Newsflash: Dean and Kerry still don’t like each other

I admit it. For a variety of reasons, I’m fixated on the Democratic presidential primary and every incident that shapes it. With this in mind, the Dean vs. Kerry brouhaha that I mentioned yesterday has really captured my attention.

Clearly, Dean’s camp is not willing to let this go. Dean said some borderline-dumb things about foreign policy, Kerry’s campaign hinted Dean isn’t ready for prime time, and Dean’s staff seems to be enjoying all of this a little too much.

The latest move in this wrestling bout masquerading as a chess match was a new statement from the Dean campaign’s Matt Gross, who pointed out that the governor’s remark that the U.S. “won’t always have the strongest military” was offered in similar ways by folks like Bill Clinton, so Dean’s in good company.

Last month, Clinton said, “We need to be creating a world that we would like to live in when we’re not the biggest power on the block.” Gross argued that Clinton’s comment was essentially the same as Dean’s. I’m not so sure, but close enough. Point for Dean.

Gross went on to say that Kerry himself made a similar comment earlier this year. “In a world growing more, not less interdependent, unilateralism is a formula for isolation and shrinking influence,” Kerry was quoted as saying. Gross suggested this statement was more or less in line with Dean’s comment, so Kerry’s a hypocrite for criticizing. This makes less sense to me, because it didn’t sound like Kerry was saying our strength will diminish in time, but rather our influence may wane if we follow Bush’s unilateral approach to foreign policy.

Regardless, Dean’s camp used the Clinton and Kerry quotes to defend their boss’ remark and mock their rival’s criticism, calling Kerry the “anointed one” and saying Kerry aide Chris Lehane “may have flunked history.”

Though all of this childish, it’s becoming more and more commonplace.

ABC News’ The Note seemed really impressed, however, with Dean staffers’ ability to track down the Clinton and Kerry quotes and use them as part of a well-research response. The Note praised the campaign’s “solid gold opposition research.”

It’s not as impressive as it looks. Dean’s staff didn’t discover the quotes, a reporter at Slate did — several hours before the campaign “borrowed” the info without attribution for its response.

Maybe this qualifies as “gold-plated” opposition research.