Iowa Governor says that Edwards could...

Turn the Iowa caucus into a four way race.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/08/19/national1753EDT0734.DTL

In calling election results well before the events actually occur.

Remember, in Augist 1991, BIll CLinton was at 2 percent in the Iowa polls as well as being at or near the bottom of many other polls. A recent Wall Street Journal article point out that while Dean is an outsider, as many other Governors who won the presidency were, all Dean is riding on now is his stance on Iraq, which was nothing prophetic, adn as a matter of fact, is the exact opposite position of the one that Bill Clinton took over a year before the elections. Clinton ignored the war and stuck to the economy, and it propelled him into the WHite House. Iraq is a one trick pony approach, and it is all Dean has, as his record in Vermont is mediocre at best, extrememly conservative, and he did relatively little to improve the state or its economy or the status of its middle class...

The Dean base largely is what pollster Stan Greenberg calls
the "secular warriors" -- largely white, middle- to upper-middle
class, non-church going, non gun-owning voters. With his singular --
among major candidates -- opposition to the Iraq war, he became the
favorite of more Democrats who intensely dislike and mistrust George
W. Bush, dating back to the 2000 election controversy. Dean campaign
chief Joe Trippi argues his camp's growing band of supporters are not
only anti-Bush and anti-war, and anti-Washington insider, but are
willing, even eager, to make sacrifices for a greater good.

But there is more than a little peril to being elevated so soon. "All
the other Democrats have a common agenda: Stop Howard Dean," notes
Mr. Trippi. The Jimmy Carters and George McGoverns had a year to hone
their messages, see what worked and what didn't, with little
scrutiny. Dr. Dean now is being held to a higher performance
standard; witness the celebrated grilling he got a few weeks ago on
Meet The Press from Tim Russert. (The candidate thinks that was a
good experience and the campaign raised about ten times more money on
that day than it usually does on Sundays.)

But the Dean demeanor will be scrutinized in the months ahead. He's
prone to bouts of petulance -- as governor, he would veto bills
because he was mad at the legislature -- stubbornness, and a penchant
for petty or abrasive comments. Even his followers reacted negatively
when he attacked John Kerry during a South Carolina debate. This week
he charged Joe Lieberman and Dick Gephardt had "disrespected" the
NAACP merely for not showing up at its conference in Miami.

For the party, the biggest concern ironically could be the issue that
propelled Dr. Dean into the limelight -- Iraq -- although he looks
pretty prescient today. The Sept. 11 terrorism revived the Cold War
criterion that a presidential candidate must be competitive on the
national security issue; that wasn't the case after the Berlin Wall
fell, as Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both defeated candidates
with better credentials.

http://www.michiganfordean.com/news/wsj_071703.htm

In The Hunting of the President, Conason and Lyons lay some foundation for why Republicans hated and feared Clinton. They feared him because he was electable, but they hated him because he understood the way right wingers use economics to further their agenda (which is, basically, rip of the poor and middle class to make themselves richer, and use wedge issues -- like race in AR -- to get the people they hurt to vote for them).

Conason and Lyons describe how Clinton didn't like how Stephens, Inc. (for whom Wesley Clark worked before his current job) had a monopoly on issuing bonds for public works projects. Because they had a monopoly, the state was getting ripped off, with the money going into the pockests of privateers meaning that less was going into the projects taxpayers were funding (ie, it was a big transfer of public money to private hands). Clinton started a government bond issuing department with which Stephens, Inc. had to compete. Ultimately, it ended up saving taxpayers millions (and maybe billions) and all the money saved went into building government infrastructure which greased the skids of commerce for (and made wealthier and happier) millions of people other than Stephens, Inc. bond brokers.

Now, conservatives pretend they don't like big government because it's bad for the people. They don't like the government doing good things for the people because it's bad for the private profits of a very few people with connections to people in power. So, Clinton made it on to the Republican hit list.

To me, that Republicans are really all about making money for the cronies (and care about the wedge issues only to the extent that it can help them make the money for their friends) makes me wonder why the hell some Democrats just focus on the wedge issues. Like Clinton knew, there's one thing at the top of the Republican pyramid, and you have to aim for that. I don't understand how anyone can get excited about candidates who, not only don't aim for that, but actually participate in the rip off inherent in cronyism and policy which shift public wealth to the private hands of a small group of insiders.

i agree, that's why they probably hated clinton so much. although clinton never really participated in their kind of attacks. he kept and continues to keep the message on the economy, and how the right wing only cares about those at the top and would treat those who actually work like crap. he does a good job of exposing them.

I know some Missourians are responding to him.

But his ads are phenomenal. And Vilsak sees something there. That's an important eye to have caught.

about 15 mil to 20 mil, easy. Edwards is going to have to spend that much of his own money to get anywhere close to the publicity the media gives away for free to Dean.

He is a workhorse and his efforts and innovative thinking have paid off. Edwards may be telegenic, but he is not inspiring the base to follow him. Dean is.

The only thing that propelled Dean to the front of Edwards, was his stance on the war in Iraq. The economy is becoming one of the most important policies... A Dean - Edwards team will look good to many of our nations citizens in the next election....Education, health care, and getting the Iraqi thing settled is in most people minds. Link theme with an excellent cabinet such as Goor as Secretary of State Kerry for Attorney General...and this party would look very tall, and who is to say Kerry or any of the others wouldn't be a good match. This old lady is waiting for the cream to rise to the top and then taken by the democrat party, then she will support , as I hope all other democrats will do.

his attacks on the other Democrats early on. They ignored Kucinich's real antiwar stand in favor of Dean's pseudo antiwar claims (he actually supported the Biden-Lugar version of the resolution).

Candidates who haven't received the limelight, but have been laying down their groundwork, will now benefit from that work in upcoming months, imo.