Grins and Grenades: Showtime: The system was supposed to produce a quick outcome. But these are the Democrats, after all. How the dogfight is heating up--and why it just might last 'til spring.

Publication: Newsweek

Publication Date: 26-JAN-04

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Byline: Howard Fineman and Michael Isikoff

To be a successful "oppo guy"--an opposition researcher for a presidential candidate--you need to know how to play defense as well as offense. In the Democrats' increasingly vicious race, Chris Lehane, Wesley Clark's oppo guy, is state of the art, a Harvard Law School alum with a sharp mind and tongue. He knows how to play it both ways. He's spent months in attack mode, serving as a one-man tip sheet for reporters examining the shortcomings of Howard Dean, especially the former Vermont governor's refusal to release all of his official records. But last week Lehane hunkered down. Preparing for close scrutiny of his man in New Hampshire, where a tight race was shaping up, Lehane opened a "reading room" in Manchester and packed it with stacks of the retired general's military, tax and lobbying records. "Contrast that with what Dean has done--or hasn't done--by way of full disclosure," Lehane crowed.

A good move, perhaps--but not enough to pre-empt...

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