Stories related to: Howard Dean

Barack Obama and John McCain clashed over Iraq today, as the DNC readies an ad campaign criticizing McCain's now-infamous remark about keeping troops in Iraq for 100 years. In a Fox News interview, Obama pledged to withdraw troops from Iraq even if Gen. David Petraeus advised against it. But the McCain camp says Obama's leadership "can't deliver." More »

Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Howard Dean plan to coordinate demands that uncommitted Democratic superdelegates endorse a candidate—and well before August's convention. Senate Majority Leader Reid said yesterday that “this matter will be over no later than July 1,” Congressional Quarterly reports. House Speaker Pelosi added that the party's nominee needs to start the general-election battle before August. More »

Mitt Romney would have been a better GOP candidate than John McCain, Howard Dean told the press yesterday—with unlimited cash resources and a willingness to “say anything” to win. “I know him from New England,” the top Dem said, and he “was the candidate I feared the most.” Dean said the Republicans underestimated Mitt, the Wall Street Journal reports, even as he gave a preview of Dems' tacks for the general election. More »

Florida and Michigan delegates will likely have to wait until June to see whether they can participate in the party’s convention, Howard Dean said on Face the Nation today. The DNC chairman said Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would rather focus on the final primaries, which will end on June 3, the AP reports. "But I think we can work it out, and I want to work it out," he said. More »

The Obama and Clinton campaigns and the DNC are discussing a plan to seat Florida’s 185-delegate slate according to the outlaw primary’s results—but to give the delegates only half a vote each, Politico reports. Separately, Dean met with Florida Democratic leaders today and declared, "We will absolutely seat the delegation at the convention.” More »

Since his crash-and-burn run for president four years ago, Howard Dean has served as a decidedly low-key Democratic Party chairman, slowly building up state organizations while staying out of the limelight. Yet as the Clinton-Obama race wears on, many are wondering if Dean has the political acumen—or even the will—to rally a party in danger of fracturing. More »

Hillary Clinton insisted today that she will not drop out of the race early, and Barack Obama thinks that's just fine. Clinton told the Washington Post that she will compete in every primary, then take her fight to the convention in August if necessary. Could any scenario change her mind? "No," she said. In Pennsylvania, Obama said Clinton "can run as long as she wants,” AFP reports. More »

Democrats continue to clash over the effects of a long and bitter primary race, the New York Times reports. "If we have an ugly, divided convention, we will lose" the November election, said Howard Dean, who has called on superdelegates to decide by July. But Hillary-backer Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa said, "We’ve become a bit too squeamish. I, for one, want my nominee to be battle tested.” More »

Citing the rights of voters to speak their piece and the “many differing opinions and strong-minded individuals” of the Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton yesterday reaffirmed her candidacy in the face of senator Patrick Leahy’s call for her end a campaign with “no very good reason” to continue and make way for Barack Obama, the New York Times reports. More »

Continued sniping with Hillary Clinton is hurting Barack Obama's chances of winning the White House, and "she ought to withdraw and she ought to be backing Senator Obama," Sen. Pat Leahy told Vermont Public Radio in an interview aired today. The harsh assessment coincided with a suggestion from another influential Vermonter, DNC chairman Howard Dean, that the superdelegates make their plans public by July 1. More »

With John McCain the presumptive Republican nominee, Democrats are rushing to expose chinks in the Arizona senator's saintly armor, Michael Scherer reports in Time . Though McCain talks tough about special interests, he has often appeared to have done their bidding. He once, for example, wrote a letter on behalf of a donor after a fundraiser on said donor’s yacht. More »

The top Senate Democrat says his party's presidential nomination will be wrapped up before the Aug. 25-28 convention. “It will be done,” majority leader Harry Reid declared of the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama—adding mysteriously, Politico reports, that he’d spoken to party chairman Howard Dean and that “things are being done.” More »

A federal appeals court today tossed a lawsuit from a Florida Democrat who claimed the Democratic National Committee violated his rights by stripping the state of primary delegates. But the challenge might not be dead, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: A lower court ruled the plaintiff lacked standing because he hadn't voted in a Florida primary; now that he has, he could amend the suit. More »

Barack Obama is far more likely to be the Democratic nominee than Hillary Clinton is, says Joe Trippi, the veteran strategist who advised Howard Dean and John Edwards. In an IM interview with New York, he puts Obama’s odds at 70%, predicts a race that lasts until the convention, and foresees "a remote chance of a third candidate if this gets really ugly and Clinton takes a meat ax to Obama." More »

Michigan and Florida senators appeared closer today to approving mail-in re-votes for their disqualified primaries, the Swamp blog reports. DNC chair Howard Dean said he also supported the mail-ins if state leaders can agree with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on how to run them. “I have to run these rules so that the losing side feels it’s been treated fairly,” he said on “This Week with George Stephanopolous.” More »

Floridians will get a chance to vote again in the Democratic primary, this time by mail, if Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and Gov. Charlie Crist have their way. Nelson tells Newsweek that plans are all but set for a re-vote, this time paid for by soft money donations. But hurdles remain, including what Nelson’s spokesman calls a “tiny” Florida law against mail-in voting. More »

With the nomination race tied up, eyes are turning to Florida and Michigan’s delegates, and top Democrats are mixing it up over funding for a primary re-do, the Hill reports. US Sen. Bill Nelson, a Hillary Clinton supporter, has urged the DNC to accept the results or pony up $20 million, warning that denying the delegates will be the “biggest train wreck you’ve ever seen.” More »

The Democratic candidates may be flush with money, but their party isn't. The GOP has a nearly 7-to-1 advantage in cash on hand, the New York Times reports. Democrats hope to make up the gap once they settle on a nominee, but the GOP already has begun plotting with John McCain on how to best use the advantage. Republicans raised $97 million last year and have $25 million left; Dems raised $60.5 and have $3.7 million left. More »

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's race to capture every pledged delegate has revived a contentious issue: what to do with the disqualified delegates from Michigan and Florida. Both campaigns, state leaders, and party elders all agree that something must be done. But the party is at an impasse over how to proceed, not least over who would foot an $18 million bill for a do-over, writes the New York Times . More »

Do-over Democratic primary votes in Michigan and Florida are looking likelier with the support of key political players, the AP reports. The governors of both states—a Clinton-backing Democrat in Michigan and a Republican in Florida—have issued a joint statement calling for their states' delegates to be seated at the national convention.  Campaigns for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama seem open to the idea. Clinton won both primaries, but neither candidate campaigned and Obama wasn't even on the Michigan ballot. More »