ABC News "has obtained an official 'John Edwards for President' precinct captain packet that includes myriad personal attacks for Edwards caucus-goers to make against his Democratic opponents, perhaps belying" his claim of running a positive campaign.
"The document -- marked CONFIDENTIAL AND PRIVILEDGED (sic) and NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION and signed by the senator -- encourages Edwards supporters to tell undecided caucus-attendees that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is a 'Park Avenue elitist from New York City' and say Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts has 'the stale record of a Washington insider' and 'has been a part of the failed Washington politics for too long.'"
An Edwards spokesman responds: "Senator Edwards was not aware of this document. Once he found out about it, he takes full responsibility for it. He thinks it was wrong and has instructed the staff not to do anything like that again."
Update: Though ABC News claims this as an exclusive, Ryan Lizza actually reported on this "thick caucus field manual issued by the Edwards campaign" that "contained detailed persuasion scripts" two days ago.
Meanwhile, Dan Conley, an Edwards precinct captain in Iowa, gives his interpretation of the document.
January 22, 2004
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