The Black-Brown Debate: Here is some of the debate coverage from last night: ["Dean Defends Record on Race in Debate"]. This was a great exchange in the debate but, in the end, it was irrelevant. Just because Howard Dean didn't hire a minority - in Vermont, one of the whitest states in the country - is not a big deal and doesn't mean he won't be supportive of minorities as president.
Gephardt, who was elected during the anti-busing days, comes clean about his past political positions that might have affected minorities: ["Gephardt Admits Mistake on Race Issues in '70s"].
Temper, temper: Reuters picked up on some of Dean's historical temper problems: ["Voter Triggers Dean's Much-Talked About Temper"].
But when Ungerer stood and tried to interrupt, Dean shouted: "You sit down. You had your say. Now I'm going to have my say."A candidate yells at voters [granted, Republican ones] and gains support. This has to be a first.
Spinning O'Neill: Wesley Clark was the first candidate to get play in the media about the Paul O'Neill book: ["Clark Says He's Vindicated by O'Neill Book"].
"When he writes that the Bush administration is planning and exchanging documents on how to go to war with Iraq as soon as they took office, that just confirms my worst suspicions about this administration," Clark said.Dennis Kucinich also responded to the O'Neill book, sending out comments via email:
"These revelations are not just about the past. The Bush Administration is still with us. They manufactured justifications for the war, and they are now manufacturing justifications for continuing this occupation. The war is not over, and the invention of justifications for it is not over. Even Democratic presidential candidates are joining in. But the idea that we can stabilize Iraq and develop a legitimate democracy prior to turning control over to the United Nations is as impossible to believe as were the claims about an imminent threat from vast stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction."So did Howard Dean:
"I've always said the President had failed to make the case to go to war with Iraq. Most of my Democratic opponents reached a different conclusion, and in the process, they failed to ask the difficult questions. Now, after the fact, we are learning new information about the true circumstances of the Bush administration's push for war, this time, by one of his former cabinet secretaries.More polls
The country deserves to know - and the President needs to answer - why the American people were presented with misleading or manufactured intelligence as to why going to war with Iraq was necessary. Secretary O'Neill's comments only underscore the continuing importance that these outstanding questions be answered."
The Columbus Dispatch reported some numbers from Ohio on Sunday showing Howard Dean with 29 percent, Wesley Clark with 17 percent, Dick Gephardt with 16 percent, Dennis Kucinich and Joe Lieberman tied at 11 percent, John Kerry with 7 percent and John Edwards in at 5 percent.
Zogby also posted the first day of its Iowa tracking poll showing a dead-heat between Dean [25 percent] and Gephardt [23 percent]. Kerry has 15 percent while Edwards and Undecided clock in at 14 percent.
