DEAN'S DECEMBER:

Dr. Who? For President: Vermont's Physician Turned Governor Goes for a Long Shot (Howard Kurtz, November 25, 2002, Washington Post)

Every four years, the press swoons, at least briefly, over a presidential candidate like Dean. A lonely figure who takes controversial stands, who isn't afraid to tell it like it is. Bruce Babbitt in 1988. Paul Tsongas in 1992. Someone who, almost by definition, can't win.

Nursing a ginger ale at Cafe 290, a jazz joint where Jones has brought him to meet some ordinary folk, Dean rejects the comparison.

"I'm going to be the John McCain of this race," he says over the funky beat -- the straight-talker who catches fire and upsets the political establishment.

This seems like the perfect time for a Dean boomlet. People are going to like what they see of him--he's tough, smart and serious. A doctor and a governor, he has the kind of gravity the Democrats badly need right now. Best of all, as far as Left zeitgeist is concerned, while he comes across as fairly conservative in tone, he advocates big time Leftist projects, from statist health care programs to gay marriage. Unfortunately for the Democrats though, this may not be just a temporary little press love-in with Dean; his candidacy may have legs. We got a lot of VT press coverage here in NH--most of Dean's coverage is favorable-- and it's easy to see him mounting a serious challenge to John Kerry, the only other realistic contender in the NH primary. Considering the point they start from on the political spectrum, NH would turn in to two guys on the fairly far Left pushing and
pulling each other into Pelosi territory. Posted by Orrin Judd at November 25, 2002 8:28 AM