Hot off the press: Dean's debate speech revealed*:
Well, it is nice not to be the front runner anymore. It is a little quieter standing off to the side. It allows me to watch and listen to these other wonderful candidates.
Senator Edwards, I have always admired your ability to be respectful and courteous, and rise above the fray. But I can't commend you on your honesty. While you were pretending to be above the arguments and name calling that occurred in Iowa, your campaign published a booklet for your supporters that said Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts "can't claim to change America because he has been part of the failed Washington politics for too long." That Clark has never been elected. That Lieberman supports Bush on too many issues. And that I balanced budgets on the backs of the poor. The people of New Hampshire know the truth, because they have been my neighbors for a dozen years. This booklet you produced is not based on the truth. It shows the heart of you campaign, Senator Edwards, and it is not as pretty as your debate demeanor tonight.
Senator Kerry, I enjoy the fact that you have embraced the anti-special interest populism that has helped draw in many new Democrats to our party. But you can not be against special interest groups and heavily supported by special interest groups at the same time. On Wednesday you delivered a speech that focused on, "ending the era of special interests." But the Center for Public Integrity has found that you have taken nearly $500,000 from law firms in the Boston area, $127,000 from Fleet Boston Financial Corporation, and $134,000 from AOL Time Warner Inc. You have created your own soft-money committee that has raised $1.35 in unregulated donations, to skirt campaign finance laws.
And General Wesley Clark, after my loss in Iowa I believe you were probably wise to skip the caucuses. It was a cat-fight. But in leaving the battles to the other seven candidates, you could have also called your friend Jackson Stephens Sr., who gave $435,000 to the Club for Growth, and asked him to stop the their advertisements attacks me and my supporters.
They say I make gaffes, because they can't find any booklets I have written filled with negative statements about my competition. They say I am mad, but that is because no one has ever found that I am beholden to special interest groups. They say I howl at the moon, but let tell you why I howl. I howl for the 2 million people without jobs. I howl for the 500 soldiers who died in Iraq. I how for the 10,000 soldiers who have been evacuated out of Iraq due to wounds, illness, or mental distress. I howl for the $7 billion dollars that "No Child Left Behind" is under-funded by. I howl for the "Clear Skies Initiative," that allows more pollution into our air. I howl for the missing weapons of mass destruction. I howl for the degradation of our international standing. I howl for our $2 trillion deficit. I howl for the $120 million dollars that Bush has raised from special interest groups. I howl for our Democracy that is being sold down the river.
We hold these simple truths as self-evident: We want the future for our children to be brighter than our own. We want them to be safe. We want them to be healthy. We want them to go to college, and find a career that is rewarding emotionally, intellectually and financially.
I fought for this in Vermont, and I will fight for this in America.
*This is not really Dean's speech, actually.