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August 3,
2003 - Before saying a single word, let's get something cleared up
and finished with: Dean is not Dukakis, and Kerry is not Dukakis.
Dukakis lost not because he was liberal from the Northeast, but because
he was a droll, bushy-eyebrowed, uncharismatic man running against the
Vice President of the ultracharismatic Ronald Reagan, who was at the
peak of his popularity. Kerry is much taller, better looking,
tougher, and more interesting. Dean is tougher, more interesting,
a billion times more exciting and passionate, and not the ugliest fellow
ever. And they are running against a President who is in rough
water and flat-out detested by half of the nation.
The reality is
both Dean and Kerry have something that all of the constantly mentioned
losers (i.e. Mondale, Dukakis, and even Gore) lacked: balls and
passion. Enough about liberals having no chance, Northerners
having no chance. It is simply not true - Gore was from Tennessee
for Christ's sake, and he lost the whole South. People tend to
chose the toughest, most charismatic person. Dukakis, Modale, and
Gore were wusses. Dean and Kerry are not.
If anyone
resembles the disastrous Dukakis or Mondale, it is Kucinich.
Kucinich is in fact an actual liberal - far left of either Dean or
Kerry. Kucinich wants unilateral nuclear disarmament. For
those of you who haven't heard this term, it means we give up all our
nukes, because having nukes is morally bad, but let everyone else keep
the nukes they have. This is the sort of ridiculous, out of touch
with reality idea that some true, extreme liberals have that make such
liberals truly unelectable (and thank God for that.) These are the
extremist liberals that made "liberal" a bad word.
Give up all
our nukes, let the Russians and everyone else keep theirs.
Brilliant, huh? Now you know why we are moderate independents -
both the far right and the far left are out of their gourd.
Anyway,
neither Dean nor Kerry are in this mold. So anyone who opens their
mouth to compare either of them with Dukakis or Mondale or tries to
paint them as Kucinich-brand liberals is clearly demonstrating their are
either moronic or just completely dishonest, right-wing puppeteers.
NOW THAT WE
HAVE THAT CLEARED UP: The 2004 election race has taken a turn,
and the cause for it is a real question.
Dean is
getting the support - not just of the Democratic left - but of the
coporate-owned-and-operated newspapers, and of Karl Rove, Bush's chief
strategist.
For those of
you who haven't been paying attention, on July 4th Rove was overheard
saying, "That's the one we want," when Dean walked by, according to the
Washington Post. He then started inciting people to chant Dean's
name, according to the paper.
And Newsweek
reports:
"Then there’s Tom Bevan, a
38-year-old former advertising executive from the Chicago area with a
conservative bent. He wrote a $25 check to Dean last week after seeing
him surge. “The further left he goes and the Democrats go, the better
for my man Bush,” Bevan says. “Some of the more centrist candidates
would present more of a challenge to a Republican.”
On the other hand, there is no question that Democratic activists are
fired up and in love with Dean. He has stirred their passion and
gotten to their pocketbooks. He has been the one to get the
mechanics of raising money in the internet age right, so that on command
he can spur his people to keep up with the Bushies money-wise, as he
managed to a couple of weeks ago when V.P. Cheney was attending a
fund-raiser that would net about $300K, and he got his people to send
$500K to his campaign via the internet in just 3 days. Great
counterpunch. Only Dean is able to deliver this at the moment.
President Bush's re-election team and supporters, on the other hand,
have not just a counterpunch, but a 'hit them in the back of the head'
strategy. While the Democrats are only thinking how to win
support, the Bushies are actively doing everything possible to interfere
with Democratic attempts to run campaigns and choose their candidates.
Goon squads - whether sent as LaRouche supporters or individuals -
are sent to virtually every event, to try and intimidate good people
from getting too enthusiastic about Democratic candidates. And, as
reported above, Bush and his supporters are trying to boost the
candidates they feel least likely to be a threat. They are not
just doing this with $25 donations, but, of course, with the media that
is almost entirely right-wing owned and operated. While the rest
of the candidates are still almost entirely ignored at this point, Dean,
Dean, and Dean is gaining traction.
Don't get it wrong - Dean is doing well, strongly supported, and
deserving of attention - but Senator Kerry is as well, as he is leading
still in New Hampshire (tied with Dean) and leads in other important
states where Dean does not fare so well, is among the top tier in
national polls (Dean is not,) and has the fundraising lead.
Lieberman also gets attention, because he is practically a right-winger
and would be the easiest of all to defeat - an overly polite orthodox
Jew with virtually the same positions as the President poses no threat
to Bush's re-election.
Even Dean-supporting Democratic activists are leery of his chances, and
a number lean toward Senator John Kerry as the candidate they will back
in the end.
But don't expect to hear that in the mainstream press. The press
will push Dean and Lieberman and, of course, on top of it all, the
President.
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