"Decision 2004: ABD vs. ABBA (Anyone But Bush Again)"

[madison]

I am starting to get very depressed. With the trailing Democratic candidates savaging Howard Dean because he is leading in the polls and in supporter enthusiasm, all Karl Rove and the Republicans will have to do during the general election is play tapes of the Democratic candidates criticizing Dean. The Republicans won't need to spend any of their vast treasure creating new TV commercials; they can just run tapes of the ABD (Anyone But Dean) crowd and Bush will win the election.

Is that what Americans really want? - another four years of George W. Bush? To be followed by eight years of Jeb Bush? To be followed by eight more years of Bush hand-picked candidates? Is that really what the ABD crowd wants?

If so, we are all so many dead fish in the barrel.

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-- following excerpts from:

"Decision 2004: ABD vs. ABBA " at: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17470

by Don Hazen
AlterNet
December 30, 2003

<In fact, as The New York Times reported on December 26, the Bush team believes that Dr. Dean's rivals are "doing a great job" for the current President's re-election campaign. Republican strategists say that if Dean is nominated, they will portray him as "reckless, angry and pessimistic," while keeping the President's message upbeat. "They plan to use the Democrats' words to attack Dean in their ads, meanwhile keeping Bush personally above the fray." >

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<The vociferous and seemingly coordinated nature of the attacks on Dean, and the absence of any intervention by the Democratic establishment, are raising questions as to what exactly is at play behind the scenes. Is it, as one top national union organizer suggested, that some of the Democratic candidates would rather see a second term for Bush than Howard Dean in the White House?>

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<Meanwhile, Dean remains the candidate asking the toughest questions and garnering the most media attention as a result. Over the past two weeks, his frankness has been re-characterized by his opponents, and by the media, as so-called "loose lips."

For example, he recently drew fire for stating that "the capture of Saddam hasn't made us safer." In retrospect his comments appear prescient; the Christmas time Orange Alert still in effect did not signal any reduction in the administration's fears of terrorists. American soldiers continue to die in Iraq -- four on Christmas Day alone -- while terrorist bombs killed many in Israel, Afghanistan and, particularly, in Pakistan, in the past week. A recent national poll showed that 79 percent of Americans do not believe the invasion and occupation of Iraq have made us safer. >

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<As Stephen Zunes wrote in a recent AlterNet article, "To have virtually the entire Democratic House leadership openly criticize a policy statement made by their own frontrunner appears unprecedented." >

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We need to fire back every time a Democratic candidate makes it harder for us to win the 2004 election. We need to write and phone the Democratic candidates and tell them to stop bashing the front-runner. They should be spending their time telling us what is good about them, and not undercutting the chances of whoever is the front-runner.

It's up to us; we need to take measures to stop this hemorrhaging.

What the Democratic candidates are doing to Dean is NOT legitimate political campaigning - it is political suicide.

This is an election like no other election in American history as far as the danger to our democracy.

We need to think about this.

PLEASE.

[pocoloco]

1. You have good reason to be depressed!

It seems there is a movement to defy reason and deliver a sacrificial
lamb for slaughter to the alter of carl rove!!

[ryharrin]

3. Exactly!

Why are are these people trying to stop our strongest candidate, and deliver up someone like Kerry, Lieberman Gephardt, or Clark that Bush will beat badly.

[mikehiggins]

4. Because we don't think he's our strongest candidate.

How hard is that to understand?

I gather you find it hard to understand that we are not overwhelmed by the wonderfulness that is Dean, but you should be able to understand that in our lamentable state we can be forgiven for thinking him a run-of-the-mill small state politician who hit upon a new and engaging method of campaigning, and is running strong as a result.

This is the process. If Dean is really that good he should be able to win overwhelmingly in the primary elections and walk into the convention with the nomination wrapped up. If not, if he can't do that after all the buzz and all the fundraising and all the polls, then how does he claim to be our "strongest candidate"?

We think he is essentially a mediochre candidate with a good act but it is doubtful that act will be able to win him enough states to put an electoral majority together.

We'll see in a few weeks or so.

[HFishbine]

2. Won't work

The repukes may like what they're seeing in the dem party right now, but the TV ads you fear will never materialize. An ad showing losers criticizing the nominee would be innefectual. Think about it. Did you see ads of Bill Bradley critisizing Gore, or Paul Tsongas critisizing Clinton? Nope. It would be a waste of money to run "sore loser" ads.

[Kathleen04]

5. Agreed..

it just won't happen. Whoever is the eventual nominee..regardless of all the criticism that has been given, I think that the others will get behind the nominee and either have something positive to say or they'll keep quiet.

[mzmolly]

6. I agree.

Thanks for the post :hi: