A New York Times article today claims that the Bush team is gearing up to start campaigning against Howard "Dizzy" Dean early next year. Now, I don't know how true this is, it is after all, the New York Times, but assuming that they did get this one right, I'm wondering if this is such a good idea. From the article cited above......



BIG mistake in my opinion. Why not sit back a little bit and let the Democrats eat themselves for awhile? They are doing that now and it's likely to continue for quite some time if the Republicans don't start messing with them. The longer that Democrats like Joe Lieberman, Dick Gephardt, John Kerry and John Edwards are attacking Dean and marginalizing him to the far left, the better. He can't begin moving to the center as long as other Democrats occupy that position and define the debate. The last thing we want them to do is change focus from de-railing Dean to uniting against Bush. So for now, my vote is we stay the heck out of it, let the President continue being President and stay above the rabble in the opposition party.

I guess I should provide a question here for discussion though, so how about this one. Assuming that Dean is going to be the Democratic nominee, when do we start going after him?

While you're thinking about that one, I want to point out something in the NY Times article. If you read through it, notice how President Bush is referenced as "Mr. Bush" while ole Dizzy is referred to as 'Dr. Dean". Ok, Dizzy is a doctor, but Bush is a President if we're going to get into titles here after all.... Oversight? Perhaps, but then consider this article also from the New York Times. Quoting from that article....



Note to the New York Times: Dr. Condoleeza Rice has a PhD.

Her biography...


Can anyone say "Liberal media bias"? Or, is it just an oversight by a newspaper that lacks journalistic discipline?

EXACTLY

I don't know about you, but I saw that debate with the democratic "hopefuls" on MSNBC a few weeks ago, and it was the most humorous showing humanity I've ever seen. The hopefuls all made total morons of themselves and Bush should stay away from this trainwreck and let the dems implode, because that is what it looks like now. None of those candidates would be at all appealing to middle America. It'll be Bush v. Clark, wait and see

I love the train wreck analogy. The internal battle right now between Howard Dean and Bill Clinton is tearing the Democratic party apart. Couple that together with the fact that most Americans can't tell you the names of any of the Democratic presidential wannabes, and it is clear that Mr. Bush (as Big news media calls him) should hold off until later.

No doubt about it. Wait til the Dems nominate him as their suicide bomber.

That is what he'll be, if the Clintons have any say in the matter.

The media just won't give up in trying to question Bush about what the nominees are saying about him, he sticks to his stock reply, "Well, that is a political question and now is not the time to address that issue." I get the feeling that Bush and his campaign team are just letting the Dems fight it out, keep inserting their foot in mouth, see who actually ends up as the Democratic nominee, what shapes up on the domestic front (economy, Iraq, business, employment, etc. ) before Bush tips his hand in debating the opposition. But, I don't doubt for a minute that Carl Rove and speech writers are filling up the legal pads with notes and preparing drafts for "loud and clear...but civil" responses to all this bashing. What goes around comes around....

Well, if I know Karl Rove...and I do, he's planning to make the campaign about the war. Dean's utterly insane opposition (I say this seriously because there is such a thing as a sane opposition...it just never emerged from Dean's mouth) to the Iraq war is what earned him his battalions of kool-aid drinking supporters. His complete lack of discipline as a candidate, combined with his volatile temper is the ideal antithesis to what this country expects in a leader.

Despite all this, we should not open the champagne bottles just yet. Rove knows what he's doing. If that means full campaign mode immediately after SOTU, then so be it. We cannot ill afford lethargy nor apathy because our adversary's nominee has apparently taken leave of the center and with it, his senses. But in essence this makes him more dangerous, given his wide financial support from the special interests and multi-millionaires like George Soros.

As I recall, in 1992 we could hardly contain our glee when a little known "New Democrat" named Bill Clinton became the "comeback kid" abound finally the nominee, despite having everything and the kitchen sink thrown at him. This time the media isn't necessarily as lazy, having decided they don't particularly like Dean either, though his poll numbers make him out to be a teflon candidate in his supporters' eyes. Let us remember that lesson and though the context here is certainly not the same by a long shot, we would be wise to take Dean seriously...even if it pains us to do so.

Good comment, DC, and welcome to America's Debate. I agree that the Republican's do need to take Dean seriously, if for no other reason that should he get elected it would be a disaster for the country. I have no desire to return to the days of Jimmy Carter and I think that's exactly where Dean would take us economically.

Thus far, Republicans have for the most part been keeping their powder dry and just noting the idiocy of Dean for future reference, but at some point, the floodgates have to be opened. I'm afraid it's going to be a nasty campaign though, look at what the Democrats are doing to each other, and I do think it's in the President's best interest to stay above that for now.

Well it looks as if Howie Dean is falling away from the pack as democrats realize how insane he is

I guess being governor of a state where its population is around 600,000 just isn't enough to be President of nearly 300 million Americans. We have over 900,000 people here in San Jose alone. Our mayor has a bigger job!

Maybe we should start a new thread on John (Lurch) Kerry.

As far as I am concerned, the media can re-run Dean's "pep rally" Iowa caucus speech all day every day until he drops out! Don't think Dean will get the "Come Back Dean" title this late in the game...but hey, people are fickle and forgiving. Let's see what happens at the New Hampshire Primary next Tuesday-that will tell the tale of where many in this pack are headed for-home or onward.

Today is the New Hampshire Debate and I am going to enjoy hearing the rhetoric heat up among them...not at Bush...but among themselves. Wonder what Sharpton has up his sleeve for Dean, Clark or Kerry?

I honestly don't know which of the three serious contenders are a threat to Bush. I think Kerry could be. What you think?

Like Dean, if you give Clark enough rope, he is eventually going to hang himself. IMO, Clark is the most dangerous man running for President because he has an honesty problem, he is self-serving, and not a team player. If he were to be elected President, you might as well send all of the high ranking military officers home because Clark, as Commander In Chief, would run the full operations right from the Oval Office. And, he is a know-it-all....there would be resignations and
terminations galore under President Clark. I don't mean to discredit his brains, abilities, military record (I respected him as a CNN Consultant)....but the prospect of him replacing Bush is scary in the most serious sense of the definition.

Dean may have fallen away, but only into a three way tie for 2nd with Clark and Edwards. According to the latest three-day tracking poll, he's cut Kerry's lead to 7 points. If Dean can hang on to second in NH, I'm curious to where he goes from there (to California! to Oklahoma! to North Dakota! to Michigan! to Texas!). While this comes down to organization and money (if which Dean has both), I'm curious as to whether either will do him much good. Let's wait and see.

Meanwhile, Newsweek is talking up the "commanding" 3 points (whoa 3 whole points ) over the president in their latest poll. A MA liberal with a slight lead over a President Bush? Well, victory is all but assured...or something.

Not too worried about polling numbers right now, the real campaign hasn't even started yet. I am a little disappointed that the dwarf wars haven't continued though, they seem to want to play nice with each other for the time being and that's not terribly entertaining. I think Dean's little outburst may have stunned the rest of them. I have discovered a use for Kerry though, the man is an instant cure for insomnia.

I really think Crazy Howie is going down though. Even Democrats I know who supported him were scared by his war yell and starting to look elsewhere. Too bad if he goes away, he'd be a ton of fun around the AD to talk about through the campaign.