With all the clamor for narrowing and 2 man races, I wanted to take a moment and give my impressions, regardless of candidate support, what the major candidates brought to the table in our unified battle to beat Bush this Fall.
My short assessments -
Graham - Attacked Bush on Iraq from the Intelligence perspective. Not particularly effective but gave some cred and space to others to more effectively pursue this line. Plus for ABB Campaign
Mosely Braun - Dignity, some insights. Not much else in my view. Others sure ot have different opinion. Not much to the ABB Campaign.
Gephardt - "Miserable failure." A good line and a focus on Bush's domestic issue failures. Anyway, I have a soft spot for Gep, so I give him pluses for his contributions to the ABB Campaign.
Lieberman - Nada. Zip. Zilch. A drag on the ABB Campaign. I detest him and his sanctimonious crap. A negative to the ABB Campaign.
Sharpton - Not much. Frankly, I think I've seen his work too many times now. Neutral.
Kucinich - Good man, great attacks on Bush, like some of his ideas, some not. Plus. Aside- the Media never gave the guy a fair shot.
The Final 4 - as of today
Clark - my guy, but forget that for a moment. Clark gave the Dems some gravitas on national security, has launched withering attacks on Bush regarding issues others would not -in particular criticizing Bush for his pre-9/11 performance, an attack line that no other Dem has followed, but that has had some effect blunting 9/11 as a Bush issue.
He has hurt us in the ABB Campaign by raising Kerry's Vietnam vet profile (remember, I don't think Kerry is the most electable candidate), but had to to put him self in the race, the military background being critical to Clark's appeal.
Has ripped Bush on Iraq, with the chops and creibility to do it. Has not steppped back an inch on this.
Finally, brought Michael Moore to the fray, and Moore has launched the AWOL story to prominence. I give Clark a small up on this because he did not disavow Moore's central thesis, that Bush missed time in the national guard. Would not bite on the AWOL vs. Deserter false issue that the Media tried to develop. Now everyone is in the act, including idiots like Imus, who ripped Clark on this, and NOW rips Bush on this.
Edwards - Positive campaigning. ABB Campaign? - Uh, neutral in my view. Though others may give props for "2 Americas."
Kerry - The vessel for ABB. In my view, has not brought much of anything to the table. Neutral at best. In my view, negative because of the Iraq War vote, and susbequent statements against Dean when Saddam was captured. Has "won" by showing up.
Dean- the star and the story of this cycle and the centerpiece to the ABB Campaign, even if not as the nominee. Dean, to repeat the cliche, gave Dems their voice back.
The MVP of the Democratic Party period. Fact is without Dean, Kerry would have no chance of beating Bush this year.