Dean rips media, Wash. politicians

WASHINGTON, Iowa -- Howard Dean said repeatedly yesterday that the political and media establishments were trying to derail his presidential campaign.

Dean also criticized Senators John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina, an indication that they may be of equal concern to him as Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, who in recent polls has been running directly behind Dean for the lead. Kerry and Edwards have been third and fourth, respectively, in recent polls.

Contrasting himself with his Democratic rivals, whom Dean branded "Washington politicians," the former Vermont governor told a crowd in Pella, Iowa: "What we need is a president who's really going to change Washington. A person who just is running because they want to be president, and they're telling you all the things they want you to hear because they poll well, is not what you need.

"What I ask you to do is look at who stood up to President Bush and who dared to take him on when it wasn't popular. I did dare."

Later, Dean singled out Edwards, who, despite being a freshman senator, won the coveted political endorsement of the Des Moines Register over the weekend.

"Politicians from Washington will tell you all these things. I know one of them says, `I've only been in Washington for three years, I'm not a real Washington politician.' When you go to Washington, you're a Washington politician," Dean declared.

Dean said the country would be better off if Washington, D.C., had more of the homespun virtues of the southeastern Iowa town of Washington. "In small towns all across America, I've discovered that people are honest, they stand up for what they believe, they're courteous to their friends and neighbors, they listen respectfully and are respectful of other people," Dean told a crowd of about 60 in a community that has made a list of the top 100 small towns in the country three times.

In another sign of Dean trying to seize the agenda rather than respond to his rivals' attacks, his campaign staff organized a late-afternoon news conference in which the antiwar candidate railed against the Bush administration. The catalyst was last weekend's disclosures in which former treasury secretary Paul O'Neill accused the president of laying plans to attack Iraq almost immediately after taking office. President Bush has declared that the planning occurred after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, amid fears Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and because the administration suspected the country had links to Al Qaeda.

Again contrasting himself with other candidates, Dean said: "My question is, If I am supposedly the leading candidate with not-so-much foreign policy experience, how was I able to figure that out and retired Army] General [Wesley K.] Clark was not? Why did Congressman Gephardt and Senator Edwards and Senator Kerry vote for this war if they have so much foreign policy experience?"

Dean, who has looked tired in recent days and whose performance in Sunday's candidate forum received weak reviews, told reporters he was not tired but inspired as the caucus campaign wound down.

"I'm actually feeling great. I am rejuvenated, ready to fight," he said. Asked how that came about, Dean replied, "Because when people attack me, that rejuvenates me."

Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com.