I’m sure most of the Democratic presidential candidates are looking for all the support they can get. However, when it comes to Newt Gingrich, I suspect most of them would prefer that the former Republican House Speaker attack their campaign, not defend it.
Nevertheless, Gingrich spoke out aggressively last week, leaping to — of all people –Howard Dean’s defense after Dick Gephardt tied Dean to Gingrich for sharing a common approach to Medicare.
As you may recall, Gephardt began hammering the former Vermont governor two weeks ago, noting that Dean has a long history of hostility for Medicare. As Gephardt revealed, Dean has called the health care program for the elderly “one of the worst federal programs ever” and “one of the worst things that ever happened.”
In fact, in 1995, Dean endorsed a plan launched by House Republicans to cut Medicare spending by over $280 billion.
This led Gephardt to tell an Iowa audience earlier this month that Dean “actually agreed with the Gingrich Republicans” when it came to Medicare.
“It was in this period when Gingrich said Republicans wouldn’t immediately kill Medicare. Instead, they would let it wither on the vine,” Gephardt said. “And it was also during this time that Howard Dean, as chairman of the National Governors Association, was supporting Republican efforts to scale back Medicare.”
Dean responded by saying that Gephardt was “desperate” and that it is “a sad day for Dick Gephardt when he compares any Democratic candidate running for President to Newt Gingrich.” Dean did not, however, deny that he had made those remarks about the popular health care program.
Just when the story was starting to fade, out comes Gingrich to leap to Dean’s defense. Talk about the kind of “help” no Dem wants.
“I’m disappointed that Gephardt has resorted to the politics of distortion and dishonesty,” Gingrich told the New York Times, insisting that his cuts in Medicare were merely an attempt to slow the rate of growth.
I don’t know who Gingrich was trying to help here. Even if he intended to defend Dean, which I find hard to believe, the practical result is the opposite.
By speaking out to support Dean’s position on Medicare in the New York Times, Gingrich is reminding everyone that the two agreed on the controversial Medicare “reform” effort in 1995. If anything, Gingrich’s comments are exactly what Gephardt would have hoped for — another example showing that Gingrich and Dean are on the same page when it comes to this core Democratic issue.
I can just picture Dean seeing this in the Times and thinking, “Thanks for nothing, Newt.”