Yet another Clinton insider is openly criticizing his party's presidential front-runner, Howard Dean, warning Democrats that the ex-Vermont governor is far too liberal to defeat President Bush in next year's election.
"There clearly are concerns about Dean's ability to appeal to the entire country, particularly on national security issues," former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta told the Washington Times on Friday.
"How can you compete with President Bush on the national security front? There is some concern about whether Dean can rise to the occasion on this issue," Panetta told the paper.
In his warning about Gov. Dean, Panetta hinted that he was carrying a message authored by his former boss, ex-President Bill Clinton. The former White House chief of staff acknowledged that he speaks regularly with the ex-president, who is said to be concerned about Dean's candidacy.
Panetta's comments follow closely on the heels of an attack on Dean by top Hillary Clinton strategist Harold Ickes, who complained to Time magazine two weeks ago that the Vermont governor was "quick of lip, and quick of temper and stubborn."
Ickes also criticized Dean for repeatedly telling audiences that he wants to win support from Southerners who drive pick-up trucks sporting Confederate flags, grousing, "In another time, the Confederate-flag story would have taken him down the drain."
The deepening opposition within the Clinton camp to the candidate least likely to beat Bush has confounded those who say the former first couple actually want Democrats to lose in 2004 in order to give Mrs. Clinton a better chance to win the White House herself by running for an open seat in 2008.
Some say the Clintons' anti-Dean maneuvering shows one of two things:
Either they actually want to see Democrats win in 2004 [a development that would shut down Mrs. Clinton's presidential ambitions till 2012]. Or Bill and Hillary are stacking the deck for a presidential draft sometime before next July's Democratic convention.
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2004 Elections
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