November 17, 2003
RIPPLES FROM THE SHALLOW POND:
The Democrats' dilemma: As Dean's lead grows, his party worries. (Linda Feldmann, 11/18/03, CS Monitor)
The former governor of Vermont got a boost last week from two major union endorsements, and from his announcement that he will forgo the federal limits on fundraising and try to go head to head financially against President Bush - a show of confidence that his supporters will write more checks and push the send button on more Internet donations.In the wider Democratic universe, however, the prospect of a Dean nomination has sent some party members into paroxysms of private hand-wringing. Not only do they see him losing badly to Bush, they also see Dean hurting Democratic candidates further down on the ticket - rippling into congressional races, and possibly even boosting Republican control of the 100-seat Senate close to the crucial threshold of 60 seats, which would make it filibuster-proof.
"We could come perilously close to a one-party state," says a longtime Democratic activist with no formal ties to any campaign. "We could wind up with two more Antonin Scalias [on the Supreme Court]," he adds, referring to one of the most conservative justices.
Someone else must certainly have written this already, but on Special Report tonight they showed Wesley Clark snarling at David Asman, who had questioned his statement on Meet the Press that Iraq is a "sideshow" (Mr. Asman has a son who's a Marine). Even Mara Liasson said she assumed that the Clark campaign had decided he needed to defend his patriotism and service record more forcefully and that this was just a case of his overreacting when trying to do so. At any rate, they noted that he's dropped from 11% to 4% in NH and Ms Liasson said that the "idea" of his candidacy had seemed good but the execution bad.
In fact, if you think about it, the premise of his military career--being the most political soldier in uniform--has butted up against the premise of his political campaign--the novelty of a Democratic general. If the general were someone like Norman Schwarzkopf, his fundamentally nonpolitical persona and gruff, combative military posture would be a breath of fresh air. Instead, General Clark seems just another politician, one who happens to have been in the military.
Posted by Orrin Judd at November 17, 2003 9:39 PMWere this an old James Bond movie, Wesley would go back to Hillary and tell her he's failed at his mission to disrupt the Dean juggernaut, and Hillary would them press a button and send him into the crocodile pit...
Posted by: John at November 17, 2003 11:43 PMClark appears to be a case of the uniform elevating the man, and so once he's out of uniform he's just another political amateur with an inflated sense of importance.
One comment on the candidates and their labor endorsements, the ones endorsing Dean are the public sector unions (AFSCME, SEIU). They don't seem to care much about trade issues, but do want Big Government. The industrial unions have a natural affinity for Gephardt, and there appears to be a bigger rift between the two camps than we are hearing about in the press.
Posted by: Dave in LA at November 18, 2003 3:49 AMClark said it once himself. I was in the
military for 30 years but I not a "military
man".
Should have said, "I was in the military for
30(?) years but I AM not a 'Military Man'."
No, you had it right the first time, J.H.
Clark's attempts to appear like a politician were feeble at best. You can flatter your way to the top in many organizations, but in the public eye, a silk tongue and a brown nose just don't do it.
The stalking microbe has become the stalking prion. And Howard Dean, the presumptive colossus, is beginning to look more and more like a man whose shirts are a size too small.
Posted by: jim hamlen at November 18, 2003 10:32 AMRush's take today was that the Clintons' will do anything to prevent the Election of a Democrat other than Hillary. They floated Clark for the purpose of having a puppet in the race who could drop out if the prize seemed worthwhile. If Dean walks away with it, Rush expects Billary to subvert Dean.