I thought the Dems were the party of inclusion:

Howard Dean (D-VT) manager Joe Trippi writes in a letter to Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO) manager Steve Murphy:

"Dear Steve, I would like to raise with you a very troubling episode which occurred on the campaign trail. At one of Congressman Gephardt's in Iowa ..., members of your staff -- including your Iowa state director -- accosted a Dean for America staffer who was recording Gephardt's remarks. The Dean staffer was pushed and grabbed, and a member of Congressman Gephardt's staff went so far as to call the Dean staffer a 'faggot.' You and I have known each other for quite some time, and we both have a long history with Dick Gephardt. This behavior from a campaign staff member is beyond the pale. Democrats, including Congressman Gephardt, are fighting this sort of bigotry in the hearts and minds of Americans, as well as in our laws. The fact that the Congressman's own staff member would use a slur like this goes directly against the values and goals of our Party. I urge you to find the staff member responsible and fire him, and send a strong signal to the rest of your staff that behavior of this kind will not be tolerated in a campaign for the Presidency. I trust you'll do the right thing. Sincerely, Joe Trippi" (release, 10/29).

Des Moines Register's Fuson reports, the incident "allegedly occurred" early evening on 10/28, following a Gephardt "speech on health care at an east-side senior center."

Dean staffer Hunter Allen "was assigned to follow Gephardt for the first time" 10/24. He said in an interview that Gephardt staffers "were cordial to him then and again" 10/25, but on 10/28 "the reception was hostile."

What happened is "disputed among the people involved. Reporters saw Allen talking" on a cell phone "near the front of the senior citizen center, while Gephardt spoke. Allen said he received a call and tried to be 'quiet and discreet,' but that he was ushered into the foyer and rebuked" by Gephardt IA Dir. John Lapp. Allen "said he apologized and was allowed to return." But Gephardt spokesperson Erik Smith disagreed: "When approached about this disruptive behavior, he became very belligerent. They had been sending people without incident for months. Clearly this was something else. This was a dirty trick."

After the speech Gephardt held an "impromptu" presser, and Allen "joined the media huddle, recording Gephardt's remarks." Allen says Lapp then "pulled me back and forcibly shoved me to the side. At that point he cussed at me and told me I was interrupting his event." Lapp disagreed, saying Allen "was 'disruptive and cursed at me.'" After the presser, Allen says he was "confronted again by Lapp and by another Gephardt staffer, whom he didn't know." Says Allen: "They were both getting in my face." Allen said the other staffer "was particularly forceful and was pushing me out the door and grabbing my arm. Then he called me a 'faggot.'" A reporter "witnessed an angry, finger-pointing confrontation" between them, but did not hear what was said," and "no one else appeared to be within earshot at the time."

Allen, who is gay, on the incident: "It's not something that I would ever expect to happen. It was a very uncomfortable situation to me, and it took me by surprise, because I would never expect that kind of behavior in a professional setting."

Smith, on the situation: "They don't have any evidence. The guy was there audio-recording the event. If this is true, why don't they have the audio-recording of it?" Lapp: "No one in our campaign did anything wrong here. The accusations are simply not true. There were 20 reporters in the room who saw the whole thing."

Fuson notes, the dispute "could have political ramifications in a tight campaign." Dean supported a VT law giving "gay couples the same rights as married couples, and he enjoys support among gay-rights groups. Gephardt also supports civil unions and he takes credit for fighting against anti-gay" legis. in Congress. His daughter Chrissy Gephardt "is openly a lesbian" and campaigns for D. Gephardt, including in IA (10/30).

The incident and Trippi letter to Murphy was picked up by The Advocate who then called the Gephardt campaign for a response. Said spokesperson Kim Molstre: "There was someone [from the Dean campaign] at the event and they got unruly and they were escorted outside. But that word was never said" (10/30).

9this is from a political newsletter I receive -- I don't have links)

Yes i have to admit the "tent" for the dems is much bigger... they have room for homophobes, KKK members, ect ect ect... Truely the party of the people.

FillyPhan, sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) you don't make a damn bit of sense. And keep learning to spell, one day, you'll get it right. Misspell a word once and it's a typo, but THREE times, that's just idiotic. ect? What is ect?

Here's the link to the Des Moines Register story

I love how Gephardt's staff is essentially blaming the victim: "I think they sent somebody intentionally to the event to create a news story like this one," said Erik Smith, Gephardt's national press secretary.

And the classic denial: "They don't have any evidence." Which to me always means -- "sure I did it -- now prove it!"

