GOP Sees Gephardt as Toughest Rival for Bush*

[kskiska]

Many Say Midwest Is Key to Election

With the strongest union backing and deepest roots in the politically important industrial Midwest, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) is emerging as the Democratic presidential candidate many prominent Republicans fear the most in the 2004 elections.

In interviews with nearly two dozen Republican strategists, lawmakers and state chairmen across the country, including several close to the White House, Gephardt was portrayed by a majority as the Democratic candidate best prepared and positioned to defeat President Bush in a head-to-head matchup next year. The reasons, they said: Gephardt consistently supported the Iraq war, enjoys unrivaled support among union leaders and hails from the Midwest, where many Republicans believe the presidential election will be decided. They also cited his health care plan, experience and discipline as key factors.

"When look at the whole picture and who can get there . . . people are saying Gephardt is the biggest threat," said Rep. Mike Rogers (Mich.), finance chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

A few mentioned retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark as a potentially strong challenger, but every Republican predicted Bush would win reelection. Still, their views about Gephardt (and some of his rivals) highlight the GOP's top concerns heading into 2004: job losses in key swing states, the high number of uninsured workers, the fallout from Bush's steel tariffs and the president's political standing in the industrial Midwest. With his plan to lower the cost of health care for most Americans, "Gephardt has hit on a real Achilles' heel, and he will get traction on it if he becomes the nominee," said Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.).

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55810-2003Oct20.html

[virtualobserver]

1. Republicans fear Gephardt..........

in other news.....

up is down

black is white.

[Guaranteed]

47. Yeah they're only saying that so that Dems will think

"Ooooo they're afraid of Gephardt! That's who I'M voting for!"
That's the ONLY reason they would ever say who they're AFRAID of!! Like Duh?

[blm]

49. Weren't the GOP pollsters "warning" 2 weeks ago that Dean could win?

I don't believe they would make public ANYTHING that truly concerns them.

They only put out publically what they think they can use.

[realFedUp]

2. I suggest they fear the one who will get the most votes

.

[bluestateguy]

3. Gebhart is our Bob Dole

I will support him... for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination.

[SoCalDem]

28. Yep... He is their "dream candidate"..

I hope that people are ready enough to be bold.. Gephardt is a decent person, but he has tried twice before (at least) and he was pretty ineffec tual as minority leader..

It would be nice if the repubes would not try to pick our candidate :(

[demdave]

41. Agreed

[diplomats]

4. Of coure, they all predict Bush will win "reelection"

so why does it matter who we run?

[annxburns]

6. Mike Rogers !!!!!

I am from Michigan and believe me Rep. Mike Rogers (Mich.) could not tell the truth if his children's lives depended on it. He is spouting exactly what the GOP wants him to say ...

[Dr Fate]

5. Bush/media has been stumping for Dick & Holy Joe for months...

...they will not pick our candidate for us, as much as they would like to...

[goforit]

14. LOL!!!..........And only the repugs watch their shows!!!LOL!!!

No they will not pick our candidate!!!

[Voltaire99]

7. Excuse me while I have a good chortle

Gephardt combines the famous dynamism of Walter Mondale with the stirring public oratory of Michael Dukakis, and then, tempting fate, adds the footloose panache of Al Gore.

Poor Dick - so earnest, so conciliatory, so glad to be of use to power, so goddamned dull.

Nominate him only if you want to see Dick Cheney's pacemaker back in the White House in 2005.

[PlanetBev]

8. I hate these GOP head games

What they're saying is "please nominate him, he'll be the easiest to beat". Hey, assholes, didn't you think we'd ever catch on to your bullshit?

[WindRavenX]

15. Pretty much

Dick, while I respect him, is out of his league in this election. He'd best serve in Congress, IMO.

[Dover]

24. Gephardt ? The guy who stood with Bush on Iraq? Mr. Bushlite?

chortlehehehehehahaha. Win one for the Gepper!

[Terran]

45. To be fair

Gephardt generally has excellent Democratic credentials; no way is he "Bush-lite." I wouldn't want him as a candidiate either, but let's not denigrate the man for many long years of at least competent leadership in the House.

[Toucano]

31. Reminds me of the scene in "The Princess Bride"

"Are you the sort of man who would put the poison in his own goblet or his enemy's?"

"Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I'm not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool; you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me."

You know the rest!

[Guaranteed]

46. LOL Yup

or rock/paper/scissors. :)

[pruner]

9. LOL

:)

[leftchick]

35. the media is being used again

Duh! Who in there right mind thinks Gep is a Dem?

[NicoleM]

40. That

was beautiful. I'm sure Gep is a lovely person, but the idea that anyone is afraid of him for any reason is just ridiculous.

[PurityOfEssence]

10. Swing voters have big problems with the old bugaboo of unions

This smacks of a wishful-thinking dirty trick from the right. He's got a lackluster personality, forced delivery that resorts to clunky lines that sound rehearsed and he'll be put on the defensive and kept there. All that's largely superficial, but it'll be a determining factor.

The real issues he'll have are distancing himself from a namby-pamby reputation and recreating himself as a dynamic heroic leader rather than a maleable legislator. I think Karl would love to have him be the guy.

[truthisfreedom]

11. the repugnants are just mad that they have no choice for a candidate.

the bush crime family has seen to that. since they can't choose their own candidate from some REALLY eligible ones, they'd like to choose ours for us. fat chance, thugs.

[Cassandra]

12. I can't...stop...

laughing.

[goforit]

13. Nice try pugs!!!...........They fear DEAN/Clark the most!!!

Thanks for the right direction!!!!

The Challange is on buckos!!!

[blm]

50. 2 weeks ago the GOP said Dean could beat Bush.

