Questions about Howard Dean

[dd74]

What do you guys think of Howard Dean? No one out here in La-La-Land really knows who he is yet. I'm of the mind that he's the only hope the Democratic party has, but comes with liabilities...

Is he too caustic?

Is he ignorant of the issues?

Is he a viable threat to Bush?

Will he crash and burn because of the above three questions?

[Jim Richards]

And what does he think about Mad Cow? Does he have a plan to make them happy?

[Overpaid Slacker]

dd -
OK, not being a liberal, my .02 is that he's tapped the Angry Left, which constituency isn't really hung up on stuff like coherent policy or maintaining consistency, merely rage at the way things are and at W. He's put forward nothing of any substance to fix what he believes is wrong (but in fairness I don't think the other candidates have done a great job w/ this).
He revels in "having a little fun at ______'s expense" which usually equates to snide comments and/or innuendo, but cannot take criticism himself -- and this applies more especially w/ his fellow contenders than w/ anyone on the Right. Not only is he caustic, but he's thin-skinned. I think it's a juvenile trait that does not suit a President.

Many sites I frequent have reveled in his mis-statements, contradictions and inanity -- I know it's all part of campaigning, but Dean is further afield than the other (real) candidates on this front. Check out the WSJ's Opinion Journal for almost daily "WTF?!?" type Dean updates: http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/

There will be a lot of interesting campaign ads capitalizing on Dean's almost schizophrenic self-contradictions and outright dingbat comments.

Is he a threat? Yeah, sure. Anything can happen. But I think the odds are he'll turn off many Dems, and a lot of the middle w/ his sleeve-rolled-up "fight" this and "Fight" that bologna. He'll probably roll toward the middle sometime in the next 6-8 weeks, which will only provide more opportunity for "you said X in September and completely-dichotomously opposed Y yesterday -- what on Earth do you really think?"
I think Lieberman is a much better candidate for the Dems as far as a potential President (articulate, mature, reasonable, principled liberal, which I can respect), but he's doomed b/c he's Northeast, Jewish and not whipping up shytestorms just for buzz. He's not angry enough to draw media attention away from the blinding white insipid rage Dean throws off.
Kerry is unbelievably vapid-and-yet-simulatneously-haughty (strange combo) I don't think he's in the race; Clark ... well, it'd be a very uncomfortable campaign for him if he got the nod. He's demonstrated a stunning lack of knowledge about his own country and history and has no idea about campaigning. He's another guy who'd be crucified by prior comments and inconsistency.
I think Dean's gonna be the guy, he'll tone down his schtick once he gets (or just prior to getting) the nod and he'll win maybe 2 states; not because he crashes and burns, per se, but b/c most people (great silent majority-types) don't care for his venom or the baseless righteous indignation he's peddling. Not that I think that any of the current contenders have a strong chance against W, but he's got the best chance of the bunch.

Just MHO.

JP

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Good summary JP. Other than his videogame-banning attempts I have very few problems with Liebo. Problem is he's too Bradley-ish in demeanor.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say it's Bush for another 4.

[dd74]

Originally posted by BlueSkyJaunte

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say it's Bush for another 4.

I tend to agree. But as Marx said, (sic) "You should know your opponents better than you should know yourself."

So I'm wondering, not that Bush or Dean would be my opponent.

[pwd72s]

Dean could very well be the planned sacrificial lamb for the Dems. So Hillary! can swoop down on her broomstick in '08....

[chuckw951]

Bush is going to get reelected in a landslide in November 2004 should Dean be the nominee. However, the Dems party elders could pull the rug from underneath him at the convention. In that case it would be a close election.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I think it would be an insult to the female race if their first representative in the White House was Hilary Clinton.

[dd74]

Do you guys read New Yorker magazine? In the Jan. 12 issue, there are two very interesting articles.

The first is Porsche-related - vicariously - where the magazine actually road tests a Boxster vs. an SUV, and concludes the Boxster a much safer vehicle - wonder of wonders?

