Howard Dean Taken To Woodshed

Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean was on the receiving end of some criticism from Senate Democrats at a private meeting Thursday on Capitol Hill.

Dean's recent high-octane attacks on the Republican Party have been panned by some senators on both sides of the aisle.

That criticism continued at the meeting of Democratic senators. The session had been previously called to discuss party strategy, but a number of senators took the opportunity to caution Dean.

The party chairman has come under fire for recent comments, including his observation that Republicans are "pretty much a white, Christian party." The former Vermont governor also raised eyebrows when he told a group of progressives that Republicans "never made an honest living in their lives."

While these comments have resonated with the party's liberal base, they have also caused discomfort for moderate Democrats, especially those from Republican states.

Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, one of the party's up-and-coming stars, complained to the Los Angeles Times that Dean has not adopted "…the kind of tone a lot of the Democratic governors in mostly Republican states are using to get elected or to govern."

Two of the party's potential presidential candidates, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and 2004 vice presidential candidate John Edwards, have also criticized Dean.

Following the meeting with Senate Democrats, Dean said the controversy over his comments isn't going to stop congressional Democrats from focusing on issues like Social Security, gas prices and the war in Iraq.

"You know, I think a lot of this is exactly what the Republicans want, and that's a diversion," Dean said. "The truth is that we need to focus on exactly the issues that Harry Reid just talked about, and we're going to."

"No matter how people focus on other issues, we're going to talk about what we feel is so important to people all across this country," Reid said.

Dean said he hasn't talked to Reid about his comments.

"We haven't had any discussions about what's going on in the media circus and all that stuff in the last two weeks," Dean said. "What we're focused on is how to have a decent Social Security system, how to have a strong national defense, how to have jobs in America again, how to deal with incredibly high gas prices and get a decent energy bill which actually will do something about gas prices."

When asked if he had any advice for Dean, Reid said: "Well, I think, as all of you know, that there isn't a single person" among Democrats or Republicans, "that haven't misspoken."