When I first heard this I was hoping it was just rumors, but now it seems to be true (or at least it's being treated as true). I'm just aghast at this choice by Dean. In my opinion this is a
horrible strategy.
I understand that he's low on money, but a couple of these states are very friendly terrain for him. Arizona and New Mexico in particular due to his gun stance. If I were him I'd put in effort in those two states, bypass MO and maybe only put a token effort in SC and elsewhere. But I wouldn't just skip them completely.
I guess the idea that he's just going to skip them and then pick up February 7th and follow up with wins in Michigan? I think the strategy is just crap. The other candidates are going to be riding momentum off the February 3rd wins and that's going to cut into Dean's support elsewhere.
This optimism of him riding his grassroots "hardcore" support to 2nds and 3rds is just that: optimism. I'm sorry but Deaniac optimism has been proven wrong on every occassion so far. Remember 65% in DC? 33% in Iowa, a blow-out in New Hampshire?
I don't think anyone in their right mind would claim this is a good strategy (some koolaid drinkers will, but what else is new?). If anything this is just proof that Dean is broke. And I'm talking nearly $0 because otherwise he wouldn't have pulled all the ads.
Even as a Dean supporter, at this point I'm thinking that he will not win a single state and will drop out well before Super Tuesday. That or he hangs in until the end, but wins nothing. Either way, what's the point?
The only chance he has is if Kerry/Clark/Edwards split all the states, thus fracturing any momentum between them. On the other hand, in that case there's a danger Dean could slip down to Lieberman status.