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Politics : John EDWARDS for President -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (768)	2/27/2004 8:28:16 PM
From: Ann Corrigan	Respond to of 1381

Dean campaign analysis: by Sean Aday, Senior Editor and Board Member, New Progressive Institute 2.24.04 Now that Howard Dean has exited the race (sort of), the media are busy analyzing the mistakes he made in his Icarus-like fall from grace. But the fact is that an unknown governor from an obscure state most Americans probably assume is part of Canada (itself considered something of a minor American province) did far better than anyone expected. ...The Iowa caucuses really are a stupid way to choose a nominee. Dean was damaged in Iowa by the revelation that he once disparaged the caucus system for privileging special interests and Byzantine procedural expertise at the expense of ordinary voters. A Des Moines newscast devoted 13 minutes of its coverage one night to the shocking charge. You would have thought Dean had called for outlawing corn. Or worse, the subsidies we pay Iowans to not grow it. But let's face it, Iowans should have thanked Dean for taking it easy on them. Caucuses are silly. They do advantage special interests, and understanding how to work the complicated rules is more important than an individual vote. ...The Iowa caucuses take place in Iowa. This has been said before, but can't be over emphasized: It's ridiculous that a few thousand people in a lily white state based on a 19th Century economy get to exercise this much say over who gets to be president. Give me California, New York, or Florida any day. (Okay, maybe not Florida but you get my point.) Both political parties should jerk Iowa's precious first in the nation status ASAP. After all, if Iraq was smart enough to reject caucuses, why not America? John Edwards is more electable than John Kerry. Dean suggested as much in the waning days of his campaign, and other than money this is a slam dunk. But don't ask me, ask any Republican pollster and strategist off the record. But since Iowans bought the press' line that Kerry was electable because he served in a war 35 years ago (add that to the list of their sins), it looks like he will be able to ride momentum to the nomination. Edwards has weaknesses, but at least he has a message. Kerry's got medals and good hair. Call me crazy, but I'd rather have the guy with something to say. You have the power to change America. The jury's still out on this, but deep down I still think Dean is right. Granted, Deaniacs would probably say that nominating a poll-driven, issueless shell of a candidate like Kerry feels like the worst kind of rejection of Dean's message. But I take solace in the fact that because of Dean, Kerry at least has to pretend to have the guts to stand up to George Bush. Sure his record says otherwise, but maybe the lesson of this primary season is that if Democratic voters make it clear they won't stand for anything less, they can forcibly implant a spine into the party and its nominee. ...Things did need to change. And in the end this was the most important thing Dean got right. His party had lost its way. It had become weak-kneed and unprincipled. But he was also right that Democratic voters were willing to come back in force if they only had a leader willing to stand up and fight, even if they didn't agree with him on issues like guns and welfare reform. Dean showed that principle and passion, not pandering, could inspire and mobilize Democratic voters. Perhaps the Democratic Party, which always viewed Dean with the same disdain the residents of Jerusalem viewed Jeremiah, will recognize this and truly revitalize itself. But this will take more than merely stealing Dean's applause lines, as Kerry has cynically done in his march to the nomination. To beat George W. Bush, the party's nominee will need to find a way to internalize the conviction and cajones Dean showed in his fiery speech at the DNC meeting early last year.