Does the Sanders surge pose a serious threat to Hillary? Howard Dean weighs in.

[brooklynite]

Washington Post:

Howard Dean is very well positioned to shed some light on what’s going on among Democrats, having been both an insurgent presidential candidate in 2004, and a chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005-2009. Dean has endorsed Hillary Clinton, but in an interview with me, he was candid about the challenges she faces in Sanders’ surge.

For instance, Dean told me that the possibility cannot be ruled out that Sanders could pull off an upset and win the nomination, though he said he thinks Clinton is still the heavy favorite.

Dean also told me he thinks that in the end, there will be many more debates than the six the DNC has scheduled. The DNC has instituted an “exclusivity requirement” that is designed to “further manage the process” by requiring the candidates to participate only in the DNC’s six officially-sanctioned debates. Candidates who participate in any non-DNC-sanctioned debates — such as ones organized by other groups — forfeit the right to participate in the remainder of the DNC’s debates.

Dean told me he disagrees with the DNC’s exclusivity requirement, though he defended the DNC’s decision to set the baseline number of debates at six. A transcript of our conversation — lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity — is below:

[riversedge]

1. It is Biden that is surging and Bernie is creeping along today...

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-09-08/biden-inches-ahead-of-sanders-in-national-poll-as-clinton-slips

Joe Biden is up and Hillary Clinton is down in a new Monmouth University national poll of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters.

Support for the vice president is building as speculation grows about his potential entry into the 2016 presidential race, with 22 percent saying they'd back him. That's ahead of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who was picked by 20 percent. The difference is within the poll's plus or minus 5.3 percentage point margin of error.

Clinton, who continues to confront questions about her use of a private e-mail server while secretary of state in the Obama administration, has the support of 42 percent, down from 52 percent a month ago. Biden's number is 10 percentage points higher than a month ago, while Sanders has seen a 4-point increase during that time.

[riversedge]

3. now you know Joe did not say

those 3 words in a row as you have typed. I note you used single quote marks.

[upaloopa]

4. I don't think Biden will run. And if that is the case

his numbers get added to Hillary.
Sanders has not broken out of the 20's.
In order to beat Hillary you have to have a scandal going 24/7, so I see a continued effort to try and drown out what she is saying.
Hillary has been the target of these political attacks since she became First Lady. She knows how to deal with them.

[whatchamacallit]

6. Howard who?

[NightWatcher]

7. When is someone going to say it, the biggest threat to Hillary is

Hillary.

Her email scandal is not going away and she takes five days and three statements to finally issue an apology for how she handled it. Her negatives are already at or near 50%. How can you win a popular (or electoral) election when half the people hate you from the very beginning? She is the most polarizing figure in modern politics.

Today I see she issued a statement via her campaign staffers that she is planning on being more spontaneous...I'm just going to leave that there.