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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (502758)	12/3/2003 10:38:16 AM
From: JakeStraw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Howard Dean Unraveling Under Scrutiny by CK Rairden Dec 3, 2003 Unpolished, angry and loud has elevated Howard Dean to the frontrunner perch of the pack of Democrat presidential wannabes. But Dean is uncomfortable being labeled as the frontrunner. And rightly so. The intense scrutiny is showing a side of Dean that his campaign would like to keep away from mainstream America for as long as possible. Dean had a good gimmick campaign going until he vaulted to the front of the pack and began reading his own press clippings. He was under the radar screen, shouting and screaming all things anti-Bush and anti-war and the far left ate it up. They were his audience and no matter how foolish he sounded or looked it only reinforced his support among the angry. He was reckless, red-faced and ridiculous. But no one cared. He was merely a dark horse at the time. Now everywhere you turn, Howard Dean in front of a TV camera or a radio microphone spouting the same nonsense. And now, people are listening because of his frontrunner status. In the last few weeks the scrutiny shows Dean is unraveling with some wild accusations and policy statements. Howard Dean has: --Told ABC news that he would unseal his Vermont gubernatorial records as soon as President Bush unseals his Texas gubernatorial records. He then was told that President Bush’s records are unsealed. He must now be true to his word and unseal his records or give his political enemies big ammunition. Of course unsealing the records may be worse. --Claimed that if elected he would re-regulate key sectors of the U.S. economy, including reversing the deregulation of the media saying, “we’re going to break up giant media enterprises.” All that did was reinforce his big government, nanny-state label. --Single handedly resurrected the Soviet Union (apparently confusing it with Russia) with this statement on Hardball, “I believe, to Iran is pressure through the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is supplying much of the equipment that Iran, I believe, most likely is using to set itself along the path of developing nuclear weapons. We need to use that leverage with the Soviet Union and it may require us to buying the equipment the Soviet Union was ultimately going to sell to Iran to prevent Iran from them developing nuclear weapons.” Not only is that some strange thinking on the Middle East but his “Soviet Union” comments magnifies his lack of foreign policy experience and knowledge. --Led credence to a 9/11 conspiracy theory on WAMU radio (DC’s NPR) by stating “The most interesting theory that I've heard so far - which is nothing more than a theory, it can't be proved - is that [President Bush] was warned [about the 9/11 attacks] ahead of time by the Saudis.” His disclaimer was clever, but even repeating this gives his political opponents a reason to lump him in with the conspiracy theory kooks. --Reinforced his peacenik reputation by telling Chris Mathews on MSNBC’s Hardball that the best way to reduce hostility between the east and the west is “ treat people with respect and they will treat you with respect.” Whew--let’s all join hands and sing kum-bah-yah. Howard Dean needs to realize that he is not running for the mayor of San Francisco. He’s wrapped up the rabid anti-Bush voter, and even so it’s understandable that he doesn’t want to move to the center---but his blame America first, nanny state nonsense and conspiracy theories will be a hard sell to the mainstream. When Howard Dean is speaking to his angry anti-Bush supporters, these views are worn as a badge of honor. But as these wild accusatory statements and far left policies leak out into mainstream America, Dean is hurt politically. He needs to reassess his campaign strategy and try to fade back into the background. No longer will Howard Dean campaign stops, meet-ups and town hall meetings go without cameras. His frontrunner status guarantees that. But going on the Chris Mathews Hardball program for an hour, even as soft as Mathews was with him, and appearing on ABC only allows the real Howard Dean to be revealed. And it is ugly to the mainstream. If Howard Dean continues this strategy he will unravel and self-destruct too soon to win the Democrat nomination for President. Right now, it’s his to lose. And Dean can lose it if he doesn’t slow down and keep out of the spotlight as much as possible. Howard Dean needs to take a page from North Carolina basketball legend Dean Smith’s playbook and go to the four-corner stall. He’s close to having this in hand, but too much offense can bring down his candidacy. For Dean--it’s either the four-corner stall or a fiery flameout. washingtondispatch.com