I know Howard Dean was supposed to be a psychopathic madman who couldn't control his temper. I know he was too liberal, didn't have enough foreign policy experience, was a draft dodger, and was polarizing the Democratic Party.
But I'll say this: Howard Dean stuck to his beliefs and that is what is killing Kerry. From a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll:
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"After weeks of Bush campaign attacks accusing Kerry of flip-flops on issues, voters were evenly split, 44 percent to 44 percent, over whether the senator "means what he says and says what he means."
On the same question, 56 percent of voters said Bush means what he says, while 42 percent said they disagreed with that statement.Â"
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This might seem like a pretty minor thing. But, talking to people at my college, I get the impression most people don't like Kerry specifically because he is perceived as a flip flopper. Many of these people will still vote against Bush, but they aren't voting for Kerry. This isn't a liberal school, not by any strech. It's mostly Republican, working-class and located in central Pennsylvania. I strongly believe the most important thing is having something people can believe in, not just be against. And let's be honest: he is. He made what he thought was a strategically wise, but morally wrong, vote on the Iraq war. He wasn't willing to stand up to the Bush Administration, until he was given a spine impact by Howard Dean. Now, he looks slightly foolish trying to explain why he's saying and doing the things he is now.
This isn't sour grapes. I didn't work for the Dean campaign, never gave him money, anything like that. I'm just worried we might be shooting ourselves in the foot come Novemeber.