The debate attacks were equally bad in 2004. There just was not a president involved

[madfloridian]

and there were more candidates in the debates right up until the end. Things were not very nice then either.

People here seem to forget that the debates in 2003 and into 2004 leading into the primaries got very animated and often vicious. They all did their share, too. All of them.

The racial overtones went on back then. Jesse Jackson stepped in to defend Howard Dean from racist attacks, as did Donna Brazile.

Jesse Jackson defends Dean against Sharpton's remarks.

A friend of mine sent me this article yesterday in an attempt to friend of mine sent me this article yesterday in an attempt to inform me that Howard Dean was really a racist. I had to just laugh when I read the article, at first, because Dean's platform is so pro-civil rights and pro-racial equality that it was more than a little funny to me that anyone would be asinine enough to launch those allegations.

But when I read the article, I was more than a little angry at Al Sharpton. He had distorted the truth just enough to make Dean's intent sound questionable. I decided not to blog the article so as not to perpetuate the negative, inaccurate propoganda. And hoped it would just go away, I guess.

This morning, I awoke to a very pleasant rebuttle by Jesse Jackson, strongly criticizing Al Sharpton for his inaccurate remarks and reaffirming what I already knew about Howard Dean: that he is pro-civil rights and pro-affirmative action.

Thanks, Jesse!

The name of the Washington Post article that was sent in the email??

Sharpton Calls Dean's Agenda 'Anti-Black'

Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton launched a blistering attack on Howard Dean yesterday, accusing his rival of promoting an "anti-black agenda."

"Howard Dean's opposition to affirmative action, his current support for the death penalty and historic support of the NRA's agenda amounts to an anti-black agenda that will not sell in communities of color in this country," Sharpton said in a statement.

..."He said his comments were in response to a news report yesterday that Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) plans to endorse Dean, the former Vermont governor and presumed front-runner for the 2004 Democratic nomination. Sharpton has had a long-standing rivalry with the congressman's father, Jesse L. Jackson, who twice ran for president.

"Any so-called African American leader that would endorse Dean despite his anti-black record is mortgaging the future of our struggle for civil rights and social justice," Sharpton said.

Jackson also called Sharpton out about his attacks on Dean's stances on gun ownership rights. Sharpton was wrong on all counts.

As I say they all did their share, all of them. There was one debate which stood out for me. The one the day Al Gore endorsed Howard Dean. It really got out of control...with Ted Koppel egging them all on.

There were strong unnecessary attacks at December 10 NH debate. It will probably go down in infamy for two reasons...Ted Koppel's awful emceeing and the shameful remarks about Al Gore by the Democratic candidates.

PBS Campaign Snapshot: NH debate

The eight Democratic presidential candidates debated in Durham, N.H., last night, but it was the endorsement of Howard Dean by former Vice President Al Gore earlier in the day that stole the stage.

First off the question Koppel asked was just plain stupid. It was meant to divide, and divide it did.

TED KOPPEL: This has been an extraordinary day for Governor Dean. As we all know he got the endorsement of former Vice President Al Gore. Things are going very well for him in the polls. Things are going very well for him in terms of raising money so I would like all of you up here, including you Governor Dean, to raise your hand if you believe that Governor Dean can beat George W. Bush. ( Laughter and applause ) Don't look at me. Look at these eight other folks.

HOWARD DEAN: You kind of put them on the spot, though.

TED KOPPEL: Yes, that's the idea.

Then Koppel proceeded to draw out the other candidates and sort of in effect tease them into making ugly remarks.

TED KOPPEL: Senator Lieberman, you got a bit of a shock of the solar plexus today. You had to be surprised by it. You have to be a little disappointed by it. The fact of the matter is, someone has got to win the primaries and the caucuses, and ultimately the Democratic nomination, before they can hope to win the presidency against George Bush. Have your chances received a bad shock today?

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Ted, I think in some unpredicted, unexpected way my chances have actually increased today. I can tell you that our phones have been ringing off the hook at the campaign headquarters. I've been stopped in the airports; people angry about what happened.
I'll tell you why I didn't raise my hand in response to that question. This campaign for the Democratic nomination is fundamentally a referendum within our party about whether we're going to build on the Clinton transformation in our party in 1992 that reassured people we were strong on defense, we were fiscally responsible, we cared about values, we were interested in cutting taxes for the middle class and working with business to create jobs. Howard Dean is -- and now Al Gore, I guess, are on the wrong side of each of those issues.

