Campaign staff shakeup costs Dean a superdelegate
By BOB LEWIS
Associated Press Writer Jan 29, 2004
RICHMOND, Va. - Howard Dean's decision to sack his campaign manager has cost him a Virginia Democratic delegate who had supported the former Vermont governor.
Democratic National Committee member Mame Reiley said she became an uncommitted "superdelegate" after Dean fired campaign manager Joe Trippi on Wednesday.
Reiley, who chairs the DNC Women's Caucus, is the first Dean superdelegate to publicly defect, according to delegate commitment records compiled by The Associated Press.
"Howard Dean has every right to rearrange his staff any way he sees fit, but I was extremely disappointed to see that he was willing to let the heart and soul of his campaign leave," said Reiley, a longtime colleague and party ally of Trippi's.
"I believe in Howard Dean's message, but quite frankly I didn't know the messenger quite as well as I thought," she said. "The way someone reacts when things aren't going your way tells you a great deal about the candidate as an individual."
She said she had not decided whom she would support, but would probably go along with the candidate Democratic Gov. Mark R. Warner endorses. Reiley is a longtime top Warner aide and confidant.
Warner has said he would endorse a candidate before Virginia's Feb. 10 primary, but in recent interviews has said he might not meet the primary deadline.
