Democratic Candidates Mute Criticism in Wake of Capture; Bush Re-Election Effort Likely to Benefit from Saddam Media Coverage

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Byline: DAVID DECAMP, The Times-Union

Shackling Saddam Hussein not only stifled a dictator, but muted the Democrats running against President Bush.

For months, front-runner Howard Dean and the eight other Democratic candidates took scalpels to Bush's handling of the war and military occupation of Iraq, slicing at the costs, attacks on soldiers and diplomacy. But the capture gives Bush more than a response, it hands him the mug shot of long-sought Saddam to show the world -- and 2004 voters especially.

Gone on Sunday was Dean's acerbic anti-war criticism, replaced by congratulations. Wesley Clark and John Kerry tempered their remarks, too. At the White …