They've been battling in Iowa for a while, but it looks like the tension between the Gephard and Dean campaigns is reaching a crisis level. Someone posted a
wire article about a scuffle at a Gep rally yesterday, saying they thought it was amusing. I was ambivalent until I found out the details.
Yesterday, an openly gay Dean for America staffer who attended an event for Congressman Dick Gephardt in Iowa (as is common practice among campaigns) was pushed and grabbed by Gephardt staffers, one of whom derided him as a "faggot."
Here's the statement from Trippi. Denials and accusations of "dirty tricks" from Gephardt's people are the only response.
Here's a pretty good attempt at getting both sides of the story.
I'm curious how this will come out. It's certainly poisoning the atmosphere in Iowa even futher. Full disclosure: I know Hunter, the staffer in question. He's a class act, and I doubt very much that he would lie about this.