Democrats hurting selves with attacks
By Ed Kociela
Nearly a year ago, when Howard Dean entered the Democratic Party's fray for the 2004 presidential nomination, he was, at best, a dark-horse candidate.
"A year out, who cares?" Dean said at the time. "What I care about is where I am in Iowa the night before the caucuses."
On the threshold of the Jan. 19 Iowa caucus, Tuesday's endorsement by Al Gore gives the front-running Dean campaign another burst of momentum as the clock ticks down to the crucial face-offs between the nine Democratic candidates.
It must be remembered that Gore still carries a lot of political clout within his party. He was the standard-bearer four years ago and won the popular vote by a half-million votes in 2000, but lost an election that ultimately was decided by a 5-4 vote in the Supreme Court.
Because Gore represents the flamboyantly liberal wing of the party and Dean is such a fiscal conservative and social liberal, it's odd to see this union of political disparity.
The former vice president also muddied up the waters a bit when he passionately echoed Dean's position on Persian Gulf War II. In his statement, Gore referred to the war as a "catastrophic mistake" by the Bush administration. Politically, it was an unwise move for the Democrats. In 1968 and 1972, when Vietnam was the issue, the hawks prevailed.
The biggest problem with Gore's endorsement, however, will come from the humiliating betrayal of his former running mate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who is barely still in the hunt, and party bigwigs the former vice president alienated four years ago.
What could happen here is a major chasm separating the party. It would be no surprise to see several candidates drop out either shortly before or immediately after the Iowa caucus and form a bloc to oppose Dean.
The "outs," of course, will include Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, Sen. John Edwards, Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Lieberman.
The "ins" include Rep. Dick Gephardt, who is running a strong race in Iowa, and Sen. John Kerry, who has made this campaign a personal crusade against Dean.
The two odd fellows here are Gen. Wesley Clark and The Rev. Al Sharpton, who still wield power.
Clark's strange response to Gore's announcement was that he has a number of the ex-vice president's former staff members working his campaign. Could he be hinting at a vice presidential nod from Dean?
Sharpton, on the other hand, could push hard for a spot on the ticket should Gephardt get the nod.
This, of course, could splinter the party as voters tire of the internecine bashing.
For the Democrats to succeed, they must tone down the personal attacks and stick to the issues.
If not, the GOP will have a stranglehold on the White House for four more years
thespectrum.com |
