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Politics : HOWARD DEAN -THE NEXT PRESIDENT? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: c.horn who wrote (19)	7/27/2003 1:18:46 PM
From: Eashoa' M'sheekha	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3079

Dean's anti-war stance galvanises Democrats --------------- Keep laughing son. This man will show the US WTF democracy was meant to be. JACQUI GODDARD IN MIAMI HIS career in activism began with a small-town campaign for the construction of a local bicycle trail. But since setting his sights a little higher, Howard Dean has rocked America’s political establishment. Not only is the former Vermont governor now jointly positioned at the front of the nine-strong pack of potential Democratic nominees for the 2004 presidential election, having joined as an outsider, but his fundraising machine has become a veritable juggernaut. Whereas President George W Bush once looked unbeatable, the Democrats’ chances of winning the White House have edged upwards amid the rising military death toll in Iraq and questions over whether Bush exaggerated the case for war. Dean has been the main beneficiary, having declared his anti-war credentials early. Realising it’s now a potential vote-winner, three of his rivals to challenge for the presidency - Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, North Carolina Senator John Edwards and Missouri Congressman Richard Gephardt - are now loudly denouncing the messy aftermath of the war. "If it gets worse for Bush in Iraq, Dean will go from strength to strength," said Patrick Basham, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a political think-tank. "But finding weapons of mass destruction, finding Saddam, will deflate Dean’s candidacy." Dean’s campaign to storm the White House has also taken on an all-star cast, with Susan Sarandon, Barbra Streisand, Paul Newman and Alec Baldwin among the Hollywood names who have rallied to his side. "He is now a leading contender based on the money he has raised and the number and nature of supporters he has attracted," said Basham. The Democratic nomination, begins officially with the Iowa caucus on January 19. National pollster John Zogby believes the competition boils down to just three candidates: Dean, Gephardt and Kerry. "I can certainly rule out anybody else," he said. Ambitiously touted as ‘the new JFK’, Senator Edwards has failed to shine. Even in his own state, polls show voters would choose Bush over him by a ratio of three to two. Gephardt is looking vulnerable and has missed his fundraising goal so far by more than $1.2m (£750,000). He had banked on the backing of labour unions, but Dean and Kerry have muscled in. Steve Weiss, of the Washington-based Centre for Responsive Politics, says financial success in a campaign is critical. "Money signifies how viable you are as a candidate," he said. Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, once considered one of the better bets, also lacks impact. Having run on Al Gore’s presidential ticket in 2000, he has national name recognition, but his conservative leanings may see his campaign fizzle out. Even Senator Kerry, a Vietnam veteran with establishment credentials and the biggest war chest - at $13.9m (£8.7m) to date - is seeing his supporter base undercut by Dean, a doctor who has mobilised supporters over the internet and raised donations from ordinary people rather than fat cats at cocktail parties.