Washington will star in second surge of Demo White House voting

[Freddie Stubbs]

By DAVID AMMONS / Associated Press

After the dust settles from the hype and hoopla of Iowa and New Hampshire, Democrats with White House ambitions will turn to Washington state and a handful of others as the next early, pivotal battlegrounds.

Washington has jettisoned a statewide presidential primary once scheduled for March 2, but has set up an intriguing — and early — showdown on Feb. 7, with Iowa-style caucuses for the Democratic faithful.

By all accounts, the national front-runner to take on President Bush, scrappy former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, is favored to win in Washington, setting up his first West Coast beachhead.

"Dean has exponentially more going on here than anyone else," says state Democratic Chairman Paul Berendt.

more: http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D804QSN00.html

[Bucky]

1. Scrappy? Dean is scrappy?

Dang, that's a tacky thing to say. He's feisty, not scrappy.

Nah, seriously, this is the sort of one word shiv that keeps us from grabbing ahold of middle class loyalties. I hate it when the press does this sort of thing to us.

[Freddie Stubbs]

2. I don't think that it is a bad word

Unless you think of this guy: