Seeing as how a Dean-Clark candidacy seems increasingly unlikely, both as Howard Dean starts to slip from front-runner status (by allowing himself, time and again, to be lured into 'petty politics' and reactionary self-defense, diluting his anti-establishment appeal, as well as a natural result of the race solidifying against a candidate who rose to the top largely on just one issue (Iraq), which most Americans disagreed with him on, and who has attacked the Party Establishment, which fears, above all, for its power) and as Clark's "anti-Dean" campaign picks up momentum (and sizeable contributions from the aforementioned Establishment), a crazy idea that popped into my head is that Clark and Kerry might join forces to combat Dean, rather than going down divided.
The reason I think this might happen is because even if, after Clark's blunder on staying out of Iowa (which I think he would have won), Kerry beats him in New Hampshire, Clark has much more money and voter appeal than the Senator, and Kerry, who probably doesn't think Clark is unelectable the way he thinks Dean is, might throw in the towel and agree to run as Clark's VP. They would be a sort of modestly pro-Invasion of Iraq/Vietnam hero duo, both with the support of the Clintonite Establishment that Dean has been attacking, and they would have a lot of right-wing voter appeal (Clark is a long-time Republican and a Southerner, not to mention Four-Star-General-Allied-Commander-in-Chief, who suddenly switched Dem to run against Bush, and Kerry is a right-wing Democrat straight from the Party Establishment in Washington who supported Bush on Iraq).
Clark's aloofness, voter appeal and unclear stance on Iraq give him just enough manouverability to take just about anyone as running mate (who's willing), and he is likely to reckon that Kerry gives him much more appeal to the average American than Dean, not to mention the fact that he can count on most Dean supporters to come out and obediently vote for him against Bush anyway, no matter how much he panders to the right over the next year.
It might be just another crazy idea, but if Kerry ends up running alongside Clark, who wins the nomination, then I'll feel like a fucking genius for calling it this early.
Not that I want that to happen. The only Democrat who has a chance at the nomination who I would be willing to vote for is Dean - the only one who presents a clear (though still centrist) alternative to the current Administration. I don't think Kerry and Clark would have even come out in support of gay civil unions if Dean hadn't done so first... regardless of the final outcome, the man has already done a great deal to revitalize the Democratic Party, and I hope that all my predictions prove to be false and he gets his shit together and wins the nomination.
