After yesterday's debacle, as a Dean supporter I'm finding myself having to reevaluate my support. Not so much for the loss as for the freaky-deaky performance that he put on afterwards.
So, I've been doing a little research and took a look at the actual questions asked in the Post-ABC poll. I think this is very interesting. There is a section of "Who do you trust to do a better job handling...?" questions. I've extracted them out and put them in a table for you below.
First issue of note. The comparison is between George W. Bush and the Congressional Democrats. I find this really odd, given that George W. Bush is obviously the annointed charismatic leader of the Republicans, whereas 'Democrats in Congress' is not only not a specific charismatic Democrat, but generally members Congress as a group are very often lumped into a group that we will call the Worthless Washinton Politicians.
Even more striking is how 'Democrats in Congress' fares against Bush. In the big general "MAIN ISSUES" question, the the non-charismatic, worthless Washington Democratic politicians are at parity. For _all_ of the domestic/economic issues the aforementioned worthless Democrats are viewed as at parity or substantially better than Bush. That includes TAXES! The only place Bush has significant ground on the Democrats is WAR ON TERRORISM or SITUATION IN IRAQ.
What does this mean? I think it means the following.
- Those Iowan old-fogies are right. We don't need the services of an insurgent campaign like Dean's.
- Bush is really screwing himself on the 'cutesie' domestic issues like prescription drugs and immigration. People can see through these efforts as cynical attempts to neutralize the issues.
- Domestic/economic issues, for any Democrat is below the baseline. Essentially, any Democratic candidate will automatically be viewed as better on domestic issues, including taxes. As long as that candidate stays in the center on those issues, they're a gimme. This is not where the fight is.
- The battle is on the terrorism and Iraq war fronts. A charismatic party leading Democrat, running for president, must have the historical narrative and personality characteristics to persuade the electorate that they would more effectively wrap up the war in Iraq and more effectively prosecute the war on terrorism than Bush. That means he can't be perceived as anti-war, like Dean, and he has to have a military resume, unlike Edwards.
(By the way, this is what Clinton has been saying for the last year, so those of us have been worshiping at the alter of Dean for the last year need to repent and once again pray for forgiveness from The Big Dog.)
So that leaves us with Kerry or Clark.
I like Clark better as a campaigner and he's been raising money like nobody's business. But Kerry was smart enough to not accept matching funds, which is probably the only way to keep up the battle with Bush through the long haul.
Thoughts?
Who Do You Trust? |
Topic |
George W. Bush |
Democrats in Crongress |
MAIN PROBLEMS NATION FACES |
45% |
44% |
THE ECONOMY |
43% |
50% |
TAXES |
43% |
45% |
THE SITUATION IN IRAQ |
56% |
36% |
EDUCATION |
43% |
44% |
PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFITS FOR THE ELDERLY |
35% |
51% |
COST, AVAILABILITY AND COVERAGE OF HEALTH INSURANCE |
33% |
52% |
FEDERAL BUDGET DEFICIT |
36% |
52% |
US CAMPAIGN AGAINST TERRORISM |
60% |
31% |
MEDICARE |
35% |
53% |
IMMIGRATION ISSUES |
38% |
44% |
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