Gephardt Shifts Attacks to Dean
Sharp Criticism On Medicare Issue Intensifies Race

By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 13, 2003; Page A08

DES MOINES, Sept. 12 -- Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) launched a sharp attack against former Vermont governor Howard Dean here today, charging that his rival sided with former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) in Republican efforts to scale back and rewrite the Medicare program in the mid-1990s.

Seeking to slow Dean's momentum in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, Gephardt accused Dean, as a governor, of trying to undermine Medicare and Social Security, two programs fundamental to the well-being of senior citizens and, not incidentally, touchstones to Democratic primary voters, particularly here in Iowa.

The attack marked a clear shift in Gephardt's strategy. For months he has attacked President Bush and in recent days has increased the volume of those criticisms, repeatedly calling Bush's foreign policy "a miserable failure." But in turning his fire on Dean as well, Gephardt's remarks signaled that the Democratic nomination battle has entered a more intense and potentially decisive phase. Dean's ability to weather the attacks could determine just how strong his surging campaign is.

Gephardt is not the first Democrat to attack Dean. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), aiming at Dean from the right, earlier warned that Dean's opposition to the Iraq war and positions on other issues would doom Democrats to defeat against Bush in 2004. Gephardt took aim at Dean from the left, in much the way Al Gore did against former New Jersey senator Bill Bradley four years ago, charging that he had not stood with Democrats in some of their most crucial battles against the GOP.

Gephardt, speaking to a union audience, quoted Dean as calling Medicare "one of the worst federal programs ever," and his campaign issued a string of quotations in which Dean said Social Security should not be spared cuts to help balance the budget, specifically saying that he favored raising the retirement age -- a view Dean has recanted in his run for the presidency.

Saying there were "very real differences" between him and Dean, Gephardt took a line Dean has used throughout the campaign, that he represents the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party, and turned it against the former governor, saying Dean was with the GOP during a crucial battle in the 104th Congress, just after Republicans came to power.

"1995 was the time for the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party to be counted," Gephardt said. "I led House Democrats as we joined with President Clinton and we stopped the Medicare cuts."

Gephardt based his attacks on a series of articles describing Dean's position in the early and mid-1990s. One article said of Dean that he "supported more managed care for Medicare recipients and requiring Medicare recipients to pay a greater share of the cost of their medical services."

In a statement issued by his campaign, Dean accused Gephardt of engaging in the "politics of the past" and that he was "deeply saddened" by the attack from someone he considered a friend.

"It is a sad day for Dick Gephardt when he compares ANY Democratic candidate running for President to Newt Gingrich and his divisive policies," Dean said. "No Democrat in the presidential race bears any resemblance to Newt Gingrich on any major issue. And for Dick Gephardt to suggest otherwise is simply beyond the pale."

The attack came on the eve of a major Democratic picnic here in Iowa, for which Sen. Tom Harkin (Iowa) is the host. The event will feature the presidential candidates and former president Bill Clinton, and likely will become the backdrop for a weekend of campaigning by the candidates and discussion among Democrats who will participate in the Jan. 19 precinct caucuses that will kick off the nomination battle here.

Gephardt delivered his attack in the basement of the Teamsters hall on the outskirts of the state capital here, with union members sitting on metal folding chairs cheering him on. There was no mistaking how much importance the Gephardt campaign attached to in the speech, with the candidate dressed in a blue suit and white shirt and speaking from a teleprompter.

Much of the speech was an attack on Bush and the GOP for what Gephardt said was "an ongoing assault upon Social Security and Medicare [that] is driven by a cynical belief that these vital programs are nothing more than some form of expendable charity."

But Gephardt's goal was to drive a wedge between Dean and many of his liberal Democratic supporters by connecting the former governor to the Gingrich wing of the Republican Party. "In the midst of the Republican Revolution, Governor Dean actually agreed with the Gingrich Republicans," Gephardt said. "His home-state newspaper reported time and again how he supported turning Medicare into a managed-care program."

Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign manager, said Dean was among a number of Democrats who, in the early 1990s, were looking for ways to reform Medicare and Social Security in an effort to preserve them and protect them from financial collapse. Trippi said that the booming economy of the 1990s had alleviated those pressures and eliminated the need to make those kinds of changes.

"Newt Gingrich was doing everything he could to destroy these programs," Trippi said. "To associate us with Newt Gingrich is a low blow, beyond the pale, and it won't wash with the American people."

Dean was chairman of the National Governors Association and often tangled with Gingrich, particularly on welfare reform. Trippi said Dean's apparent hostility to Medicare reflected his frustrations as a medical doctor with the program.

"Elections are about issues," Gephardt said. "As Democrats, we need a nominee who is clearly different from George Bush on protecting seniors from deep cuts in Medicare and on privatizing Medicare."