IMHO the Dems BEST CHANCE at beating Bush would have been Lieberman. Why, cause he is the one who to me appears closest to the middle of the road politics and its pretty hard to dislike the man.
I agree and I'd add that he's the only Dem candidate who would actually make a decent president. Looking at his positions on various issues, it's hard to objectively describe him as anything but moderate. The only major issue where I'd be concerned is taxes - just what does "roll-back" mean in regards to the Bush tax cuts? If he means marginally tweaking them to be able to claim they fit his party's definition of "fairness", he probably wouldn't do too much damage, especially if the GOP still controls one or both houses of congress and if he simultaneously reins in spending. But if he means a major reversal or a total repeal as Dean has promised, that would be disastrous for the economy.
But his moderate views are not acceptable to the angry left, especially his foreign policy positions, but also including "social issues" like gay marriage, economic issues like free trade, and education issues like school choice. He does not conform to the angry left's views on many issues. Plus, he's a conservative Jew - there's more anti-Israel, anti-Jewish sentiment on the angry left than any other part of the political spectrum.
So the question is whether enough moderate voters, particularly the "swing voters" who consider themselves "independents" and often switch parties from election to election, will see enough reason to switch horses mid-stream (Dole's second problem after Perot, IMO) to overcome the likely unenthusiastic (at best) support from the left wing, much of which will probably just stay home if no third party protest candidate emerges (I think Cynthia McKinney -LOL- is still entertaining thoughts of running.).
But as you said, things seem to be going Bush's way. The economy continues to rebound, most Americans continue to think military action in Iraq was the right thing to do, and the Dems are doing their best to nominate an unelectable candidate.
Bob |
