What's Gephardt trying to do?

Make Dean look good?

The latest assault came Sunday in a speech in Cedar Rapids in which Rep. Dick Gephardt, in a pitched battle for Iowa's labor vote in January's caucuses, said Dean was too eager to cut social programs for the disabled and funding for children in poverty during his 12 years as Vermont's governor.

"Time after time, when faced with budget shortfalls, Howard Dean's first and only instinct was to cut," Gephardt said. "This is the measure of the man who would be president. I believe in a very different approach from Howard Dean."

Shoot, I wish I could accuse Bush of being a compulsive budget cutter. I haven't seen enough to make me think Gephardt is doing anything more than blowing smoke. I suspect this tells us a lot more about the audience Gephardt is playing to than it does about Dean.