"By a series of recent initiatives, Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians. The elements of this transformation have included advocacy of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, opposition to stem cell research involving both frozen embryos and human cells in petri dishes, and the extraordinary effort to keep Terri Schiavo hooked up to a feeding tube.

Standing alone, each of these initiatives has its advocates, within the Republican Party and beyond. But the distinct elements do not stand alone. Rather they are parts of a larger package, an agenda of positions common to conservative Christians and the dominant wing of the Republican Party. ... As a senator, I worried every day about the size of the federal deficit. I did not spend a single minute worrying about the effect of gays on the institution of marriage. Today it seems to be the other way around."

Russert: That's pretty strong. Republicans have become the political arm of Christian conservatives. That's John Danforth.

"You think people can work all day and then pick up their kids at child care or wherever and get home and still manage to sandwich in an eight-hour vote? Well Republicans, I guess can do that. Because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives."
            -- Howard Dean, at the Take Back        America convention in Washington, D.C

Reporter: A [unintelligible] that it shows that in the last four years, Asian voters supporting the [unintelligible], I remember maybe two or three studies that I covered recently they show that even eight or twelve years ago, so quite many Asians they support Republicans. But now, last year it shows that quite many Asians support Democrats. Do you have any comment you want to make about this, and..

Dean: I think a lot it has to do with [unintelligible]. The Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people. They're a pretty monolithic party. They pretty much, they all behave the same and they all look the same. It's pretty much a white Christian Party, and the Democrats have everybody you can think of in our Party.

So, as this gentleman was talking about, it's a coalition of a lot of different interest groups. The problems is that we've got to make sure it turns into a Party, which means I've got to spend time in the communities and our folks have got to spend time in the communities. I think we're more welcoming to different folks, because that's the kind of people we are. Now, but, that's not enough. We do have to deliver on things, particularly on jobs, housing, and business opportunities, and college opportunities and so forth.

Howard Dean said Saturday that positive responses from supporters had reinforced his determination to keep talking tough, despite suggestions from some congressional Democrats that the party chairman should tone down his rhetoric.

"People want us to fight," Dean told the national party's executive committee. "We are here to fight."

Addressing Iowa party activists later Saturday in Des Moines, he added: "We need to be blunt and clear about the things we're going to fight for. I'm tired of lying down in front of the Republican machine. We need to stand up for what we believe in."

"We can use some of your passion," Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) told Dean at the Iowa fundraiser.

At the earlier session in a downtown Washington hotel, Dean accused Republicans of trying to suppress the vote, selling access to the White House for lobbyists and being dishonest with the public.

"The reason the Republicans are in trouble is because there are so many cases where they say one thing and do something else," Dean said.

He said that President Bush's No Child Left Behind educational program cut school spending and that his environmental Clear Skies Initiative permitted more pollution.

A spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee said Dean would rather sling mud than discuss serious matters.

"Dean's inflammatory rhetoric makes it clear that Democrats have no vision and would rather pander to the maniacal fringe than talk about the important issues facing our country," Tracey Schmitt said.

In his remarks, Dean made few references to the recent controversy over his remarks.

But when a Democratic National Committee member joked that the best way to get the chairman's attention was to "jump up and down," a grinning Dean fired back: "That's my job."

The crowd of Democratic activists burst into applause.