Reply #9: Yes and No [View All]

[Tom Rinaldo]

The cleanest path to a Clark Nomination would be to have the air slowly leak out of Dean's balloon (just a metaphor folks, Dean has real support, no slur intended), with no Democrat other than Clark showing strong momentum up. A Kerry win in Iowa would muddy that scenario.

On the other hand, a Kerry win in Iowa would virtually assure that the nomination could not be locked up by Dean early in the game. Clark has a substantial real base of support and ample money to continue his campaign. In some ways a long campaign better positions Clark to emerge as the Democratic Party unity candidate, should either Kerry or Dean falter.