December 08, 2003
John Kerry's Frustrated
By Byron LaMasters
Take a look at this:
Did you feel you were blindsided by Dean's success?
Well, not blindsided. I mean, when I voted for the war, I voted for what I thought was best for the country. Did I expect Howard Dean to go off to the left and say, "I'm against everything"? Sure. Did I expect George Bush to fuck it up as badly as he did? I don't think anybody did.
And thats not all. Kerry's making shit up in regards to poll numbers. I like John Kerry. He's a good Senator. But he failed on the Iraq vote. And he's failed to show leadership when we've needed it. Howard Dean has shown that leadership, and that's why he'll win the nomination. In a way I feel bad for John Kerry. As the Rolling Stone article demonstrates, he has the perfect profile to run for president. But he's failed to test of inspiring people that he can change the culture of Washington D.C. under President Bush. Howard Dean has.
Posted by Byron LaMasters at December 8, 2003 01:00 AM
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Byron, Kerry is just pissed that he tried to have it both ways on Iraq, voting for the resolution, then denouncing it a few days later, and now he's paying the price. One more thing - Kerry 'I served in Nam' every five minutes ought to have known better than to insult our allies, who defied Chiraq's line. Were the Australians, South Koreans, and Laotian Hmong who fought alongside our soldiers in Nam 'bought and paid for', part of a 'fraudulent coalition', just a 'few here and there'? Shame on Kerry, he deserves to lose.
Dean is posed to knock off two of his biggest rivals, Gephardt & Kerry in the IA & MA contests. The irony is that he will really have his work cut out for him to beat the candidates with "Southern / Middle America Appeal" in the states that follow (Edwards, Clark, & Lieberman). Remember, SC is right after NH.
I think Dean will do it, but one cannot assume he has it "wrapped up."
Part of the key is to get Brown, Sharpton & Kucinich out as soon as possible in order to grab the more progressive voters.
By the way, will the press corp call him "Doctor President" come January 2005?
I've considered blogging on this recently, but I'd argue that perhaps the biggest surprise of the last few months has been Dean's ability to garner Black and Hispanic support. Remember how several months ago Dean was still considered to have appeal only among elitist white liberals? Despite being from Vermont and despite the confederate flag flap, Dean's ability to get support from Black and Hispanic leaders, especially congressional leaders is very significant. While Edwards and Clark probably have more of an appeal to southern whites than Dean, the fact that they'll peel off voters from each other, combined with Dean's appeal to minorities should make Dean competetive in southern primaries at the very least. The southern primaries will also be a good test of Dean's viability as a candidate. If Dean's able to win South Carolina (after winning Iowa and New Hampshire), the nomination will have been esentially won.
