This is the best nominating process in many years, probably since 1968, at least for the democrats.
I think the press has wanted for weeks to take Dean down a notch or two to keep it interesting. Iowa is the result.
There was nothing wrong with the Iowa "rebel yell", it was at a pep rally for his supporters, and just shows him to be a little more human than the more rigid Washington candidates. Conservatives and anybody-but-Deaners can suck it for a week or so before it rots.
Glad to see Gephardt gone, he was fooling himself but few others, and his message was old and boring. Hopefully Lieberman will quit after NH too.
After the debate last night, and with his favorable appearances on Diane Sawyer and David Letterman last night, Dean may finish second in NH behind Kerry.
I'm surprised Wes Clark isn't looking better since he's been campaigning there exclusively for two weeks. Wes had some good lines at the debate, he's looking more like a "real democrat" every day.
Edwards impresses me more when he's scowling and pissed, as when he was speaking about Bush at the debate last night. His optimism is fakey to me, this country is a real mess and it's people are confused. Edwards is relatively untested as a politician and will have a tough time playing to the party base, which needs to galvanize behind the nominee and work energetically. He's Reyna's second choice now, and for me he's gaining on Clark but I still think Clark expresses more essential anger and shows willingness to finger Bush for intentionally misleading the nation.
Righteous anger is why I still prefer Dean at this point in the process. If he's the nominee, he will have to move to the center and tame his rhetoric. That's how he governed Vermont, a fiscal conservative who balanced the budget. And he's pro-gun, whichcould allow the democrats to win back about 4 states (WV, MO, TN, AR) for the democrats relative to Kerry or Edwards.
Sadly, the frontrunner Kerry seems to me a sure loser against Bush, an egotistical faker who did some courageous things 30 years ago. He's just a 7 foot Dukakis, the Republican's dream opponent. The media will frame the debate in Bush's favor so it won't be over military service."Tax and spend liberal" will be the drum beat just like 1988. Yet it's Bush that's doing all the spending, while shifting taxes to the states. Dean and Edwards get that and know how to talk about it, Kerry doesn't.