So, were they telling the truth then or now? Or neither time?

[stickdog]

16. Republicans say, "We always lie."

Should we believe them or not?

[pasadenaboy]

17. Dick's a good man,

but he is a follower, not a leader. He's always got a finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. he can't lead the party or the nation.

[leesa]

18. No they don't. They just want to pretned that US citizens

want more of the same old BS we have received from the Congress for the past few decades. No more same old, same old. Gephardt is no threat.

[coralrf]

19. Repukes would love to have Gephardt to run against..

so will say that they "fear him" hoping that dumb ass Dems will take the bait.

Wake up. What does your gut say about Gephardt? Mine and the GOP's says the same.

[MoonRiver]

20. Sounds like typical Rove spin...

:boring:
Clark IS Rove's worst nightmare! :kick:

[farmboxer]

21. Bush Would Beat Geppy Easily

not only because Geppy is not a good opponent, but Republicans control the voting machines! No more fair elections in America, since they got away with the first coup!

[David Zephyr]

22. "Please Don't Throw Me In the Briar Patch"

"Please don't choose Gephardt to run against us. He scares us so! Oh, please, oh please don't choose Gephardt."

These fuckers really believe they are clever, don't they?

Richard Gephardt is the Republican's dream opponent.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

42. Aw, gee, David Zephyr!

You stole my line!

(Nice try, Karl Rove. Now if only the DLC and the big money donors don't fall for this trick...)

[shance]

23. There it is! Its Dean or Kerry they're worried about.

Gephardt made Bush and Republicans proud this week by granting them another blank check.

[mikehiggins]

25. Bull

It is possible that the GOP does beleive Gephardt would be a threat but I don't beleive anyone close to Bush's campaign itself does.

There are just too many compromises and history to hang around Dick's neck for him to be seen as anything but a Beltway insider representing the same old line.

And the economy is the thing the Bushies are worried about? If US soldiers are still getting gunned down in Iraq, how many Americans are going to put the economy first?

Americans have survived without national health care for a long time. They aren't going to rally around that flag when there's a war on.

Folks, this election is going to be hard slogging, and Dick is already up to his knees in the mud.

It has to be Clark or Dean, outsiders who can draw voters from all segments of the population.

[CreekDog]

26. The Gep thing is wishful thinking (I wish it weren't)

Mike I totally agree with you.

I actually like Dick Gephardt personally more than the other candidates, but your points are absolutely right. They will take his long and distinguished career and loop it around his neck.

This is not to say that will work against him. I think Gep is pretty genuine.

Nevertheless, the most interesting and powerful candidates this time around seem to be Clark and Dean. Kerry has his moments, but the Washington-taint could really be used against us and keep our guy from gaining traction.

[OneBlueSky]

27. I don't think the Repubs fear any of the Dem candidates . . .

I mean, Bush can become a wartime president any time he wants, they have a huge warchest to attack whomever the candidate turns out to be, and my bet is they have the voting machines locked up in key states and precincts . . . they know they're going to win, because they hold all the cards . . .

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

29. Ha Ha Ha Ha

Funny

[JackSwift]

30. Carol Mosely Braun with Rev. Al as the Veep on the ticket

would beat the Shrub if they got the nomination. But we need to do the work.

[FrenchieCat]

32. I guess the strategery is to keep us confused

Pick another one....this one is not confusing us!

[corarose]

33. Don't make me laugh!

:kick:

[The_Casual_Observer]

34. Oh boy! The cat is out of the bag!

Yep, Geps the one, the one they fear most! We all better hop on this one and ride it into the sunset!

[Guaranteed]

48. LOL exactly!!

That's exactly what they're trying to do.
HOWARD DEAN 2004!!!

[Pompitous_Of_Love]

36. How did it make the paper?

It is somewhat bothersome that this piece of shit RNC spin job made it into print in the Washington Post. Even more disturbing is that it made its way into print in the Washington Post with Jim VandeHei's name on it. This is the kind of reportorial hack work we expect from Steno Sue Schmidt.

[Pompitous_Of_Love]

37. Could be trouble

Actually, now that I think about it, Gephardt could cause considerable problems for the GOP, but not as a presidential candidate. He could put a lot of Congressional seats currently held by Midwestern Republicans into play next year if he backs whomever the eventual Dem nominee is and campaigns actively for him and for other Dem Congressional candidates in the region.

[Ganja Ninja]

38. I thought they all wanted Hilliary?

It's getting easy to see through the lies.

[brainshrub]

39. They Wish!!!

It would be another Conservative v. Conservative-lite campaign. And we all know who the American people will vote for when it comes down to that choice.

[robbedvoter]

43. What? No Lieberman? Bushco is getting cocky - Gephardt -not even Jewish?

But Joe is the most honest (make that the only honest Democrat) - because Faux tells me so! So, the McBride of this election is Gephardt? Watch for phony polls boosting Mr. "I stand with the pResident" Yuck!

[The_Casual_Observer]

44. Since there isn't any candidate that wears a turban an has

a middle eastern accent, I guess Gep is the next best thing!

[leetrisck]

51. And for what reason should we allow the Repukes

to determine our candidate? I think Repukes should run someone besides "Slimy Shrub" - they could come up with much stronger candidates, doncha think?

[Rhiannon12866]

52. I would vote for Gephardt over this illegal Bush* administration

on any day. If he is the nominee, we had better all get behind him. He is a decent man who has stood up for what he believes in, even if we haven't always agreed with him. That, alone, makes him more of a statesman than W will ever be. It is, however, still way to early to tell. Even after Iowa and New Hampshire, there will probably still be too many in the running to hazard a guess.:shrug: