Dean Regrets 'Pain' Caused by Confederate Flag Comments

Democratic Candidate Calls Statement 'A Clumsy Way' to Start a Discussion About Race

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, hoping to stomp out a growing controversy over race, today said he regretted any "pain" he caused by saying he wanted to "be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks."

One day after his Democratic presidential rivals demanded he apologize for his remarks, which they called offensive to blacks and southern whites, Dean for the first time expressed remorse. "I regret the pain that I may have caused either to African American or southern white voters," he said in New York. What he had hoped to do, Dean said, was provoke a "painful" dialogue about race among all voters, including those displaying confederate flags. But, he said, "I started this discussion in a clumsy way."

Dean spokeswoman Tricia Enright later said the candidate intended his remarks as "a heartfelt apology." Still Dean, who stubbornly refused to distance himself from the comments during Tuesday night's candidate debate in Boston, clearly recognized that the flag flap was exploding into a big political problem. Since making his original comment Friday, Dean has been rebuked, not just by his rivals but by prominent Democrats such as New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, chairman of the party's nominating convention next year.

The controversy is unlikely to fade soon, Democrats say. "Howard Dean has finally admitted that his words have caused pain, but I am puzzled as to why he does not seem to regret the words that caused the pain," said Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.).

Matt Bennett, spokesman for retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark, said Dean's comments will have a lasting effect, especially when the campaign moves south. "He just has the wrong idea about how you should communicate with southerners," Bennett said. "It's not surprising for a governor from Vermont, but it's going to be a major problem."

Strategist for several campaigns predicted the Confederate flag comment will reappear in campaign television ads, perhaps in South Carolina.

For the first time, Dean's rivals believe they have exposed what they consider among his greatest flaws: his temperament, obstinacy and propensity for making controversial or conflicting statements. Dean has brushed off most attacks, which seem to only intensify by the day, frustrating the other Democratic candidates who are testing several themes to thwart his momentum.

There is little evidence the relentless assaults are working in Iowa and New Hampshire, the two key early voting states, or nationally. Dean offered his regrets about the Confederate flag comment on the same day he called for a vote of his supporters to decide whether he should become the first Democrat ever to drop out of the public campaign finance system, a testament to his growing strength as the front-runner.

But it remains to be seen whether the former governor of mostly white Vermont can deftly extricate himself from the Confederate flag incident.

During Tuesday's debate, Dean appeared rattled by attacks from Al Sharpton and Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), otherwise one of the more collegial candidates. Dean refused to apologize or admit the remarks were offensive to some Democrats, and largely dodged a direct question on the topic posed by a young African American man. Off camera, Sharpton and Dean engaged in another heated exchange over the matter. "Imagine if I said that I wanted to be the candidate of people with helmets and swastikas," Sharpton said he told Dean.

As several Democrats noted, Dean could have admitted during Tuesday's debate that he made a mistake and perhaps put the episode behind him. He did not, dragging the controversy out for at least another day.

Thisis not the first time Dean has come under attack for his remarks on race issues. During a Sept. 9 debate in Baltimore, Dean said he was the only candidate talking to white voters about race. This was not true, but he refused to admit it afterward. Sharpton also has been critical of Dean's statement in 1995 that affirmative action should be based on class, not race. Sharpton, one of two black candidates running for president, called Dean's record "anti-black."

Dean said today that he would push for new national dialogue on race. "The flag of the Confederate States of America is a painful symbol and reminder of racial injustice and slavery," he said, adding that he did not "condone the use of it."

Dean said every American must be included in discussions about race. "This will be a difficult and painful discussion, feelings will be hurt," he said. But Dean's rivals were unmoved, saying that he left the impression his comments about the confederate flag were made in the context of race relations. They were not. Dean originally said he wanted "to be the candidate for guys with confederate flags in the window" in response to a question from a reporter in Iowa regarding his courting of gun rights activists in the 1990s.