Democrats Say Answers Needed, Not Anger

Both Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina implied that Dean, whose sharp denunciations of Bush have electrified many Democrats, was offering a message that could not win next year.

"We need to offer answers, not just anger," Kerry told the roughly 7,500 Democratic loyalists who jammed a downtown auditorium for the state party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner.

Referring to the state caucuses on Jan. 19 that begin the nomination process, Kerry added: "So Iowa, don't just send them a message next January; send them a president."

Likewise, Edwards declared: "We are all angry with George Bush. We should be angry with him

Except for those remarks, the candidates focused their fire on Bush rather than each other at the high-profile gathering, which drew even more attention than usual thanks to the master of ceremonies, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. In some ways, the candidates undercut their suggestion that Dean was excessively angry by denouncing Bush themselves in pointed terms that underscored the influence the former Vermont governor has exerted on the rest of the field.

In his remarks, Dean suggested that his rivals had failed to oppose Bush forcefully enough on issues such as the war with Iraq and education reform.

He said U.S. troops were ensnarled in Iraq "not only because of George Bush

But mostly he avoided criticizing them, even declaring at one point that any of them would make a better president than Bush.

Instead, Dean, who had the largest contingent of supporters in the hall, offered a message of empowerment to his backers, telling them over and over again, "You have the power."

"You have the power to take back this party and make it stand for something again," he said.

The dinner highlighted a weekend that was part political convention and part carnival. The candidates and their supporters swarmed over Des Moines all day Saturday, waving signs, chanting at each other, marching and cheering at boisterous rallies.

The dinner at Veterans Memorial Auditorium was filled with activists who paid between $40 for a balcony seat and $5,000 for a table near the stage. The evening raised more than $300,000 for the state Democratic Party.