November 7, 2003
MORE FUN THAN A BAG OF CATS:
Down and Dirty Democrats: Nine desperate men and women bloody each other (David Corn, 11/07/03, LA Weekly)
Dean and Gephardt are the only two contenders who ought to be happy these days. Dean is further along than anyone — maybe even he — expected. And Gephardt has come on strong in Iowa, where he is leading Dean in the polls, demonstrating he’s no has-been — at least not yet. With labor support, Gephardt is in contention to win the first contest of 2004.It’s no shocker then that Gephardt has been firing at Dean, branding him a Gingrich Democrat for having signaled a willingness to squeeze budget savings out of Medicare. "We need a Democratic nominee who is clearly different from George Bush," Gephardt declared. In return, Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi observed, "Gephardt had 27 years in Washington to provide universal health insurance, a prescription-drug benefit for our seniors or health coverage for our children. And what do Americans have as a result? Nothing." Ouch.
For Dean, the attacks on him are a sign of success. He’s the guy wearing the bull’s-eye — but it’s on his back. And time is getting short for those gunning for him. Which means the nasty season will only be getting nastier. Democrats worried that this intraparty bashing might hurt whoever wins the nomination should give up hope. Desperate candidates will do desperate things.
Hey, Republicans, does it get any better than this? Posted by Orrin Judd at November 7, 2003 3:09 PM
Oh, it could. Imagine the tantalizing possibilities of a brokered convention.
Posted by: Timothy at November 7, 2003 3:14 PMThis may actually be the first election since 1976 when the nomination is actually decided at the convention.
(I've laid in a supply of Trail's End popcorn, just in case.)
Posted by: Mike Morley at November 7, 2003 3:22 PMThey'll have a nominee by March -- and it'll just be the nominee and Al Sharpton contesting the remaining primaries, right up until Al is given a prime time slot at the convention. It just doesn't get much better than that.
Posted by: David Cohen at November 7, 2003 9:55 PMImagine Nader running with Kucinich as his fusion V-P candidate. Not that it would bring in more votes, but it would stir the pot in an interesting direction (assuming hard-boiled Ralph could handle spaceman Dennis).
Posted by: jim hamlen at November 8, 2003 10:36 AM