''Dean: Schiavo case to be used against GOP elections''

USA Today gets into the spin game: "WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who has accused congressional Republicans of "grandstanding" in the Terri Schiavo case, said his party will use it against the GOP in coming elections. Republican National Committee spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said Dean, a physician who practiced internal medicine, was the one politicizing the issue. "It's disturbing that Howard Dean would plot to use the life of Terri Schiavo for political gain," Schmitt said Saturday. "This demonstrates a troubling lack of sensitivity and one would hope that Democrat leaders in Congress would reject such a strategy. "The American people expect their leaders to provide solutions and principled leadership rather than overt partisan politicking." Karen Finney, Democratic National Committee spokeswoman, defended Dean's comments, saying they were not a reflection of him trying to politicize the issue, but rather he was speaking to "Republican intrusiveness into people's lives." "This is another example of a Republican party that is overreaching," she said. "Tom Delay and his cronies want to intrude in personal family matters. Democrats believe that individuals and their families should be trusted to make these very personal decisions, not Tom DeLay and not the government."-from the story this afternoon.