government is over was in essence a betrayal of basic Democratic values. That Clinton got into bed with Republicans to cut back government, and in turn hurt poor families who needed more of what Dean think government should be giving them.
In classic Dean fashion, he riles up his crowds with those kinds of ideas, then turns around and tells the press that his remarks aren't intended as shots across Clinton's bow, even though Dean has told campaign staffers that Gore, for one, told him that those remarks about the Clinton Gore economy were spot on target, and confirmed Gore's belief that Dean was the straight talker the party needed.
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According to a Dean staffer in Iowa, Clinton has sent Dean a message through intermediaries to stop using him as a political scratching post on the campaign trail. Dean, though, as late as last Friday was still using Clinton as an example of what is wrong with the Democratic Party.
Better watch it Howie! Picking on the Ole Horndog is one thing, but if Her Heinous decides to step in, you're going to be in a world of hurt.
