Inside Politics

Outraged Democrats

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, have been under fire lately for their over-the-top rhetoric — and not just from Republicans. Much of the criticism has come from state Democratic officials.

One of their harshest critics is Joe Erwin, the South Carolina Democratic state chairman who this week toldDonald Lambro of The Washington Times that he thought Mr. Durbin’s Senate floor speech likening U.S. treatment of terror-war detainees at the U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the Nazi concentration camps, among other things, “was just way over the top.”

“Those comparisons to Hitler and Soviet gulags are just absurd,” Mr. Erwin said. “You’ve got a lot of Democrats that are upset over it. We think a lot of the policy of this administration is flawed, but we need to speak out in a thoughtful way to reach out to people.”

Mr. Erwin added: “When you are trying to reach out to people to join your team, then you need a message that is thoughtful and not spiteful. Let’s avoid the venom in the dialogue. People are just turned off by it.”

Best-hits collection

The Republican National Committee yesterday unveiled a new Web ad titled “Wild Thing,” highlighting recent inflammatory comments by Democratic Party leaders.

The video will be e-mailed out today to 15 million Republicans, the RNC said.

Here is the transcript of the 1-minute-and-45-second video:

(Text on Screen): A long, long time ago …

(Montage of past presidents)

Franklin D. Roosevelt: “The only thing we have to fear …”

Harry S. Truman: “… and are determined to work for peace on earth.”

John F. Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

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