If Iraq and IWR hadn't happened, how would Dean have campaigned?

[mot78]

Dean was able to make himself appear liberal when he was more of a moderate because of that issue and that issue alone (maybe Civil Unions but that's another story). My question is if we hadn't gone into Iraq and if we hadn't had IWR, how would Dean have campaigned? WOuld he have tried to campaign on a "take the party" tone, or would he have campaigned like a DLCer?

[slinkerwink]

1. Dean would've campaigned about health care and education

also, about balancing the budget. He was very firm on those issues.

[mot78]

2. I'm talking about his overall image and his character

[NashVegas]

3. Fiscal conservative

otherwise .. ?

[Guaranteed]

4. If Bush hadn't invaded Iraq

he wouldn't have had the distraction that allowed him to pull off his fascist policies. I don't think I would have minded having Bush in office nearly as much. We might have had a couple of tax cuts, and the NCLB Act and the Patriot Act, but the whole thing wouldn't have been nearly as sinister.

Yeah, we would have still fought against him, but it would have been like 2000- not nearly as dire.

On edit: The fact is that during this massive and bloody diversion Bush managed to slip a whole lot of stuff in under the radar that did NOT used to be the status quo. And these things will REMAIN the status quo until someone stands up to show America how those ideas are wrong and takes on the task of leading America away from them.

[mot78]

5. Yeah and Lieberman would be our nominee

Without that anti-AL From shakeup that's where we'd be.

[arewethereyet]

6. bin laden and the failure in Afghanistan

and then he'd yell some

[Jim Sagle]

7. IMO, he wouldn't have run.

[maggrwaggr]

10. dude, he was running WAY before the war

I first found out about him long before any Iraq war. I really liked him then, and I proceeded to like him more and more.

He would have campaigned exactly like he did. Even without the war, we want our country back, we want our flag back.

He would have been straightforward and honest and called a spade a spade.

[eileen from OH]

8. Fiscal responsibility and health care

Those were really his signature issues. But, like a lot of us, he was infuriated by the 2002 election. In fact, I gotta say that it was THAT election that made me even madder than the Florida debacle. It was the series of post 9/11 pandering and sucking up that really got Dean steamed - but that was never what he wanted to run on, initially. It was a Catch 22 - the very issues that caught on, were not the ones that really (I think) were the centerpiece of the change he wanted to make. And he was never able (or wasn't allowed to) return the focus of his campaign to his strengths - the economy and health care.

eileen from OH

[roguevalley]

9. sure. he had something to say.

[JohnKleeb]

11. I really dont know

Thats why I think the war helped Dean out with campaigning and etc.

[dsc]

12. as an unabashed pro gay, pro fiscal sanity, pro health care candidate

He actually chose to run before the Iraq War vote and tried to campaign as the above. It was only when the people and the press started demanding all war all the time that he really discussed the war to the detriment of those other issues. In short, he would have run on his impressive record.

[Doomsayer13]

13. Healthcare, Jobs, fiscal moderation

but he would've have been able to gain the traction he did without the war.