Josh Marshall has a post at Talking Points now that gives his thoughts on Dean's new tactic: saying he's already pushed the other Democratic candidates to be tougher on Bush. Josh doesn't think much of it...
Here's the
link.
What Dean said was that when he got into the race (actually part of the reason he got into the race) was that the other Democrats weren't willing to confront Bush administration or stand up for the values and policies Democrats believe in. But now the other candidates, he says, have come around to his position. They're confronting the White House and standing up for those values and policies and so forth. So now he (i.e., Dean) needs to go back and focus on policy prescriptions, his experience as an executive, and his record in Vermont.
(One of the subthemes the campaign seemed inclined to advance was that with the other candidates coming around to Dean's sort of combativeness, he didn't stand out as much, or his message was muted.)
This strikes me as a really counterproductive approach.
Doesn't it amount to his conceding a good bit of the raison d'etre of his campaign?
If you concede the premise that he has pushed the other candidates in this direction (and there's certainly an argument to be made), then it almost reads like saying he's acheived his historical purpose (pushing the Dems to confront the Bush) and now, well, what's the point? Maybe he pushed them in that direction, but he's not the best one to actually run against Bush. And if Kerry and Clark or Edwards have now adopted Dean's approach, why do you need Dean?
Now I know a lot of people here distrust Marshall b/c of his support of Clark. But I think this is a good point. It's VERY good that Dean is focusing on his record again. But if he's conceding the "I'm the best representative of Democratic values" campaign plank, I think it'll hurt him. What else sets him apart, really? Certainly his biography and record are great, but neither is as compelling as his support for Democratic values when Senators like Kerry, Edwards, and Lieberman were compromising on all of them.