Strategy for 2004 Victory – Dean Already Has It

[dajabr]

by: Paul E Stenbjorn
Republicons.org
1/15/2004

Next Monday, Iowa voters will caucus in the quadrennial official start to election year politics. Normally, the results of the caucus are spun into victories by candidates regardless of the outcome. However, this year’s early primaries/caucuses are being viewed as a referendum on the candidacy of Howard Dean and whether he can withstand the onslaught from adversaries within his party and without. If the Democrats want to have a chance at unseating George W Bush, he’d better.

Our organization does not endorse any candidate in this race; however, as observers of the candidates and their prospects of victory in November, it is evident that no one but Dean would be likely to mobilize sufficient voters to counter Bush.

--snip--

Dean’s style would allow him to play pit-bull in ways that just wouldn’t be operable for other candidates. Dean has a remarkable ability to wax acerbic and subsequently flash a grin that makes it all palatable, and somewhat entertaining. When John Kerry gets aggressive his tone is more didactically menacing - like an emotionally detached scolding parent. Richard Gephardt rhetoric is often passionate, but he invariably sounds scripted and hyperbolic; in short, he sounds like a politician. Dean makes the arguments personal, not political.

Many among the Democratic elite have pointed to the candidacy of General Wesley Clark as messianic. And while he would pose logistical difficulties for the Republican sleaze mongers, his military stoicism is unlikely to motivate a generation of apathetic non-voters into action.

More: http://www.republicons.org/view_article.asp?RP_ARTICLE_ID=1127

[Melodybe]

1. the repugs are SCARED of Dean, don't believe check out freeperville!

[dajabr]

2. I'll take your word for it...

I made the mistake of clicking on a Peggy Noonan column this morning, and I'm still feeling unclean.

:-)

[FreeperSlayer]

3. Scared of Dean?

Man, they were scared of Dukakis, too.

[jeter]

4. Listen, Dukakis led Bush Sr. by 10 to 17% for more than a year

Dukakis began to sink after the attacks came and he refused to respond:

- The GOP attacked him on the Willie Horton thing.

- He was attacked for giving a lame answer to that famous Bernard Shaw question on the death penalty - "How would you feel if your wife was raped and murdered?" Dukakis, "the Death Penalty is statistically shown not to prevent crime."

- He was ridiculed when he rode in that tank. He was called "Snoopy with a helmet."

It was the accumulation of these attacks (and others) and Dukakis's inept responses to them that led to his defeat.

The GOP WERE scared of Dukakis. Any party would be scared of a candidate that led by that much so close to the election. They responded by going on a major offensive. Dukakis responded to that by cowering. He lost.

If you're going to compare candidates, then at least understand what happened.