• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Gore Endorses Dean for Nomination

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 December 2003, 06:00 CST

Former Vice President Al Gore endorsed Howard Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, adding momentum and political prestige to Dean's front-running campaign.

Gore said Dean "really is the only candidate who has been able to inspire at the grassroots level all over the country." He said the former Vermont governor also was the only Democratic candidate who made the correct judgment about the Iraq war.

"Our country has been weakened in its ability to fight the war against terror because of the catastrophic mistake the Bush administration made in taking us to war in Iraq," Gore said.

Dean said he it was an honor and a privilege to receive Gore's endorsement.

Five weeks before Iowa's kickoff caucuses, Gore and Dean appeared in Harlem before flying to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where Dean is locked in a tight race with Rep. Richard Gephardt in the Jan. 19 Democratic caucuses.

Dean will then fly to New Hampshire in time for the final Democratic debate of the year.

Dean told a crowd of several hundred supporters gathered Monday night at New York's Roseland Ballroom that he could "neither confirm nor deny" reports of Gore's endorsement.

Gore won the popular vote by half a million votes in 2000 but conceded to Republican George W. Bush after a tumultuous 36-day recount in Florida and a 5-4 Supreme Court vote against him. The election still rankles Democratic activists, many of whom are still loyal to Gore.

The approval of Bill Clinton's No. 2 bolsters Dean's case that he can carry the party's mantle next November and represents more than an Internet-driven outsider relying on the support of largely white, upscale voters.

Dean hopes the coveted endorsement also eases concerns among party leaders about his lack of foreign policy experience, testy temperament, policy flip-flops, campaign miscues and edgy anti-war, anti-establishment message.

"What this says is that all these Washington insiders who have been gnashing their teeth, wringing their hands and clinging to their cocktail cups can relax now. Dean's been knighted by the ultimate insider," said Democratic consultant Dean Strother of Washington. "It's game, set and match. It's over."

Other Democrats offered more cautious appraisals, but the overwhelming consensus was that Dean's coup makes him the overwhelming favorite to claim the nomination. Even advisers to Dean's rivals conceded they were stunned and disheartened by the news.

"I was caught completely off-guard," Sen. Joe Liberman, Gore's running mate in 2000 and a hopeful for the nomination, said Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show. That many of Gore's positions are opposite to those of Dean made the decision a surprise to him, Lieberman said.

"Al Gore has endorsed someone here who has taken positions diametrically opposite" of the former vice president, Lieberman said. "What really bothers me is that Al is supporting a candidate who is so fundamentally opposed to the basic transformation that Bill Clinton brought to this party in 1992," moving it to a more middle-of-the-road stance on economic policy and other areas, he said.

Asked on "Today" whether he felt betrayed by the former vice president, Lieberman said, "I'm not going to talk about Al Gore's sense of loyalty this morning."

"This sends a clear signal that Dean is bringing together two major forces - Democratic insiders and outsiders. Gore is the ultimate insider," said Democratic strategist Steve Jarding of Virginia, adding that Dean can still be beaten "but it just got a ton harder."

Jenny Backus, a Democratic strategist from Washington, said Gore will help Dean gain access to "some key constituencies, African-Americans and women and organized labor, and in Iowa."

But while Dean leads in polls in New Hampshire and Iowa, the race has not taken shape beyond the initial voting states and Gore's endorsement will not erase every doubt about the former Vermont governor. Analysts noted that Gore's uneven performance in 2000 alienated many party leaders, thus his endorsement has limited appeal, and they predicted an anti-Dean movement will eventually form behind one of his eight rivals.

In choosing Dean, Gore bypassed his own vice presidential pick in 2000, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who is struggling in his bid to capture the nomination. The Lieberman campaign issued a terse statement Monday, saying, "I was proud to have been chosen by Al Gore in 2000 to be a heartbeat away from the presidency."

Some rank-and-file Democrats were stung by Gore's decision.

"It isn't fair that he turned his back on Lieberman," said Mohammed Islam, a New York taxi driver and longtime Democratic voter. "If he was good enough for him in 2000, why not now?"

In an unusual response, Democratic candidate Wesley Clark issued a statement touting the number of former Gore staffers working on his campaign.

In 1998, Dean considered challenging Gore for the Democratic nomination in 2000 but backed away amid pressure from the vice president's office, and opposition in Vermont. He quietly lobbied to be mentioned as a vice presidential candidate, but did not make Gore's short list.

The pair have differed on many key issues, such as gun control. While Gore fought the National Rifle Association, Dean was embraced by the lobby.

Gore is pre-eminent among the party's establishment, second only to former President Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. Officials close to both Clintons said Monday that they would not endorse in the primary race.

Gore announced Dec. 15, 2002, that he would not make another run for the White House, saying a rematch with Bush would force him to revisit the recount ordeal of 2000.

More News in this Category