Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (30085)	2/17/2004 8:51:03 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794396

Real Clear Politics - DING-DONG, DEAN IS DEAD: Barring a miracle, Howard Dean is going to lose his 17th straight primary/caucus today. The National Chairman of his campaign is gone, and people will be leaving his Burlington headquarters tomorrow in droves. Amid the wreckage of the biggest, most dramatic flameout in U.S. political history, Dean is left with nothing but questions. At the top of most people's list, of course, is "How on Earth did you spend $41 million and still fail so miserably?" John Kerry couldn't care less why Dean failed. All he wants to know is just how much sucking up he'll have to do to get his grubby little mitts on Dean's email list. The answer is "more than he's ever done before." But there is no question that Dean has left a stamp on this race. Last night I heard Joe Klein describe Dean as the "speed horse" in the field, which sounds just about right - especially on the war issue. Dean forced the other candidates (the legitimate ones, anyway) to go way further to the left on the issue than they otherwise would have gone by themselves, and to alter their images and modify their behaviors in tangible, lasting ways. In particular, I"m talking about the vote to fund the troops. Without Howard Dean, there is simply no way John Kerry or John Edwards would have voted against funding the troops in Iraq. None. It's a vote that may end up being a very pivotal one in November. Switching gears, it's also D-Day in Kentucky today, where Alice Forgy Kerr and Ben Chandler look to capture Ernie Fletcher's old seat in the 6th District. Smart money is on Chandler. SurveyUSA released a poll last night showing Chandler widening his lead to 8 points over Kerr, and he's led in every poll taken in the race. I've already shot down a preemptive effort to spin the results of this race, but you can be sure that some will try suggest that if, in fact, Chandler does go on to win today this will signify a rejection of President Bush and "his candidate" by Kentucky voters and a sign of his impending doom in November. Don't believe the hype. THE GUARD STORY, PART 4,678: On Friday morning I wrote about the trap that had been set for President Bush on the release of his military records. By Friday evening, the White House had taken the bait and dumped something like 400 pages of records from Bush's time in the Guard. So did this end the matter? Of course not. On Saturday morning almost every headline across the country read "Bush Releases Files, But Questions Remain." On Sunday, Charlie Rangel firmly refused to take his foot off the slander pedal on Meet the Press: MR. RUSSERT: So the president has not satisfied you on this issue yet? REP. RANGEL: It's the American people. And the records have not indicated as to whether or not after all of the hundreds of thousands of dollars that it took to train this man, then why was his pilot's ability to fly suspended? Why was he able to get involved in the campaign? These are really issues especially when he says on your program that he's the war president and that he is willing to have a whole lot of Americans, over 530 lives lost, 2,000 people maimed, for a war that we didn't have to fight according to some of the experts. And now we're challenging whether or not he's properly served this country. I think these are legitimate issues. Does that sound like someone who is interested in debating facts? Does it surprise you to learn that, despite John Kerry's feeble "protestations", the DNC says it will not stop attacking the President's service record? The White House could produce a certified video tape of George Bush standing on the Alabama National Guard base in 1972 and it wouldn't stop the Dems from continuing to use this issue to attack the president. Lest you still have any doubts about what's going on here, let me clue you in. Here's how liberal blogger DKos referred to the matter on Saturday night: This story might be in its final legs, though that part about "Bush's home base in Texas declining to provide details of his activities between May 1972 to April 1973" might help keep it going a while longer. But the damage is done. AWOL has taken a hit to his credibility. And we've got plenty more material for the press to work with. (emphasis added) Politics can be a dirty business when it has to be. When you're desperate to beat a strong war President and the best candidate your party can produce is a liberal "internationalist" so clearly inferior to his opponent on matters of national security, then it's time to head straight for the mud pit. Liberals have already been there for weeks and - thanks in part to the White House - they've succeeded in getting the President a bit dirty. - T. Bevan