Republican National Committee officials are fuming over Howard Dean’s attack on Sen. McCain as a “blatant opportunist” in a statement issued by the Democratic National Committee Chairman Friday morning.

Responding to news of McCain’s scheduled biography tour to highlight his service record next week, Dean said, “Americans want a real leader who offers real solutions, not a blatant opportunist who doesn’t understand the economy and is promising to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years.”

“I think it’s an assault on Senator McCain’s character,” said RNC spokesman Alex Conant. “It certainly goes beyond the pale of what we expect– even from Chairman Dean.”

The Dean statement read in full: “The American people have been waiting for a president who understands the challenges they face, not another out of touch Bush Republican who promises four more years of the same failed leadership. John McCain can try to reintroduce himself to the country, but he can’t change the fact that he cast aside his principles to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President Bush for the last seven years. While we honor McCain’s military service, the fact is Americans want a real leader who offers real solutions, not a blatant opportunist who doesn’t understand the economy and is promising to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years.”

RNC Deputy Chairman Frank Donatelli responded this afternoon with a statement of his own. “Howard Dean owes John McCain an immediate apology and both Senators Clinton and Obama should unequivocally denounce this disgraceful attack,” Donatelli said.

Conant said the RNC intends to keep the dialogue “respectful,” referring to a memo put out by McCain Campaign Manager Rick Davis earlier this month calling on Republicans to keep the campaign “focused on the issues.”

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is calling on Democrats to donate cash in order to ensure Sen. John McCain “doesn’t get a free ride,” in an email sent out to supporters Friday.

As the two Democrats continue to battle for the nomination, Dean tells supporters that they “can’t be complacent,” warning that “every day that goes by where we don’t answer John McCain’s attacks means another opportunity missed, and it erases the work we’ve done so far.” At the start of the month, the DNC trailed their Republican counterparts by more than $20 million in cash on hand.

“We can’t allow John McCain to crisscross the country, fooling the American people with his ‘more of the same’ agenda,” Dean wrote in the email.

Full email…

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In their latest attempt to turn their lemons into lemonade, the McCain camp is using it’s quick condemnation of the anti-Obama comments by a radio talk show host to go on offense against their potential Democratic rival. The campaign released a statement tonight by Communications Director Jill Hazelbaker calling on Sen. Obama to condemn Howard Dean for his recent attacks on the AZ Senator. Very, very unlikely but here you go Bill Burton:

“Today, a speaker at our event made a highly inappropriate statement about Senator Obama. In response, Senator McCain immediately denounced the remarks and apologized to Senator Obama.

“In contrast, Howard Dean and the Democratic National Committee leadership have launched a personal and negative assault on Senator McCain’s character. Howard Dean himself questioned Senator McCain’s integrity, and a DNC official called McCain a liar.

“We agree with the Obama campaign’s statement today that this debate should be ‘respectful and focused on issues,’ and it would be encouraging to see Senator Obama denounce the character attacks coming from the leadership of his Party.” — Jill Hazelbaker

Washington, DC — Arguing that Sen. McCain is engaged in the “height of hypocrisy” by reversing his decision to take public financing during the primary season, Democratic National Committee officials said they plan to file a complaint Monday with the Federal Election Commission.

The McCain campaign applied for federal matching funds last year but never received any FEC cash and maintains that they were on firm legal ground when they decided to withdraw from the system earlier this month. FEC spending limits would severely hamstring McCain until the RNC convention compared with Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama–neither of whom is taking public money.

However, the DNC announced that they intend to ask the FEC to investigate whether the campaign is violating any laws by opting out of the system.

“The crucial issue here is John McCain’s integrity. John McCain poses as a reformer but seems to think reforms apply to everyone but him,” DNC Chairman Howard Dean said on a media conference call Sunday. “He used taxpayer money to guarantee a loan so he could raise money from lobbyists and special interests - it’s the height of hypocrisy. This is just the latest example of his do as I say, not as I do double standard, and it’s unlikely to be the last. McCain financially benefited from this legally binding contract - he got free ballot access, saving him millions of dollars, and he secured a $4 million line of credit to keep his campaign afloat by using public financing as collateral. He should follow the law.”

In response, the McCain campaign is calling Dean’s criticism as “absurd,” arguing there is precedent for their decision and also disputing his assertion that they used their existing request for FEC funds as collateral for a loan. See Letter E of their loan request.

The campaign is also pointing out what they call “Howard’s Hypocrisy,” noting that Dean also pulled out of the FEC system after initially applying for public funds during his 2004 presidential bid. (See McCain campaign research after jump)

“Howard Dean’s hypocrisy is breathtaking given that in 2003 he withdrew from the matching funds system in exactly the same way that John McCain is doing today,” McCain Spokesman Brian Rogers said in a statement.

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