[ October 30, 2003, 10:19 AM: Message edited by: DCBucky ]

The Dem tent being big for homophobes and racists is a flat out lie...at least compared to the GOP. Ralph Reed was welcomed into the Republican party. Trent Lott, Santorum, the dude from IL last week, and on and on. You'd have to be stupidly loyal to the Republican party to think otherwise. This sounds like a minor bitch fest and not that big of a deal. Fag schmag.

[ October 30, 2003, 10:24 AM: Message edited by: TomFord ]

And let's not forget Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke who was a Bible-thumping Redumblican in Louisiana.

I think PF meant etc, etc, etc....

After all he IS a Republican....so he isn't very bright. Just look at his leader, he creates a new word everyday.....Letterman had a piece on him last night it was GREAT!

I was just making a point since he jumped my case the other day for making a typo in ONE word.

Bobby, I wouldn't get bent out of shape about PF. He's just doing what he was put on earth to do. Whatever that is.

I think FillyPhan's goal is to be the Spokesmodel for 'Merikah.

To fight for Fair and Balance... while turning away socialist commie behavior from a few who picked the wrong country to live in. People playing robin hood and trying to take hard earned money from people to give it lazy non-working idiots.

Basically, a TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOT.

When some CEOs make 1,000 times the salary of hourly-paid employees, where is the "hard-earned money" reasoning in that? I guess it is "hard work" deciding who gets laid off. The Story

blah blah blah unfair blah blah blah.....

This just in to some folks, life is unfair. If you want to make CEO money... go to school, get an education and work hard. Sacrifice now, for a better future. Dont expect more money because you deem something "unfair". If i own a business, i'd pay a fair wage (no more), and what is left over is MINE. Belongs to no one but me... i dont care how unfair you think my personal risk taking is...

Fair wage = just above the minimum...typical selfish redumblican mindset.
Just for your information, FillyPhan, I have a BA degree in Communications, I have a decent job, and I believe that we need to encourage those who can't help themselves. But it takes us all to help -- not just those who want to help.

Thanks to bobby, we will now be paying 3.00 a gallon for gas just so we can pay the clerk 50k a year to be "fair".....

I've told Philly-fan beofre and I'll tell him again and again, It's the republican party that plays host to the KKK. They are a group that puts themselves on the higher morla ground by using the Bible as there doctrine. That goes right along with the right wing repugs. That is not a trait of the dems. The idea is that they are a reprehensible group that everyone else despises, and Phillyfan wants to group them with the party he does not side with rather than take his brother by the hand and walk in solidarity with fellow republicans.

PF, sometimes I agree with some of your positions (I am, afterall, a Libertarian). And other times you strike me as someone who's posting while drunk. Friends don't let friends post while drinking.

Try typing in word first, run the damned spell check, then cut and paste to the board.

I'm beginning to wonder how fruitful your college education was in teaching you the simple art of spelling.

BTW - the KKK'ers are in the GOP, not the Democratic Party...just for the record.

Stop right there. That's all I need to hear. For Allen's inexcusably obnoxious performance, Gephardt should have picked up a baseball bat and smacked the bastard. Then he should have taken the same baseball bat to the cell phone and smashed it into little itty-bitty pieces. That would be followed by tarring and feathering the creep. Then there would be a chase through the streets by an angry mob.

Do not pass "Go." Do not collect $200. Behavior beyond the pale indeed. He's getting no sympathy from me.

[ October 30, 2003, 10:31 PM: Message edited by: twin58 ]

DCBucky: Doesn't this sound suspicious? The Dean guy is sent to pull off dirty tricks at the Gephardt rally. He's audiotaping the whole thing, including the after-speech meet 'n greet. Yet the one thing he doesn't have on tape is the fag-word.

Sounds like he pulled off his dirty trick, doesn't it?

Let's see if any of these "20 reporters" that witnessed this 'event' come forward. I think Iowa is going to be so close that a few hundred gay votes one way or the other sprinkled throughout the caucuses could determine if the state goes for Dean or Gephardt - so this little Faggate could actually matter.

This is the kind of sh*t that happens on the campaign trail, just usually not in the same party.

Oh, and just to point out, the Democratic party does have several former KKK members, including Sen. Byrd from lovely West Virginia. I think it's safe to say they've come around, though.

Here's the latest:

Des Moines Register's Okamoto reports, Rep. Dick Gephardt's daughter Chrissy Gephardt on 10/30 said "her father would not tolerate the use of a homophobic epithet like the one a Gephardt campaign aide is accused of using this week." C. Gephardt: "I know that my father, just based on what he stands for and his stand on equal rights, he would not tolerate anything like this. If something like that were to have happened, that person would be fired. There's a zero-tolerance policy on the Gephardt campaign for stuff like that."

