Washington ? Howard Dean said Saturday that positive responses from key supporters have 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.”

Over the past week, Dean described Republicans as “pretty much a white, Christian party” and said many in the GOP “never made an honest living.”

Several Democratic lawmakers distanced themselves from their chairman. Republican officials called on him to apologize. After weathering the criticism, Dean forged ahead with the GOP scolding at the meeting of Democratic National Committee leaders.

Yet some Democrats say the former Vermont governor should not remain the center of attention.

“Privately, people have said they don’t want Howard Dean to become the story because we have more important issues to talk about,” said Donna Brazile, who managed Al Gore’s presidential campaign in 2000.

“But publicly we will continue to give Howard Dean our strong support,” she said.

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

“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.

On political fundraising, the DNC trails the Republican Party by more than 2-to-1 despite Dean’s reputation as a potent fundraiser. The Democrats have raised almost $19 million so far this year.