Democratic candidates only hurt themselves by attacking Dean. [View All]

Misplaced Mudslinging
Democratic candidates only hurt themselves by attacking Dean.
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Yes, in a primary we need candidates to spell out their differences. We need to know what makes them deserve our vote and, in a big, inclusive party like the Democratic one, where they stand on the issues.

But part of the reason the Dean campaign has been so successful is that the former Vermont governor has focused his anger on President Bush rather than explicitly attacking Democratic opponents. By training their fire on Dean, Gephardt, Kerry and Lieberman are only garnering the former governor more attention. Remember when Lieberman attacked Dean on the Middle East during the most recent presidential debate, in Baltimore? It may have won Lieberman a mention in the next morning's paper but it hasn't seemed to boost his campaign at all. It simply cemented the image of Dean as the front-runner, which helps Dean and Dean only.

The Dean-Kerry spat has been going on since the South Carolina debate. Last week, Kerry's communications director, Chris Lehane, quit, reportedly because Kerry wasn't aggressive enough in going after Dean. I don't know if Lehane felt he was watching a rerun of the 2000 election recount, when Gore sat quietly by while the Bush crowd slugged its way into the White House. But a general election is the time to sling mud. And the other party's guy is the person to sling it at.

Perhaps the nomination contest is starting to get nasty early because of the compressed primary schedule. Many of the candidates will be out of the race after the March 2 primaries, if not before. So if they're going to take their shots, now is the time. But they should remember that their opposition research is likely to end up as grist for a no doubt grateful Bush re-election team. Lively debate is a good thing. But at this stage of the game, trying to take down another guy with personal attacks isn't.
http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2003/09/jones-m-09-22.html