Dems should cease personal attacks

DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe is warning Dem candidates to ease up on personal attacks. The comments are mostly directed at Dean, though Kerry's aides have also taken shots at Dean.

"We do not and I do not encourage any of our candidates to go after fellow Democrats," McAuliffe said. "I want to discourage it early on. ... We expect all of them to abide by a good code out there to make sure the focus is on George Bush and not on each other."

McAuliffe is right. During Dean's masterful speech at the California Democratic Party convention, it was unfortunate that he decided to criticize Kerry and Edwards by name. Granted, Dean qualified his criticism ("I'll support either of them if they win the nomination"), but that's not good enough.

There is no reason for the candidates to overtly turn on each other. While subtlety may be lost on the broader public, the party needs to be focused on the real enemy. Bush. Anything else weakens the party from within, and we'll have to be as strong as possible to take Bush out.

Posted April 02, 2003 12:39 PM | Comments (71)