01.19.04

Analysis: Dean wows crowd, trails in polls, sieff

Dean's Complaints on Press Indicate Coverage Gone Negative , jurkowitz
Fictional president Bartlett stumps to help make Dean a real one, mct
Dean backers happy to be 'left-wing freak show', Ettenhofer
For Dean's Brigade, an 'Iowa Storm' Watch , klein

01.16.04

Perfect Storm Sweeps Into Iowa for Dean , mcroberts
Braun Drops Out of Race, Endorses Dean , sweet
Sheen, Reiner stump for Dean at UNI, hudson
Dean Fights to Stay on Top in Iowa , fournier
Dean's D.C. Votes Show He's for Real , nichols
Who is George Lakoff & what's he doing with Howard Dean? , salzman
Dean and Kucinich , loeb

01.15.04

American Splendor: Dean's Wife Is The Anti-Laura, dowd
Braun To Back Out Of Race, Support Dean, wp
Thereal reason Dean is soaring in the polls,Reese
In Iowa, As Elsewhere, The Candidate With The Most Money Usually Gets The Nod, clines
Carter to Offer Dean 'Words of Praise' and Help GOTV , johnson
As Gov, Dean Focused on Budget, Health Care , schweitzer + kranish
Dean Calls Clark A Republican, Ridgeway
Dean Faithful Make The Pilgrimage To Iowa, AFP
In Iowa, Democrats levy new charges against Dean, borowitz
Dean Got it Wrong, IA and NH Allow Voters to Test Drive Candidates,Cook
Gloves Come Off in Iowa As Campaign Enters Two Minute Warning,Gerstenzang
The Media vc. Howard Dean, Boehlert
Hard-Headed Dean, Saletan
Bush Barely Leading Dean in Illinois - Most Dont Want Bush Back , pearson
The Stop Dean Campaign and the Divisions in the American Political Establishment , walsh
Dean Wins "Protest Primary" Race in D.C. , bg
Iowans for Clark - cunning or crazy? , Norman
Dean fares badly against Clark in Pennsylvania straw poll, lindorff

01.13.04

Must Dean Serve "Political Pablum" To Satisfy The Media?, cohen
Dean's Wife Remains Invisible, nyt
Dean Rebukes a GOP Questioner , bg
Dean Leads in Poll of Democrat Voters , bg
Gore and Harkincampaign forDean in Iowa ,Glover
Dean Stumbles on Race Issue in Iowa Debate,Gold andAnderson
Dean, Other Leading Dems, Take Moderate Positions on Guns, Brownstein
Dean Floods Iowa with Troops ,WP
A Bold New Messenger ,McNamara
The Real Howard Dean ,Guardian
Dean's Tough Talk on Business is Right ,Tucker
Dean ahead in Ohio ,SJ Mercury
Is Howard Dean for real, or just hype? , Benedetto
It's showtime as caucus puts Iowa up front , Fuson
Dean says he stands up to Bush when rivals won't , Page
Dean looks to Iowa but may have to turn back to face Clark , Shapiro
Dean defends record on race in debate , AP
Dean's record on race is gray area , Lawrence
Dean down to business; Tough talk about corporate crime should fuel populist fire, tucker
Dean's bid for White House alarms Blair allies , wintour

The Scotsman

US War College Blasts 'Strategic Error' of Iraq Invasion, scotsman

01.11.04

Dean Confirms Tax Cut Plan , kranish
Dean Gets Boost at Crucial Time , johnson
Dean Got Personal Pay from Groups , bg
Dean's campaign could yet seize the presidency , harris
A stumbling start for lead Democrat, davidson
Newsweek Poll: Dean vs. Bush?, braiker
Six pitfalls that could plague Dem front-runner's campaign, fineman
Dean on the heat of battle, Osama bin LadenÑand Jesus, fineman

01.09.04

Dean Won't Become President Unless He Learns How To Speak To Working Class, Rurals ,dionne
Clark Wants More Women To Vote For Him ,nyt
Clark closes in on Dean's lead as many consider switching votes , Stone
Dean campaign's architect a risk taker , Lawrence
Dean Campaign Targets Rising Clark, Slater
Clark Aides Cry Foul over Dean Leaflet , weiss
Wesley Clark closes gap on Democratic frontrunner Dean , buncombe
Clark surge adds wild card to Iowa caucuses , Norman
Dean Reconsiders Views on Middle Class Tax Cut , Gold
Remove arrows from Dean's back, thomas
Slick New York adman makes those folksy Iowa ads for Dean , Smith
Dean's campaign is closer to RFK's than McGovern's , Huffington

