Is Dean really the man?

[Shananigans]

Although I recognize that the Dean upset in Iowa doesn't mean the end of the campaign trail for Dean, I have started to rethink my stance.

When I first started researchign candidates I was divided between Dean and Edwards. I like them both alot, but in the end I felt that Dean had alot more "oomph" to make it to the top.

It seems in the past few weeks all of the challengers have spit out so much negativity against it makes me wonder if he even stands a chance anymore.

Although he is still my candidate for now, I am seriously considering switching to Edwards. However, this makes me feel like a traditional Minnesota Vikings fan... we love our team when they are bringing home the wins, but as soon as they hit a losing streak we drop them like hotcakes.

What do the rest of you think about Deans chances at the nomination? What are his chances?

[Jack_Dawson]

1. Dean Peaked about a Month Ago

He had a good run. It's over.

[liberalnurse]

7. Then we need to hunker down for another

4 years of *bush......I think the democratic party is in self-destruct mode.

[Jack_Dawson]

11. Edwards, Clark or Kerry would do better against *

than Dean would. I think most people understand this, LN, R.N.

[polpilot]

24. or wait for another to arrive on the scene. 'Least worse' is not an option

Dean '04...

[RetroLounge]

14. Ooooh, the Dean Peaked meme again

10th time this year?

Whatever...

[LuminousX]

20. All the old memes are being recycled lately

You know, maybe Dean has peaked this time. Does that mean he can't turn things around?

[JI7]

2. why not wait to see what happens in new hampshire ?

i'm still not counting dean out on getting first place there. dean still leads in all new hampshire polls.

[Renew Deal]

3. He's finished.

He has become the national joke. I mean, there wasn't a media outlet and almost a TV show yesterday that wasn't mocking Dean. I even heard a radio 24 hour news show get in on it.

"Howard Dean was the first candidate ever to thave an exorcism on stage. All of a sudden he started yelling the demon names and they were states." Now this is with him yelling in the background.

It's time for dems to pick up the peices and move on. Let me ask you, do you think you can see any people taking Dean seriously after the other night? Do you see him as president? I can't. Also, what if it happens again?

[JI7]

4. same was said about kerry

only about a week or days before the iowa caucus people said his campaign was dead. you never k now what will happen.

[Jerseycoa]

22. Not the same

Kerry never faced the national ridicule days before Iowa that Dean is facing days before NH. True, you never know, he is a scrapper and could prevail, but it doesn't really compare to Kerry.

[Oggy]

12. Have you read Plaid Adder's piece today?

I would recommend it if you haven't.

[dreissig]

5. Dean's Not Going Away

It may be that Democrats will be too timid to nominate someone from the Democratic side of the Democratic party. But Dean's not going away. He has already done a tremendous amount of public service even by taking it as far as he has.

I would encourage Dean supporters to stay loyal to the party regardless of the outcome. Go to the polling place in November and vote for Democrats even if you have to leave the top of the ticket blank.

There is a choice here - Dean is offering it. If Democrats aren't up to taking it, don't stop voting for Democrats. Dean will be proven right.

[Zomby Woof]

6. never was, never will be

Sweet vindication. I predicted his demise would be of his own doing, and that he has vapor-thin support outside of the college students maxing out Daddy's credit cards to donate.

[chimpymustgo]

8. Who has the best shot at kicking AWOL back to Crawfrod?

Who has the message and the appeal to get voters all over the country. Who will more voters trust? Who will they like?

We're picking someone to lead our country out of this madness. Bring jobs, health care, address the tax inequality, help restore our role of respected leadership around the world.

OMG - just heard on tv - when voters see Kerry and Edwards they see a little bit of JFK. When they see Howard Dean, they see Bobby Knight.

Dean has served the party well, to help it sharpen it's message and toughen up. But who is ready and able to bring real solutions to Aemrica, and bring Americans together.

Please don't look at this as a matter of loyalty. No - DO think of it as loyalty - but not loyalty to a candidate, rather loyalty to our country.

[eissa]

9. Please, we can't give up

I don't remember seeing any Kerry fans throwing in the towel when their candidate was lagging. Now ours suffered a bit of a blow, and we're questioning everything. What's going to happen when we have a nominee and they get TRASHED by the media/repukes? Are we going to sit on our hands and question if the other side is right? Will we allow ourselves to be deluded by those who want to retain power at all costs? IT'S NOT OVER.

[Jerseycoa]

25. That's the spirit

Kerry supporters are a good model. Team Dean's got to dig in their heels and not give way. If you can't do that, then none of it was real.

[Lefta Dissenter]

10. Who do you think will make a better PRESIDENT?

The campaign only runs into November - we've got four or eight years of the PRESIDENT who gets the nod. Diplomacy, thought, compassion (yes, passion, too), experience... There is so much to look at, beyond how the campaign machine runs.

I'm sure that whoever gets the Dem nomination will get absolutely slammed by Karl Rove and pals, and the Dems will have to fight tooth and nail to win the election. However, once the Dems have united behind a single candidate, it is the future president we are presenting to the nation, not just a campaign organization.

