Washington Post: "For Dean, Two Big Steps Ahead"

[tsipple]

Full Story in The Washington Post, Sunday, November 9, 2003

For Dean, Two Big Steps Ahead
Democrat Rejects Public Financing, Gains Key Labor Support

By Jim VandeHei and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, November 9, 2003; Page A01

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean is shaking up the Democratic presidential race by busting federal spending constraints, locking up the campaign's two of the biggest endorsements and, for the first time, threatening to pull away from the pack. (....)

Strategists for several candidates said the campaign is going to get even nastier and more personal in the weeks ahead. Their plan is to try to drive a wedge between Dean and his liberal base by hammering his past or present support for gun rights and for changes in the Social Security and Medicare programs. "The more liberals find out about his record as governor of Vermont, the more they're going to be uncomfortable with him," said Jim Jordan, campaign manager for Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.). (....)

Steve Murphy, Gephardt's campaign manager, said the race is "narrowing" into a two-person contest. "It's either going to be Howard Dean or Dick Gephardt," he said. Gephardt is making his stand in Iowa, where he plans to spend most of the next three months. He has essentially pulled out of New Hampshire in recent weeks. (....)

Yet even if Gephardt wins in Iowa, he could meet the same fate as he did 1988: victorious in the Hawkeye State but lacking the money to challenge for the nomination nationally. Dean, who broke Bill Clinton's fundraising record last quarter, has leaped way ahead of many of his rivals in organizing for primaries held later in the campaign in places such as Wisconsin.

Kerry may be hurt most by Dean's rise, strategists said. Kerry, who fashioned himself as the front-runner early in the race, is struggling to keep Dean from pulling away in New Hampshire, which is widely considered a make-or-break state for the senator.

Kerry is almost singularly focused on undercutting Dean, mostly with increasingly sharp and personal attacks on his character, consistency and honesty. But the attacks do not appear to be working. (....)

Kerry is considered the biggest disappointment by many Democrats, who say he has failed to clearly articulate a vision for the country and has been too negative. "I think Senator Kerry needs to shake things up and get back on his message," (Donna) Brazile said. (....)

[He loved Big Brother]

1. "Kerry is almost singularly focused on undercutting Dean,"

Replace "Dean" with "Bush" and Kerry might have had a chance at my vote!

Hey Kerry! It's not too late, you know! Any day now you can start undercutting the REAL enemy!

ANY DAY NOW!!!

[Sean Reynolds]

2. I just hope that *IF* Dean wins the nomination Kerry will support him...

And do every thing to see he's elected. Sadly, I feel Kerry would just revert back to the senate, ignoring the Dean 2004 campaign and saying *IF* Bush won re-election, "I told ya' so!"

Really I hope I'm wrong, but who knows?

[Dagaz]

3. If Dean gets the nomination Rove can sleep tight

Karl is got to be happy to see so many helping him get his wish. What better for him than a Northeastern liberal who could also get the west coast but nothing else. I bet Rove can't wait for the next meet-up to thank his newfound naive operatives.

[Cha]

4. That is so trite and untrue.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

6. We already know Kerry will lose.

We already know Gephardt will lose.

Dean, the wildcard, is our only chance. And if he goes down, he is going down fighting, bearing his teeth, and slashing out at his opponent. He is going to bring manhood and courage and fight and values back the Democratic Party where there was none before.

Howard Dean does more for the Democratic Party by losing the presidential race than someone like Lieberman does by winning it.

[Dagaz]

7. what about coattails?

This is what Bil Clinton and others are worried about. Would Dean help or hurt open Senate seats in NC, SC, FL and GA?

[tsipple]

8. Did Bill Clinton Help?

Time to try something different, like anti-corporate/anti-Washington populism.

[Dagaz]

9. I think Edwards would help

I'm hoping he gets the VP nod if he doesn't win. He has a cheery moderate kinda message that would work outside the angry white bunch. Gephardt/Edwards would sell well in the parts of the US that we need. Targeting the northeast is fine but they're in the plus column already.

[Cha]

10. I don't care where gepwards are from...they

are not Presidential material, IMO.

[polpilot]

14. Dean is the ONLY CHANCE and the posters who believe this are the

ones who knew Dean would trounce the competitors this year. I contiunue to be unsurprised by Dean's trajectory.

Dean '04...

[Andromeda]

12. Obviously you don't know Dean...

he isn't a liberal. He governed from the center in Vermont and will do the same when he is president. The liberal label is nothing but a myth cooked up by his detractors.

[Classical_Liberal]

16. We know he isn't liberal

but he does some important things for us. Like showing it is possible to fund a campaign with out corporate whoring. That means he probably will be a better centrist than most centrists including Bill Clinton. I honestly don't think Clinton would have been so cowed by Newt after 94. if it weren't for corporate whiners in the dlc.

[Cha]

5. This is Great! I'm so happy

DEan is surging with all these endorsements! And, of course, the ubitquitous whining from kerry's camp.

[dean4america]

11. Kerry camp doesn't GET IT

Read Jim Jordan's quote: "The more liberals find out about his record... the more they're going to be uncomfortable with him."

They are missing the fundamental point that MOST if not ALL of Dean's supporters know exactly what his record is. Just about everyone I know on the so-called Liberal side of the ledger say the same thing about Dean: i absolutely disagree with him on -- insert gun control or nafta or whatever single isssue -- but he's the only one who can beat bush/has the balls to fight bush face-to-face.

If they Kerry people honestly believe that Dean has snookered everyone into believing he is a far-left liberal, then Kerry is going to look like a damn fool trying that strategy. As of now, he's just insulting us all.


edit: typo

[polpilot]

15. Understand that Kerry & Co. HAVE to blame someone other than

themselves FOR THEIR FAILURES. It's rather juvenile to believe and state that Dean supporters don't know what their doing. It's such a winning strategy!!! Not.

Dean '04...

[Larkspur]

17. "You can fool some of the people some of the time..." and you can

apparently fool Kerry all of the time.

If they Kerry people honestly believe that Dean has snookered everyone into believing he is a far-left liberal, then Kerry is going to look like a damn fool trying that strategy. As of now, he's just insulting us all.

This strategy of Kerry just shows how far out of touch he is with reality and with Dean's supporters. This is a strategy born of jealousy, not sincerity.

[Padraig18]

13. "Kerry is considered the biggest disappointment by many Democrats..."

Count me among them.