Hillary Aides in Dean-Bashing Blitz

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton has launched a behind-the-scenes campaign to pressure fellow Democrats not to support presidential front-runner Howard Dean – a move some say raises new questions about her own intentions in 2004.

Aides to Sen. Clinton have begun contacting party movers and shakers in a bid to discredit Dean and dispel the notion that the Vermont Democrat has the nomination sewn up.

"Hillary Clinton's people – and I know, I get these calls all the time – call and bash on Dean," Democrat strategist Bob Beckel told Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" late Wednesday. Beckel managed Walter Mondale's unsuccessful 1984 presidential bid.

Mrs. Clinton's husband has apparently joined in the effort, with the Rev. Al Sharpton revealing late Wednesday that he was contacted by the former president in the wake of Al Gore's endorsement of Dean.

Sharpton, however, denied to MSNBC's "Hardball" that the top Democrat engaged in any Dean trashing. "President Clinton has not talked to me about a battle with the Gore[-Dean] gang. President Clinton and I, as he has with other candidates, talked about how you beat George Bush."

Still, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Clinton doubts Dean will be able to transform himself into a centrist candidate who can win votes in the Midwest and South. Democrats "close" to Clinton have "grown increasingly critical" of Dean, added the Washington Times.

Democratic National Committee Chairman and Clinton confidant Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday that "he was shocked" by Gore's decision to back the Vermont Democrat. While acknowledging that the endorsement was "a tremendous boost for Governor Dean," he warned on CNN, "it does not, however, mean that Dean has the nomination wrapped up."

Even before Gore's surprise Dean endorsement, at least two former senior Clinton aides were publicly blasting Dean as unelectable. Former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta told the Washington Times over the Thanksgiving weekend, "There clearly are concerns about Dean's ability to appeal to the entire country, particularly on national security issues."

A week before, former Clinton deputy White House chief of staff Harold Ickes slammed Dean to Time magazine, complaining that the Democrat front-runner was "quick of lip, and quick of temper and stubborn."

Ickes also seized on Dean's comments about wanting the votes of Confederate flag-bearing Southerners, saying, "In another time, the Confederate-flag story would have taken him down the drain."

The Clinton camp's anti-Dean blitzkrieg had one longtime Clinton watcher scratching his head. "If the Clintons want the Dems to lose next year so Hillary has a shot at an open seat in '08, they should be happy that Dean looks like a sure loser," he told NewsMax on background. "If that's the strategy, they should be boosting Dean, not bashing him."

Meanwhile, an organization formed to draft Sen. Clinton into the presidential race announced plans this week to launch an advertising blitz in New Hampshire urging Granite State Democats to write in Sen. Clinton's name in the state's Jan. 27 primary.

HillaryNow.com organizer Bob Kunst told the New York Sun he planned to run 60 television commercials in three New Hampshire cities this week on Sen. Clinton's behalf. Though the commercials won't be expensive prime-time productions - they're slated to run after midnight on CNN's Headline News channel - it's not clear how Kunst was able to finance such a substantial media buy.

Kunst told the Sun he is encouraged that Mrs. Clinton, who has denied she wants to run next year, has made no effort to shut him down.

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