Kerry, Gephardt, & Lieberman blast Dean for "morning" and "Rings" statements
Associated Press
NEW HAMPSHIRE (AP) -- Democratic front-runner Howard Dean, a candidate with a reputation with speaking his mind, has once again draw the ire of his presidential hopeful rivals with two new controversial statements!
At 9:14 AM, Dean apparently walked into a breakfast cafe across the street from campaign headquarters, and said "good morning!" to the store clerk. John Kerry in particular came down hard on Dean for the first of these three statements.
"This is outrageous!" Kerry told to reporters. "The sun rose a complete three hours before Dean's statement. I wake up every morning to wish local patrons a good morning within 10 minutes of sunrise."
"Is this the kind of man you want to lead America!? A man who doesn't care enough about the every-day hard working people of America?"
Dick Gephardt's campaign joined into the fray by pointing to yet another controversial Dean statement later on in the day.
In between hard campaigning, Dean took a moment to relax and was asked what he thought of the films in the box office currently.
Dean reportedly responded by saying "Haven't had time for many movies, but, I loved the latest Lord of the Rings..."
Gephardt representatives blasted Dean for this statement. "The full title of the film is 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'. Shortening the title like that is irresponsible."
"Imagine if Howard Dean were in crucial negotiations with Saudi Arabia and shortened the name to just 'Saudi' or just 'Arabia'??? P.S. Vote Dick!"
Joe Lieberman also pounced on Dean for this misstep by claiming "Americans do not want a president who shortens the name of movies."
"If it were up to Howard Dean, all words past three syllables in the English language would be eliminated, leading to intellectual bankruptcy. Howard Dean will ruin America."
Dean's poll numbers in New Hampshire remained the same after these gaffes.