Dean Takes the Offensive in Comments on Clark

[ProudToBeLiberal]

Dean Takes the Offensive in Comments on Clark

By JODI WILGOREN with EDWARD WYATT

Howard Dean, whose campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination has been built on an antiwar message, yesterday questioned the antiwar credentials of his newest opponent, Gen. Wesley K. Clark.

Dr. Dean, who himself has been accused by rivals of flip-flopping on issues, focused on remarks General Clark made last week when, in interviews, he first said that he probably would have voted for the Congressional resolution authorizing war in Iraq and then, the following day, was led to backtrack.

"I was shocked" by General Clark's initial comment on the resolution, Dr. Dean, former governor of Vermont, said in an interview as he flew from a rally in Boston to a series of fund-raisers in New York. "I was even more shocked that he switched the next day."

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Though raising questions about his new rival, Dr. Dean largely stuck yesterday to the tactics that had attracted a great deal of support, intensifying his attack on President Bush. He drew laughs from a noontime crowd of about 3,000 at Copley Square in Boston when he said that before the American Revolution, "there was a king named George who had forgotten his own people in favor of special interests."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/24/politics/campaigns/24DEAN.html?ex=1064980800&en=4a16007d80fb624a&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE