D.C. becomes a Dean target

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A day after Senator John F. Kerry dismissed him as not understanding the congressional process, Howard Dean yesterday labeled the Democratic presidential front-runner an ineffective member of Congress and declared "we need a doer, not a talker, as the nominee of this party."

The criticism was part of a new line of attack for Dean, who is trying to recover from back-to-back losses to Kerry in Iowa and New Hampshire. Dean has begun highlighting his accomplishments during his 11-year tenure as Vermont's governor and contrasting them with the often glacial pace of change in Washington, where Kerry has served for 19 years.

In particular, Dean and his aides think the best way to undercut Kerry's growing momentum and climb to the top of the Democratic field is to focus on what they see as a Dean strength: his expansion of health care coverage in Vermont while governor. They hope to erode public support for Kerry, and to a lesser degree the other senators now running for president, by citing a similar lack of progress nationally while they have been in Congress.

Last night, in a message posted on Dean's website, campaign chief Roy Neel said the candidate is preparing for a showdown with Kerry around the time of the Wisconsin primary, on Feb. 17.

"Why Wisconsin? First, it is a stand-alone primary where we believe we can run very strong," Neel wrote. "Second, it kicks off a two-week campaign for over 1,100 delegates on March 2, and the shift of the campaign that month to nearly every big state. . . . We think that after Wisconsin we'll get Kerry in the open field."

Dean took two runs at Kerry on Thursday during a candidate forum in South Carolina, which holds its primary Tuesday. Kerry largely ignored him and instead focused on President Bush. Dean was quick to pounce yesterday after he and Kerry addressed a forum in South Carolina's capital focused on the needs of low- and moderate-income families.

"I think Senator Kerry is a fine person, but he hasn't accomplished much in the Senate," Dean told reporters.

Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said: "If Howard Dean wants to talk about records of accomplishment, then he has some explaining to do about balancing the Vermont budget on the backs of the poor, not taking action to better secure a nuclear power plant in the wake of Sept. 11, and throwing 400 family farms out of business."

Dean promoted his new line of attack during a candidates forum Thursday night in Greenville.

"Look, I think a lot of this election is about getting results," he told moderator Tom Brokaw of NBC News. "When I was governor, I got everybody in my state who is under 18 health insurance. I got a third of our seniors prescription benefits. Now Senator Kerry is the front-runner, and I mean him no insult, but in 19 years in the Senate, Senator Kerry sponsored . . . 11 bills that had anything to do with health care, and not one of them passed. If you want a president who is going to get results, I suggest that you look at somebody who did get results in my state."

Kerry replied: "Well, one of the things that you need to know as president of the United States is how things work in Congress if you want to get things done."

As the audience laughed at the put-down, Kerry continued: "And one of the things that happens in Congress is, you can in fact write a bill. But if you're smart about it, you can get your bill passed on someone else's bill and it doesn't carry your name."

The senator went on to cite a list of achievements, including writing legislation that provided veterans' benefits for victims of Agent Orange poisoning, early child education assistance, and equal medical benefits for 5 million mental health patients.

Dean later returned to the subject and seized on the issue of so-called mental-health parity, which would require insurance companies to cover mental illness and substance abuse as fully as physical illness. Dean said Kerry "gave what I consider to be a real Washington answer . . . He claimed credit for mental-health parity, and for helping children get health care. Well, in South Carolina, we have 102,000 kids with no health care. Do you have mental-health parity? Because if you were in my state, you would."

Yesterday, Dean renewed the debate. "That was Washington blather," he said of Kerry's response. "Of course I understand the congressional process. The senator went on to name several bills that he took credit for that didn't have his name on them, which either haven't passed and certainly haven't delivered health care to anybody." Dean's appearance in South Carolina was the only one he is scheduled to make before Tuesday's primary. He had minimal contact with voters, speaking at the two candidate forums and granting media interviews as he concentrates on states with larger delegate counts, such as Michigan, which votes next Saturday.