The second is a profile on Dean. It's a very long article, but here is one paragraph I found interesting:

The logical (and cynical) explanation was that the Howard Brush Dean III backstory - son of a conservative Republican Wall Street securities broker, Park Avenue childhood, weekends and holidays in East Hampton, private schools, Yale; superficially a resume strikingly similar to GWB's (sic) - couldn't be reconciled with a populist-insurgent political persona. But it was also the case that throughout his public life Dean had rigorously guarded the sanctity of his private life.

He's sort of an enigma, it seems. Not "of the people" but "for the people." I admit I like him because he's brash, loud and seemingly unafraid. Kerry also has bucks (via his Heinz-heiress wife), but he's such a stick in the mud.

Dean has to break away from this in-party bickering. Time's running out on him, and Bush isn't getting any weaker. Dean has to start attacking Bush on Iraq and illegals (he has to take a stand on this no matter if it is a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't situation). The economy is a wash for either party. Hence, if I were Bush, I wouldn't brag about it, but if I were Dean, I wouldn't attack with it as an impetous.

[nostatic]

he makes McCain look calm and well-,measured.

I don't think Dean is electable. He is intelligent, but says some dumb things. But given the competition, he is the least of all evils. The rest of the demo lot is faceless, bland and forgettable. I think Clark comes off as an inelegant fool, Lieberman is your overly cautious grandfather/uncle, Kerry wants to be Kennedy but isn't, Edwards wants to be Kerry being Kennedy but isn't.

Actually, I'm the only viable democratic candidate.

[dd74]

You have my vote.

As long as I can be your secretary of state.

(there goes the country. )

[Neilk]

Originally posted by pwd72s
Dean could very well be the planned sacrificial lamb for the Dems. So Hillary! can swoop down on her broomstick in '08....

My God, what worse? Another 4 years of Bush or Hillary in '08? Unfortunately what Paul said does seem to have a bit of truth behind it.

[nostatic]

let's see...Aurel sec. of defense. Denis Tresury secretary. I think the cabinet is rounding out nicely.

Tabs as the white house spokesperson (ie CJ). Now I would pay to see that...

Just gotta figure out a running mate.

[Aurel]

Okay I am secretary of defense. The Boyz can leave Iraq and come back home. Whatever happens in Iraq is not my business. Also, I remove all troops in Germany, South Korea, anywhere in the middle east. Well, actually, everywhere there are american troops and no active war I bring them home.
This is a crazy experiment, but since I am secretary of defense, I can try anything I want, right ? I will let the world take care of itself. Also, I stop all the programs that we have on bioweapons, bunker buster and space war. That will save a bunch of money for intelligent research programs, like replacing oil as our primary source of energy.

Now, here is the best part: You guys love guns, right ? Well, I will do like in the Swiss army: It is called civil defense. Each responsible head of household will be given an assault rifle to keep home, and the proper training. Now, YOU are the soldier. It should not cause more firearm accidents than there are now, it will just be more entertaining.
If the muslim invader tries to cross the atlantic ocean with a knife behind his teeth, you can receive him the good Ol american way

And if too many planes start falling on our cities, you can still nominate me minister of homeland security, I have ideas in that area too...

Aurel

[cegerer]

"So Hillary! can swoop down on her broomstick in '08...."

You mean like this ......

[cegerer]

Come to think of it, I miss Carville and the gang. It was almost like Clinton sent a Saturday Night Live casting director to the Island of Misfit Toys to find these people!! Visualize this photoshoot: Carville, Begala, Doctor Joslyn Elders , Amazon woman Janet Reno, Bruce Babababitt, and then you've got the midget bookends Reisccchhhhh and Shalala. Of course, Cisneros and Espy missed the photo shoot due to 57 felony indictments between them ..... and Clinton himself? Well, we all know where he probably was ..... .

Oh well, I can only imagine the group Hillary would surround herself with - I might vote for her just for entertainment value. Why not? I mean unless a Libertarian has a shot at getting in, there's little practical difference between the 2 major parties these days anyway. Tax and spend, tax and spend, tax and spend ......

[Overpaid Slacker]

Come to think of it, I miss Carville and the gang.

Yeah, there just haven't been enough character (or other *coughvincefostercough*) assassinations in the past few years.

JP

[350HP930]

The republicrats just ought to stop the charade and merge into one party.

The choice between facist A and facist B is not what a representative democracy is supposed to be about.