(am I making a bit of sense?)

[creativelcro]

13. Very simple: he's the man.

[CMT]

15. it remains to be seen

He has the $$ and the organization set in several states to continue, but what he needs now is to win somewhere. It is forgotten that Dean is actually 1-1 (a win in DC and a loss in Iowa) and NH is still close, it is closing due to Kerry's win but if Dean wins he will be in the thick of it again. As it is Iowa accomplished this--it eliminated Gephardt, but not Dean. NH could eliminate Dean, but only if he does very poorly. I think Iowa could hurt Clark more in the long run. I firmly believe that Dean will come in either first or a strong second in NH--and I think there is potential for Edwards to come in third. If Clark comes in fourth--that could de-rail his campaign the same way Iowa de-railed Gep.

[Maddy McCall]

16. Dean has blown any chance he had of being elected.

There is no way to repair the damage he has consistently done to himself in the past couple of weeks.

He has alienated the electorate. It's over for him.

[LuminousX]

21. Well then, don't worry about him.

[Democrats unite]

17. deleted

Undecided at this point.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

18. Short answer. Yes.

Dean's chances may be diminishing for the nomination but he is the one candidate that could lead the Democrats out of the wilderness of becoming a pale imitation of the republicans.

You now have a choice between the pro-war, timid, compromising, wing of the Democratic party exemplified by Kerry and Edwards, and a chance to change it and America.

Your choice.

[SeattleRob]

19. it's tough...

Things are tough now. The establishment of both parties have been hammering Dean for weeks and it has now peaked (or sunk) with the horrible attacks on his sanity - many of which are happening right here. I am ashamed of many supposed Democrats.


You know what scares Washington insiders more than anything? Us -We the people! They see us as the "barbarians at the gates." They have a nice club going on in DC and don't want anyone to rock the boat too much. Sure they disagree on many issues and they will slug it out within certain perameters. But if the status quo gets threatened too much, they pull out all their guns.

It's not over for Dean yet, but it is looking very difficult indeed.

I will make this prediction, General Wesley Clark will be next in the mudslinging, character assasination fest. It's starting already and it will only get worse. He's another "outsider" who threatens too much "change."

[Gman]

23. I'm glad to see Dean's electability becoming an issue here at DU

If in the end someone decides he is electable, then fine. But it drives me crazy when people were dismissing the electability issue out of hand for purely ideological reasons. I understand there will still be a handful that will continue to dismiss electability for ideological reasons. But its nice to see this as a general rethinking by people here.

We only get a shot at this every four years. We have to make it count when we can.

[goodhue]

26. nope

But you don't need him to be the man. You the man! Get as many folks as you can and go to your precinct caucus in MN on March 2 at 7pm and vote for whomever you like (I'm assuming you are in MN). Volunteer to be precinct chair, become a delegate to the district convention. Stand up for whatever issues inspire you, be it environment, jobs, education, health care, fair trade, peace, or all of the above. Rather than focus on picking sides, take charge and be the man (or woman). The particular candidate is not so important, it is about the issues for which we are fighting. Politics is not a team sport, its about working for together for positive change.

[Shananigans]

27. I agree...

I need to stop thinking about deserting at this early stage and do what I can do to get folks to go to thier Precinct Caucuses... That not only will be a learning experience for them, but one for myself as well.

You know...all of you people who have come on here to slam Dean have only made me more pissed off. I am upset by all of the negative publicity he has gotten expecially over his speech the other night. I honestly don't see what he said that was so wrong. It makes me ashamed that other Democrats are attacking him like this.

You are exactly like the Republicans who mocked the Wellstone Memorial. They complained endlessly over what happened, and made a mockery of the whole service. All because the Wellstone family did what Paul would have wanted...

I guess I'll see you at the polls...

BTW, Goodhue...nice to meet you! :)

[ACPS65]

28. To be the Dean you gotta beat the Dean, WHOOOO!

.

[robsul82]

29. Well, since people were saying Dean sounded like a wrestler...

...I think I'll quote one.

"To be the man, you have to BEAT the man, and baby? WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I'M the man!"

Later.

RJS

[TreasonousBastard]

30. I haven't the foggiest idea...

what his chances are, and I doubt anyone else really does either.

If he gets over this, the worst thing that's happened to him so far, he'll be one hell of a strong candidate and could be able to get over worse stuff the GOP will start throwing this summer.

I don't like him all that much and I could pile on and gloat, but there's no purpose to that. First, we see what happens in New Hampshire. There's a really tough race for all in the south. Anything can happen, and I suspect Dean already has at least one strike against him down there, along with Kerry. Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, California... who knows how these places are going to go...

Too much happens between now and "then." If you're for Dean, bailing now would seem to be a bit premature. If you must bail, wait and see if things look inevetable.

Or, maybe you'll decide you just like Edwards better. Smart Vikings fans know better than to put money on them some years.