THE CLIFF DRIVERS

He May Not Be Tops With Party Brass, but Dean's the One to Watch (Ronald Brownstein, August 11, 2003, LA Times)

Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, desperately seeking a foothold in the race, last week attacked Dean from the other direction, portraying his rival as too liberal to win a general election. Lieberman echoed the arguments raised against Dean this spring by the Democratic Leadership Council, the centrist Democratic group that Lieberman used to chair.

"I believe that kind of candidate could lead the Democratic Party into the political wilderness for a long time to come," Lieberman said. "It could be, really, a ticket to nowhere."

Lieberman's speech jabbed at Dean's weakest point: The fear that Dean could lead the party off a cliff in the general election may be the biggest hurdle he faces in the primary.

Privately, much of the Democratic establishment--elected officials, strategists, leaders of the most powerful interest groups--share Lieberman's conclusion. And as long as they do, it will be tough for Dean to attract much of the institutional support critical to surviving the tightly compressed primary calendar. Eventually, the anxiety among insiders might also spill over to average Democratic voters.

So, in the weeks ahead, the top priority facing Dean could be convincing the party leadership that he's not a sure loser against Bush. The terms of the argument between Dean and his critics are already emerging.

It doesn't help that Mr. Lieberman would be an even more catastrophic choice for the Democrats, one who would squander their advantage in heavily black states. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 13, 2003 7:35 AM