E-Mail This Article to a Friend Campaign spin When Dean supporters voted on whether to forego federal matching funds, the fix was in BY ADAM REILLY

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2003 -- This past Saturday, Howard Dean announced he would decline federal matching funds and the spending limits that accompany them, grandiosely labeling the decision a "Declaration of Independence from Special Interests." The announcement followed a much-ballyhooed vote -- binding, according to the Dean campaign -- in which 600,000 Dean backers were asked whether their candidate should accept or forgo public financing. But despite the rhetoric coming from Dean and his campaign, the exercise seemed more like a rigged election in a developing country than a stirring triumph of democracy. Note the way Dean framed the issue as he announced the vote last week at Cooper Union, in New York City:

"We have two choices. The first will be for us to decline federal matching funds. It will mean walking away from $19 million. This will place the burden of funding the campaign entirely on our supporters, but with the knowledge that this may be the only way to win this election and reform our political system [Italics added]. The second choice will be for us to accept public financing. Unfortunately, despite the law's best intent, it will hinder our reform efforts while rewarding the Bush campaign's attempts to further increase the power of special interests [Italics added]. It will cap our spending at $45 million, giving the Bush campaign a spending advantage of $170 million, which they will use to define and distort us from March to August." Quick -- what's the right choice?

Dean, of course, had excellent reasons for wanting to ensure the vote’s turnout. Dean's ability to raise massive amounts of money through small individual donations has been one of his campaign's greatest assets so far: in the third quarter of 2003, for example, he raised $14.8 million -- an unprecedented amount for a Democratic candidate -- largely by amassing an impressive amount of low-level contributions. By refusing to limit his primary spending to $45 million and declining matching federal funds, Dean can continue his fundraising bonanza and solidify his position as the leading Democrat. He’ll also be able to gird himself for a campaign against President George W. Bush, who’s received copious contributions from corporate donors, declined federal matching funds, and is expected to spend up to $200 million during primary season alone.

And that’s fine. What's problematic is holding a special press conference at the University of Vermont to portray the decision -- which had, in effect, already been made -- as the Will of the People. From the outside looking in, it’s all a bit overblown. But the Dean campaign seems not to realize this.

"This is possibly one of the momentous decisions this campaign will make, so it made since that the supporters who got us to this place are the ones who would be involved in that decision," Dean spokesperson Garrett Graff said Friday, sticking to the stock populist script. "In terms of the framing of [the question], we don't know how they will respond until the voting ends. I don't think elections are ever a foregone conclusion."

But this one was. The only thing that’s surprising is that a full 15 percent of the 105,000 Dean backers who voted were too inattentive - -or idealistic -- to follow Dean’s instructions.