Dean Attacking Kerry

AP - "He misrepresented himself, grossly misrepresented himself, as a candidate who would take on special interests in Washington," Dean told reporters aboard a flight from Milwaukee to Detroit. "That is factually untrue. He is part of the problem and not part of the solution. We cannot go on in this country having United States senators and public officials gather their money from people who they then perform favors for."

"I'm not going to do anything that's going to harm the Democratic Party. If we get blown out again and again and again ... if somebody else gets more delegates and they clinch it, of course, I'm not going to go all the way to the convention just to prove a point," Dean said.

Howard Dean said Sunday that he regretted burning through most of the $41 million his campaign raised last year on losses in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"We took a gamble and it didn't pay off," Dean, the one-time front-runner for his party's nomination, told NBC's "Meet the Press."

During his one-hour appearance on the show, Dean continued his criticism of Sen. Kerry as a Washington insider with deep ties to special interests, charging that the Massachusetts lawmaker has raised more money from lobbyists over the past 15 years than any other senator.

"That is exactly what's wrong with American politics and that's why 50 percent of the people in this country don't vote," Dean said.

Reuters - Dean Urges Kerry to Apologize for 'Hypocrisy'

Democratic White House hopeful Howard Dean on Sunday called on his front-running rival John Kerry to apologize to the American people for hypocrisy by pretending to be free of special interest money.

Dean, whose high-flying presidential bid crashed in Iowa and New Hampshire last month when he finished far behind Kerry, has tried to reinvigorate his campaign by confronting the senator head on over his ties to big money and lobbyists.

"This is a war of principles, not a war of words," Dean told reporters on his campaign plane.

Dean cited a nonpartisan study showing Kerry had taken more money from special interests than any other U.S. senator in the past 15 years.

"I call on Sen. Kerry to apologize to the American people for misleading them during the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and for saying that he was going to stand up to the special interests," Dean said.

The former Vermont governor also raised a Newsweek report on Sunday that Kerry met and corresponded with Johnny Chung, a key figure in the 1996 fund-raising scandals, in the summer of 1996 before Chung threw a September fund-raiser for Kerry. Kerry had previously claimed his first meeting with Chung was at the fund-raiser.

"If he had never been out there saying I don't take money from special interests ... I wouldn't be doing this right now," Dean said. "I'm just incensed by his hypocrisy."

Dean said the senator was being disingenuous.

"I think he's playing within the system," Dean said. "I think he's guilty of saying one thing and doing another. And when you're pretending to be free of influence ...I mean, there are numerous, documented instances when contributions came in and favorable action was taken."