Stories about Howard Dean's winter in Aspen after he got a medical deferment during the Vietnam War have been around for months -- though not as long as stories about George W. Bush going
AWOL during the same period. So why did the Denver Post choose today to run as its lead story a
hit piece about Aspenites' recollections of Dean that winter as a "pot smoker" and "loser"?
Well, it probably has something to do with the fact that two of Colorado's neighboring states have primaries on Tuesday. (If touching at the Four Corners counts as "neighboring," then Arizona makes three neighbors with primaries on Tuesday.) I know the Post is circulated in New Mexico; don't know about Oklahoma but I wouldn't be surprised if the story gets picked up there too.
So who is behind this? The story mentions that Dean's service record (or lack thereof) "has been noted in the competition for the Democratic presidential nomination against candidates such as combat veterans Wesley Clark and John Kerry." Hmmm, Chris Lehane works for who now?
[Full disclosure: I am an Edwards supporter but hardcore ABB.]
Of course I can't prove anything. But if this is what is smells like, an inside job from one of the other Democratic campaigns, there is a lesson to be learned. The So-Called Liberal Local Media won't miss the chance to bash Democrats generally. See the end of the article, where the Post points out that Aspen's "famed limousine liberals" back Dean because of his antiwar stance. Aspen is part of our base, and it is a hotbed of anti-Bush feeling. Doesn't do our side any good to see those people get trashed.