Dean first made the charge that politics may have played a role in the alert level decision in an interview Sunday on CNN’s “Late Edition.”
Since then, a number of prominent Democrats, including presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry, distanced themselves from those remarks.
Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut went so far as to say “nobody in their right mind” would believe that Bush would “scare people for political reasons.”
Lieberman joins John Kerry, who has already repudiated Dean on this. And good for him.
UPDATE: Reader Chris Foster thinks I’m giving Kerry too much credit:
Dean’s charges on the timing of the alert level seem pretty carefully orchestrated: let Howard make the allegation, have it dutifully reported as near-fact by the media. and then let Kerry & Co distance themselves from the comment.
What better way to distribute an unfounded claim without having to take any responsibility for it?
I suppose that’s possible, but I doubt it. This dissing of Dean is causing trouble with the base, and I don’t think the Kerry camp would do that as a strategy.
ANOTHER UPDATE: On the other hand, reader Sean Starke agrees with Chris Foster: “This tactic is straight out of the Gore/Carville/Lehane/Begala playbook.”