Dean's staff bristles as Democratic rivals try to steer him right

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- It's been a bumper headline week for presidential hopeful Howard Dean, what with newly released fund-raising numbers that bested Bill Clinton's record and an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." So it might seem incongruous to hear his staff grumbling, but they are. The cause of their ire: mounting attacks on the front-runner from Democratic rivals casting him as further to the right on fiscal matters than he might like.

The focus of recent attacks was comments Dean made in 1995 in which he suggested reducing the growth of Medicare spending, an idea critics say underscores a lack of commitment to the program. Dean says he was espousing what at the time was a moderate view, one that Clinton would embrace two years later as a means to save what many thought was a program soon to be insolvent.

Dean has so far been content to have his fiscally conservative stances as governor of Vermont obscured in the minds of supporters beside his opposition to the war in Iraq, his decision to sign a civil union law for gays and lesbians, and his outspoken attacks on President Bush. His campaign insists Dean remains a maverick, even with a lead in key early voting states and fund-raising of nearly $15 million in the year's third quarter. "We have said repeatedly that you can't define the governor on an ideological scale. That's why you can have a governor who will sign a civil union law because it's the right thing to do," said Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign manager. "And it's why when Medicare was on the verge of insolvency, he looked at the facts and tried to come up with a way to solve the problem. The best possible way was to try to slow some of the growth in the program -- which is what it turned out the Clinton administration adopted."

As Dean supporters met at the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge this week, Cathy MacLaury, 56, said the former Vermont governor's explanation of his Medicare stance was politically shrewd:

"He is very smart to try to appeal to Middle America and not just liberals."

But Dante Scala, a professor of political science at Saint Anselm College, said Dean's fiscal conservatism could hurt him later in states like Michigan and Ohio, with more blue-collar, union Democrats who value programs such as Medicare. "What his rivals are revealing is that he's from the Paul Tsongas wing of the party," said Scala, referring to the former Massachusetts senator and 1992 presidential candidate. "Tsongas had a socially liberal but fiscally conservative message that resounded among New Hampshire voters, but Clinton won the day by saying he'd ease the pain of the middle class."

Dean also has had to contend with the altered political dynamic caused by the latest Democratic entrant, Wesley K. Clark. The retired general has the backing of some former Clinton advisers and the interest of the Democratic establishment, including in Hollywood.

The threat Clark poses to Dean's chances was evident in Los Angeles this week at the home of Gilda Haas. Haas, director of the Economic Justice Organization, hosted an event for Dean on Monday, allowing a crush of people into her living room while the candidate made a conference call to thousands at house parties across the country.

But Haas said she was not committed, and indeed was considering Clark. "I haven't heard enough yet" from the newest Democratic candidate, she said. "I'm all ears."