01.08.04

Shrink Rap: When Is Dean Going To Spill His Guts, Like Politicians Are Supposed To Do? ,marcus
Dean Says Religion Influenced His Decision To Legalize Gay Civil Unions ,wp
Dean Is Electable Precisely For The ReasonsHisRivals Attack Him, Huffington
Dr. Dean Thinking Coattails, Marre
The '04 Election: Up For Grabs, ed
GOP Says Dean Should Take His Left-Wing Freak Show Back to Vermont , bg
Lieberman, Dean Trade Barbs as Caucuses Loom , kornblut + johnson
Dean May Support Middle-Class Tax Cut , kranish
Mayor Daley Says Dean has Strong Message , spielman
Bradley Lauds Dean for Tapping Idealism , mccormick
Dems Failing to Challenge Dean on Iraq, Brownstein
Unlikely scenarios: How Dean could lose primaries , Marlantes
Conservatives Target Dean in Ad Campaign, Anderson & Hook
Democrats' Attacks on Dean Enhance Bush's Re-Election Prospects , zunes
Support Flows to the Guy with a Backbone , maxwell
Remove Arrows from Dean's Back , thomas
Dean's Right on Saddam , mct
A Goal for Dean: Push a Multi-Faith Theme, cocco
Dean and his Democratic detractors, lindorff

01.07.04

Dean Has Not Put Out The Fires Of Muckraking Enemies ,nyt ed
ÊDean Calls 9/11, Ridgeway
Foes' Criticism Rolling Off Dean , johnson
Dean's Uphill Battle in Bush Fantasyland , macarthur
Dean DoesnÕt Have a Prayer in the South, Should Run as a Democrat Not Theocrat, Pinkerton
Dean's Education Enemies List , oliphant
The Dean Dilemma, fineman
Dean's Distaste For PC Politics May Sink Him ,broder

01.06.04

Dean to Make Surprise Visit to N.H. , johnson
Dean Bears More Resemblance to John Wayne Than to Jimmy Stewart , meyerson
Dean: ÔYou canÕt beat George Bush by trying to be like himÕ, pedler
Dean gains Bill Bradley's Support , wp
Howard Dean: Running On Instinct?, Singer
Bush vs. Dean: The inevitable? , Sperling
Top candidates strategize to pin down nomination, Lawrence & Page
Political candidates avoid inspiration at all costs, tucker
Dem Candidates College Aid Proposals Are Smart Politics, Silverstein
Dem Contenders List Life Mistakes at Iowa Debate , Gold
Wolves in Democrat clothing , Sorensen
Rivals Target Dean in Iowa Debate , kornblut
Before Caucuses, Rivals Swat at Dean , zeleny + pearson
'He's built his career on being Mr Angry', guardian

01.03.04

Dean's Blunt Talk About Race , jackson,
Gay Community Gave Dean Campaign Early Boost in Fund-Raising , edsall wp
Dem Rivals More Interested In Tearing Down Dean Than Beating Bush ,krugman

01.02.04

Democratic rivals turn their fire on 'erratic' Dean , cornwell
Decisions Involve Diagnosis, Intuition , dean
Dean: Rank outsider who could yet win the race for power, young
Clark Sets His Sights on Dean, lester/ap
Howard Dean Signifies New Tack on Race for U.S. Politics, ford/gamble
Howard's array of leadership beliefs, settle
Dean's Slip Is Showing In NH Survey, Blood

Why DEAN WATCH?

Ever since we put up a DEAN WATCH page last week, we've been getting pro and con letters: either the page is supporting Dean or attacking him, we're told. Actually, it's neither. Since Dean is presently the Dem front-runner, we thought it appropriate to provide more information on his candidacy, both pro and con.

Other letters simply asked us what we think about Dean, who would we like to see as the Dem nominee to challenge Bush. While we have no horse in the Dem race, our concern has always been to have the Dems field the person with the best chance of beating Bush. But that may not happen.

The received knowledge is that a re-election campaign for president (Bush was elected by the Supreme Court) forces the party on the outs to either decide to challenge a weak president with a moderate candidate or to gather together the grassroots for the next election by nominating someone who will particularly appeal to the (left or right) wing of the party. Dean is trying to be both, which is what Bush did.

Dean's appeal right now is not to the boys in the backroom of the Dem Party, but to the younger, more educated, net-savvy, angry progressives. His background, however, is more moderate than many of his followers, and as the campaign moves from the primaries to the general election, Dean, if he is the nominee, will move more toward the center. How far toward the center will depend upon the financial backing of the boys in the backroom.

If the full bulk of the Dem Party gets behind Dean, his job would be to appreal further to the moderate center while keeping his progressive base energized. That's when folks further left, like Nader, will likely get into the fight to carve away some Dean backing, thus strengthening Bush's hand. If, on the other hand, the backroom boys see nominee-Dean as a progressive loser to Bush, the financial backing will remain weak and Dean will become the darling of the progressive left, playing the Goldwater role. One way or the other, Hillary's recent visit to Iowa suggests that some of the moderate Dems may have given up on 2004 and expect to nominate a more moderate candidate when Bush returns to Crawfish, Texas for good. --Politex, 11.17.03

Comment

The reigning bogus good ole boy in public life remains our blue-blood president, an heir to large and aristocratic American fortunes on both the Bush and Walker sides of his family. Unlike his father, he is not about to be caught asking for "a splash more coffee." On the eve of his visit to London this week, he hit a characteristically phony note when he told an interviewer, "I never dreamt when I was living in Midland, Texas, that I would be staying in Buckingham Palace." Mr. Bush, who was born in New Haven, lived in Midland until only the age of 15 before moving on to such hick venues as Andover, Yale and Harvard when not vacationing in family compounds in Kennebunkport, Me., or Jupiter Island, a tony neighbor of Palm Beach.