Joe Lieberman, always reliably swarmy, even in 2003. What a dreadful thing to say.

Sharpton attacks Al Gore for exercising "bossism". He really got down and dirty at times, once accusing Dean of "racism" in Vermont, forgetting the very low percentage of African Americans in that state.
This remark toward Gore was uncalled for.

AL SHARPTON: Al Gore went to New York today. He should have noticed Tammany Hall is not there anymore. Bossism is not in this party.

To talk about people ought not run and that people ought to get out of this race is bossism that belongs in the other party. And we're not going to have any big name come in now, and tell us the field should be limited and we can't be heard.

Ugh.

There was more discussion, but finally Dean set them straight about who to attack.

HOWARD DEAN: Let me just say a couple of things. First of all, I think John Edwards was right. The people will decide, not Al Gore or anybody else.

Secondly, I'm going to give an invitation, which I have not yet given but I'm going to do it now. If you guys are upset about Al Gore's endorsement, you attack me, don't attack Al Gore. Al Gore worked too hard in 2000 to lose that election when he really didn't lose the election. He got 500,000 votes more than George Bush, and I don't think he deserves to be attacked by anybody up here.

He's not a boss... (applause) ...he's a fundamentally decent human being. And I think Al Gore deserves credit for being the kind of moral leader in this country that we had lost since the last election.

Kudos to Kucinich in that debate for calling out Ted Koppel for being so pathetic.

TED KOPPEL: There's a zinger coming now, isn't there?

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Yes. ( Laughter ) The ... to begin this kind of a forum with a question about an endorsement, no matter by who, I think actually trivializes the issues that are before us. (Cheers and applause)

This primary is no worse than last time. It is just that a former president is involved. The media is playing them up as being far more destructive, but I don't think they are.

[ursi]

1. Good work. Thanks for posting!

[madfloridian]

2. You are welcome.

It really got heated then as well.

[madfloridian]

3. Transcript from Sept 9, 2003 CBC debated, MD I think.

It really get heated with Lieberman attacking Dean because Dean said something about being evenhanded or an honest broker in the middle east.

Lieberman does not let us when Dean explains over and over,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/transcripts/090903debatetext.html

Then there was the LaRouche disruptor.

I think we just forget how heated things go.

[madfloridian]

4. And if anyone complained about attacks....

they were called whiners, and they were greeted with pictures of crying babies.

Got pretty heated.

[madfloridian]

5. Speaking of Roger Stone...an update.

I thought of this today when I heard Roger Stone, GOP operative was back in the game with his Hillary attack campaign

I remembered this article from 2004. I believe it affected the debates. From Common Dreams by Wayne Barrett...from Village Voice originally.

Sleeping with the GOP: A Bush Covert Operative Takes Over Al Sharpton's Campaign

Roger Stone, the longtime Republican dirty-tricks operative who led the mob that shut down the Miami-Dade County recount and helped make George W. Bush president in 2000, is financing, staffing, and orchestrating the presidential campaign of Reverend Al Sharpton.

Though Stone and Sharpton have tried to reduce their alliance to a curiosity, suggesting that all they do is talk occasionally, a Voice investigation has documented an extraordinary array of connections. Stone played a pivotal role in putting together Sharpton's pending application for federal matching funds, getting dollars in critical states from family members and political allies at odds with everything Sharpton represents. He's also helped stack the campaign with a half-dozen incongruous top aides who've worked for him in prior campaigns. He's even boasted about engineering six-figure loans to Sharpton's National Action Network (NAN) and allowing Sharpton to use his credit card to cover thousands in NAN costs—neither of which he could legally do for the campaign. In a wide-ranging Voice interview Sunday, Stone confirmed his matching-fund and staffing roles, but refused to comment on the NAN subsidies.

[LittleClarkie]

6. Was it?

This is my first one, so I was wondering.

I could scream sometimes. I almost wish I was still uncommitted.

[madfloridian]

7. I guess it depends on who you supported.

But to me they were terrible. There were several debates that they ganged up very much.

Yes, it is terrible watching the attacks. I think they seem worse because a former president is in the fray. It magnifies the attacks.

[LittleClarkie]

8. I was a sheeple back then. And I wasn't here yet

I wandered in during the summer of 2004, when the Kerry campaign was in full swing.

It's just so trollish at times. I like to keep things civil if I can. That's almost impossible at the moment. There are several people I feel like strangling.