Why did Dean back down on Fox News Sunday?

[TheFarseer]

His old line was “No democrat took money from Jack Abramoff. Democrats took money from Indian tribes that happened to be Abramoff clients, but these tribes can hardly be considered under the control of Mr. Abramoff and furthermore, Mr. Abramoff was cheating them out of $25 million dollars at the time”

His new line on Fox News Sunday was, “No democrat took money from Jack Abramoff. Democrats took money from his clients, but there is no evidence that they knew they were Abramoff clients, and there is no evidence that they got any special favors or legislation from their donations.” The problem with this is it sounds like the kind of ‘half-truth’ the Republicans are famous for and it can be demonstrated false. I heard on the very same show that Harry Reid cast a vote in opposition to an Indian casino and the next day he received a check from a different Indian tribe (presumably an Abramoff client) that opposed that casino. Now why can’t he stick to the first story? It’s true and it’s bulletproof. I think he did us all a great disservice yesterday.

[Dogmudgeon]

1. WHORE! TRAITOR!

I thought I'd say it before the other 15 or 20 people got to it first.

:evilgrin:

--p!

[no_more_rhyming]

2. Dean was lead down the road

and when he got there, he implied that technically Dems took Abramoff money, not directly but they did get money. He was played like a fiddle.

[Warpy]

3. Yeah, but it's the WHOLE truth and nothing but the truth

unlike the swill the GOP has been peddling to its idiot followers.

But yeah, he should have stuck to the simpler line or repeated it after the explanation. Dummies just don't get nuance.

[TheFarseer]

7. no, it's not true because he said it wrong

Jack Abramoff and his goons got nothing out of the money that -for instance- was given to Harry Reid, but the indian tribes who were technically his clients apparently did. He's got to stick to the first story and everything will be fine. At points he just looked totally tongue tied vs. Chris Wallace?!? Chris Wallace is a little weasel, yeah, but it's not like he's fricking Socrates when it comes to debating. Come on Howard, let's get it together!

[madfloridian]

4. Here is what he said on AAR yesterday. He told the truth on FOX.

"Dean: Because Abramoff has "some" clients who independently gave money to people like Reid and Dorgan because they're in their district. People give money to politicians for a variety of reasons. One, they're directed to for quid pro quo which is what Abramoff has pleaded guilty to. That's corrupt.

The other is they support who they like. Just like you and I would give a hundred dollars or a thousand dollars if we could afford it to a candidate whom we like. So the Indian tribes who gave money to Reid or Dorgan are giving to them because they like what they do.

Now it has nothing to do with Abramoff. As I've said before there's not any evidence whatsoever that Jack Abramoff directed a dime to any Democrat. We checked through every FEC report he did not give a dime to any Democrat. Gave thousands of dollars to Republicans. This is a Republican finance scandal. "

[TheFarseer]

9. Too bad he didn't say that on FNS

That is just a more detailed version of his 'old line' as I called it. That's exactly what he should have been saying to the wide audience that FNS has so that they could hear the truth for once.

[G_j]

5. I don't know about the Reid story

but keep in mind you said you heard it on FOX.
It would need to be verified from a more reliable source I would say.

[bleedingheart]

6. I commend you for having the stomach to watch Faux News

I can't...

However it seems that Dean did the right thing based on what you said. What he said is true.. Abramoff did not directly give any money to Democrats, he gave exclusively to Republicans.

People that hired Abramoff could give of their own free will to anyone else. He may have directed their giving but that would have to be backed up with evidence that he directed them and the Democrats knew that he was directing the money in order to receive something in kind. That may be hard to prove since Abramoff was clearly a republican directed crony...he was pimping republican congressmen out specifically and those are the people he socialized with...

I say the majority of the dirt is still on the GOP side.

[madfloridian]

8. The only ones going after Reid are right wing blogs and Fox.

Do a search on it.

Dean was quite fair on the topic. He defended Dorgan and Reid on AAR.