Josh Marshall says Iowa and N.H. carry good news for all Dems

[lancdem]

Yet for all Democrats I think there are some very promising signs coming out of these two contests. There was a lot of talk for months about the divisions in the Democratic party. And certainly there was something to that. But that wasn't what was happening on the ground here. I heard most of the candidates repeatedly. And the differences between them are matters of mild shading. The important differences are retrospective rather than prospective.
There has also been the beginnings of a revolution in the way Democrats organize and raise money. It didn't start with Dean and I don't think it will end with him. But he and his campaign have played a huge part is catalyzing and accelerating it.
Look also at turnout. Iowa and New Hampshire both saw huge surges in turnout. A good bit of that is due to there not being a Republican contest. But not all of it. Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are seriously energized and not just by their particular candidates but by their desire to turn George W. Bush out of office.
We'll be turning our attention now to the new funny-business over WMD, the Plame investigation, and the administration's desperate attempts to come up with any plan for Iraq that can be reconciled with the 2004 election calendar.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com

[tishaLA]

1. Yeah but he also says

that Edwards and Clark's campaigns are on "life support" and that things are worse for Dean than he said last night--and what he said last night was NOT good.

This is news I don't care to hear today.

[lancdem]

2. I posted this because he's talking about the big picture

that goes beyond individual candidates, and others touched on that last night when they discussed the record turnout.

[tishaLA]

5. I appreciate that. Really.

I'm very happy for the party and everything this campaign has meant vis-a-vis rundraising, enthusiasm, message, aggression, etc. And that's the most important thing. I just don't want to hear about buried candidates today or read about the inevitability of Kerry's nomination just yet.

[NashVegas]

3. I Don't Think He Sees Everything That's Going On

He's got a great voice, great column, etc., but Josh has been known to miss the forest through the trees up until it's right on top of him, too late, before.

[KoKo]

4. Agree, Crisco. He really got the Iraq Invasion wrong. He though Saddam

had WMD. But, I always enjoy his blog.