Rich Democrats vying to replace him are merely less effective purveyors of the same aw-shucks nonsense. John Kerry is a Boston Brahmin (Mother was a Forbes) and a multi-millionaire in his own right before marrying a half-a-billionaire. Like the president, he's a Yalie (via St. Paul's in his case). But in his desperation to save a campaign whose poll numbers are floundering as much as Martha Stewart's stock price, he has taken to shooting game and playing hockey with firemen in Iowa. He has traded in his Turnbull & Asser shirts for denim and his effete Ducati motorcycle for a Harley-Davidson like the one he rode onstage to the Leno show just as his top campaign executives fled. "I don't intend to challenge President Bush to a contest of who's a more regular guy," Mr. Kerry writes in his new campaign autobiography, "A Call to Service," even as he does so. In the same book, he boasts that he's "the son of a public employee" (in the diplomatic service) and "a charter member of one of the most selective but fastest-growing sports clubs in the world: the Nascar fans of Massachusetts."

Howard Dean is more forthright about his Yale (via St. George's) and Park Avenue pedigree, up to a point. On his Web site, a gathering place for smaller donors, his privileged upbringing goes unmentioned, and in the recent "Rock the Vote" debate on CNN he said he had gone to "a college in New Haven, Connecticut." But in his own campaign manifesto, "Winning Back America," he does own up to privilege before moving on to describe his youthful playground of East Hampton as a veritable Levittown with "people of every background living there throughout the year." In Dr. Dean's deft literary hands, months spent skiing in Aspen after winning a 1-Y deferment from Vietnam for a bad back becomes a "sojourn in the mountains," a quasi-spiritual quest tantamount to a stint in the Peace Corps, if not an ashram. -- Frank Rich, NYT, 11.23.03

Letters

I don't understand why Dean is the lead dem.æ At first, I just thought that he was getting most of the media spot light because rep knew that he wouldn't stand a chance to beat Bush in the 2004 election.æ Now I am not so sure.æ I don't think Dean is anything, let alone someone that can win coming next year.æ I think Kerry is hands down the strongest out of all the candidates, even rep. would have a hard time not voting for him, and if we are going to get Bush out of office we need to get behind him.æ --Rob.

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Deanwatch?ææ Well, I just deleted your site from my favorites and until you represent the other national co-leader, Wes Clark, I can no longer support you. --TH

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I agree with some of the comments, that it is a little TOO EARLY in the campaign to have only a "Dean Watch".æ Though he is the leader, it is not yet a done deal and the Dean Watch adds that level of finality to the race. What I find most interesting is this: Dean is a moderate (of course people on his right view him on the left and visa versa, such is the problem with putting people on a LINE.... The current administration has turned its back on many of its own party planks--- balanced budget (no chance of THAT one), no new taxes (deficits are future taxes, someone is going to pay).æ By rallying around a centrist who supports the troops but NOT the war, who supports separation of church and state, who IS REACHING OUT for the worker against CHEAP LABOR, I think [Dems] can do well. --Bush Watch Reader

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Why do you have Dean Watch? Dean doesn't need watching. --Mary

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Why not have a Dean watch? People should be critical of everyone who wants to be president. If more people had been more critical in 2000æwe wouldn't be in the mess we're in.æ Dean is imperfect, as are they all.æ If having a Dean watch site helps peopleælearn more about Dean and the restæof the candidates, I think that's a great idea. Let's not let unreasoned devotion to a candidate mirror the unreasoned support of the current president. --Peter, Vermont

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I think that your "Bush Watch ... Today's Headlines" page is one of the most informative pages on the Internet - but, I would like to voice my opposition to your new "Dean Watch" section, which biases your political coverage in favor of Governor Dean. I am sure that there are many readers, like me, who support other candidates that must feel the same way. --Bob

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I am very disturbed over your adding a Dean Watch.If the only goal you have is to get rid of Bush, having a Dean section may be appropriate, but if you are looking for a change in policies, Dean is not a good subject. He is not liberal, denies being a liberal, and supports or has supported almost all of Bush's policies, until they became unpopular enough for him to change his official position. By carrying a "Dean" section, you are giving tacit endorsement to Dean and to his conservative policy recommendations. Many of your readers want a change in policy as well as a change in leaders. --Ray

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