Morris: Lehane Behind Dean's 'Political Assassination'

NewsMax ^ | 1/17/04 | Limbacher

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Acting at the behest of Bill and Hillary Clinton, a senior campaign aide to Gen. Wesley Clark has carried out the "political assassination" of Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean, former top Clinton advisor Dick Morris contended late Friday.

"I believe we have witnessed a political assassination of Howard Dean by the Clintons," Morris told Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" - hours after polls showed that Dean's once formidable lead in Iowa had evaporated.

Morris named Clark communications director Chris Lehane, a former Gore campaign spokesman who cut his teeth as a key operative in the Clinton White House's attack machine.

"Chris Lehane has been the source of a lot of these negative stories [about Dean]," he explained. "He's a vehicle for Clinton feeds."

Morris said that other candidates don't have the resources for the kind of opposition research that Lehane has been carrying out for Gen. Clark, whose campaign is staffed wall-to-wall with Clinton White House veterans.

"The places that have the money for negative research are the Democratic National Committee and the Clintons," said Morris.

On Friday the New York Times detailed Lehane's role in the current campaign, calling him "such a shrewd practitioner of what one admiring strategist called 'the political black arts' that lately, when a negative story appears, rivals point to him."

The Times referred to Lehane as Gen. Clark's "secret weapon" in his campaign's war against Dean and other rivals.

In 2000, it was then-Gore aide Lehane who took an innocuous Republican campaign ad that flashed the word "De-moc-rats" across the screen and turned it into a major scandal.

After Lehane told reporters that the word "rats" was an attempt to use subliminal advertising to smear his party, the story turned up on the front page of the Times and dominated the news cycle for days.

"Chris understands the essential dynamic of politics, which is punch or be punched," Jim Jordan, Sen. John Kerry's former campaign manager, told the paper.

But some say Lehane's tactics against Howard Dean go further than that.

"Like criminals, most good political operatives have certain M.O.'s," one unidentified Lehane "friend" told the Times. "He's very aggressive and he's very thorough and very good at getting reporters what they need to do a hatchet job on your opponent."

[ladyinred]

Of course this is what is happening. The same can be said for the 24/7 bashing of President Bush that has been going on for months now. This is the Clintons, no question, no doubt about it. So many don't even realize that they are playing right along with it either.

[Buck W.]

"In 2000, it was then-Gore aide Lehane who took an innocuous Republican campaign ad that flashed the word "De-moc-rats" across the screen and turned it into a major scandal."

Lehane's tactic was so successful that we still call them "RATS" today.

[EternalVigilance]

Lehane's tactic was so successful that we still call them "RATS" today.

Some labels are just so apt.

[CyberAnt]

And .. as a result of that ad, the DEMOCRAT party has tried (with some success) to change its name to the DemocratIC party to keep the repubs from using the "rat" or "rats" against them.

For this reason, I always call them DEMOCRAT not democratic.

[nutmeg]

For this reason, I always call them DEMOCRAT not democratic.

Same here... They are DemocRATs!

[nutmeg]

FoxFan ping! (Dick Morris appeared on Hannity & Colmes Friday night)

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my FoxFan list. *Warning: This can be a high-volume ping list at times.

[nutmeg]

ping!

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[adam_az]

i prefer

demon rat ick

[optimistically_conservative]

So, Lehane is looking to go round 2 with Rove?

[adam_az]

Anyone know lehanes DUmmy name?

What do you want to bet that he reads FR?




Wonder what he's going to try against Bush this time around? Remember last time, the lame 30 year old DWI?

[CyberAnt]

LOL! The "ick" sure does fit them.

[searchandrecovery]

If there's an "assassin" I'd say it's Dean's foot, which has had an unusual propensity for showing up in his pie-hole. Self-inflicted wounds (er, speaking his mind) is what has brought the once-mighty Dean down. If he would have stopped speaking about 3 weeks ago he would still have a lead.

[BenLurkin]

It could be worse:

[Enterprise]

Pretty much what I think too. Dean has been his own worst enemy. He might as well have been wearing a "kick me here" sign on his butt. I can only summarize his entire campaign with the words of the great Bryant Gumble: (Insert the phrase here)

[Mo1]

FYI

[Eva]

Lehane was behind the Bush DUI story, as well as the Wilson/Valerie Plame story, as well.

[fella]

I cange the 'c' to a 'n'.

[leadhead]

I saw that picture somewhere else......PSY203 textbook..wide spaced eyes, small cranium, low set ears. It was the example of a classic case of......Better not say it.