Howard Dean's campaign this week accused Gephardt aide Mike Kelley of using the word "faggot" during a 10/28 "dispute" with Dean aide Hunter Allen, who is gay.

C. Gephardt said Kelley "is a friend" who "wouldn't have used that word": "Mike would not say that. Being a gay person, I've been on the receiving end of a lot of hate crimes in terms of verbal attacks, letters in the mail that I've gotten. I know just from knowing Mike that he would not have said that."

C. Gephardt "attributed the accusation to politics": "I think that we're in high campaign season. Things like this happen in terms of accusations and things like that. It's a shame that something like that had to happen because we should be focusing on the issues, the things that are really important to Iowans."

Kelley Speaks Out
Kelley on 10/30 "insisted" that "he did not use a derogatory slur in a verbal confrontation with" Allen, calling the accusation "baffling and hurtful." Kelley: "Anybody who knows me knows I wouldn't say something like this" (Fuson, Des Moines Register, 10/31).

Fischer Weighs In -- To No Avail
With Gephardt and Dean "remaining above the fray, emotions remained high" between their campaigns "over the clash." The "dispute captured the attention of" IA Dem Chair Gordon Fischer, who said "he has talked to officials with both campaigns." Fischer: "I think it's time for cooler heads to prevail, and to get back to a campaign of substantive issues consistent with the proud heritage of the Iowa caucuses, and that we need to beat George W. Bush."

"Despite Fischer's call for calm, neither side appeared eager to back down." Dean manager Joe Trippi, in a 10/30 email to Gephardt manager Steve Murphy: "We take hate speech very seriously, never more so than when it is directed at a member of our campaign family."

Murphy responded, saying "the allegation is untrue. ... You are an astute enough political practitioner to know that making unsubstantiated allegations of this nature is one of the lowest forms of political dirty tricks."

Murphy noted Allen "openly disrupted" the speech "and cursed Gephardt staff members" (Fuson, Des Moines Register, 10/31).

Reporters Join The Story -- Say Dean Aide Was The Aggressor
"No one has come forward who either heard" the discussion in question "or the alleged slur." Allen, who was taping the event, "said he had turned off the tape recorder during the confrontations."

However, "witnesses did catch two earlier run-ins" between Allen and Gephardt aides. Allen has said "he was shoved by" Gephardt IA Dir. John Lapp as Lapp tried to remove him from an impromptu presser; "Lapp has denied that." An MSNBC tape showed Lapp "guiding Allen, who had been standing quietly, away from the reporters. The pair moved out of the picture before any shove could be detected."

The press conference was "the second confrontation between Allen and Gephardt staff members during the event." Earlier, Allen received a cell phone call while Gephardt was speaking. Allen said "the call lasted less than a minute," and he "attempted to be 'quiet and discreet.'" However, London Sunday Times correspondent Tony Allen-Mills, who says he was standing next to Allen, described Allen's behavior as "clearly very provocative," and said he "understood why Gephardt staffers sought to remove him."

Allen-Mills: "If anything transpired, for my money, it was Allen who started it."

FNC's Carl Cameron, who "said he witnessed both confrontations between Allen and Lapp": "There was no shoving, ever. There was nothing at all inappropriate." Camerons said, "at most," Allen "was grabbed by the upper arm and pulled slightly to get him to leave the center."

Gephardt spokesperson Erik Smith said the reporters' accounts "call into question every baseless accusation made by the Dean campaign in recent days": "I think they owe the individuals they slandered an apology."

Dean spokesperson Sarah Leonard: "We're not backing off of this. We realize that the Gephardt campaign has chosen to deny and attack rather than deal with this serious situation, so we've decided to move on" (Fuson, Des Moines Register, 10/31).

Won't Affect The '04 Vote
Gay and lesbian advocates "reacted angrily" to allegations that "the derogatory slur" was used by a Gephardt aide. Des Moines Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center Pres. Sharon Malheiro: "Everybody is trying to just pass it off as just a political trick, and it should be taken more seriously than that. It should be condemned." However, local and nat'l advocates "do not believe the alleged incident ... will affect votes next year for either candidate." Nat'l Stonewall Dems exec. dir. Dave Noble: "Certainly, this doesn't reflect on either of their campaigns. ... They both have been wonderful friends to our community" (Okamoto, Des Moines Register, 10/31).

(these accounts were all compiled by The Hotline)