Dems, behind closed doors.(Democrats)

NEW YORK, JUNE 10

HOWARD DEAN is great and redolent spice on the political scene. He has been rebuked by senior figures in his own party for his string of recent remarks in which he likened Republicans to poisonous snakes, never mind that he quickly added that he was not opposed to all poisonous snakes. Exactly what those senior Democrats said to Dr. Dean at their closed-door lunch has not been divulged, but we can imagine the scene ...

One (anonymous) junior senator thought to break the ice by quoting Dean's statement that many Republicans "have not made an honest living in their lives," and then adding, "it all depends what you mean by 'an honest living.'" Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska aborted all laughter by saying that in his view, all senators, even Republican senators, "make an honest living."

Dr. Dean was then confronted by Senator Nelson, who wanted an explanation of the charge that the Republicans were made up of "white Christians" who are "not very friendly to different kinds of people. They're a pretty monolithic party. They all behave the same, and they all look the same." Senator Nelson said he knew personally that Republicans "from the other side of town" had welcomed into the Nebraska GOP two Tutsis, "who said they had had long experience in dealing with diversity."

That didn't satisfy Dr. Dean, who, however, was interrupted, this time by Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, himself a former Democratic chairman. Senator Dodd said that he had "often made remarks" he "regretted"--but that these hadn't caught the attention of the press because when he made the remarks, Mr. Clinton, a Democrat, was in the White House. Dr. Dean greeted that observation impatiently--"Christ, Chris, what does that have to do with it?" At this point Minority Leader Harry Reid broke in and said Senator Dodd had a point. Dr. Dean reacted ...