Dean charges ahead

I don't intend to let this become another Dean blog, but he is the only serious presidential candidate campaigning full-bore these days.

"The threshold for what America does militarily has got to be higher than anyone else's," Dean is saying. "America has always set the moral tone in foreign policy. And if we attack a nation unilaterally that's not a threat to us, it means that someone will try the same thing, somewhere down the line, and justify it by our actions."

Regardless of the outcome of the war, Dean's message remains salient. We, as a nation, have single-handedly united the world in opposition. Not because they are wrong and we are right, or vice-a-versa, but because we have turned our back to our global neighbors, antagonizing foe and ally alike. And for what? To show we are the baddest guys on the block.

Congratulations. We proved that in Kosovo. In Afghanistan. But we did so while working for consensus, in concert with our partners and multilateral institutions. How far we have fallen: Bush and his neocon minions are drunk with power, arrogantly sneering at whomever may stand in their way.

Of all our candidates, Dean is the only one giving voice to this very stark truth -- one that is salient whether things go well or poorly in Iraq.

And in New Hampshire, Dean's voice is being heard loud and clear. In the latest poll out of NH, Dean is now statistically tied with Kerry for the lead (Feb numbers in parenthesis).

Kerry 23 (23)
Dean 22 (16)
Gephardt 15 (15)
Lieberman 12 (10)
Edwards 3 (3)
Graham 1 (1)
Undecided 20 (27)

Looking at the numbers, it's clear that Dean is getting the lion's share of his new support from the "undecided" column. Lieberman is hanging tough, getting strong support from pro-war Democrats. Edwards is pitiful.

Posted March 21, 2003 06:37 PM | Comments (65)