Dean, Gephardt zero in on each otherFormer Vermont governor Howard Dean and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) launched new television commercials Tuesday criticizing each other and their rivals on Iraq and free trade in the latest sign of how competitive the nomination battle has become six days before the Iowa caucuses.
Fighting for a victory here that his advisers believe could start him on a quick march to the nomination, Dean returned to the issue that first fueled his rise to prominence in the Democratic race, using his new ad to attack his three major rivals here by name for supporting the resolution that authorized President Bush to go to war in Iraq.
Although the caucuses are less than a week away, the candidates largely abandoned Iowa on Tuesday for campaigning and fundraising elsewhere, with Dean not even scheduling a public event and spending his day in Burlington, Vt. But the new commercials captured the state of a tightening race, with the candidates fighting for narrow advantages in a highly fluid environment and attacks flying in multiple directions at once.
In Dean's ad, an announcer asks: "Where did the Washington Democrats stand on the war? Dick Gephardt wrote the resolution to authorize war. John Kerry and John Edwards both voted for the war. Then Dick Gephardt voted to spend another $87 billion on Iraq. Howard Dean has a different view."
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