A decided air of self satisfaction prevailed in during the past week in various Washington office suites and at the usual round of dinner and cocktail parties habituated by the usual suspects of the entrenched Democratic Party establishment. Self-satisfaction - gloating if you will - at the apparent success of what is being slowly revealed as a strategically orchestrated effort to stall the momentum of Dr. Howard Dean.
Oddly, there is also a whiff of plausible denial in certain parties' assertions that they were "not part of that group". That begs the question: what group? Details are still sketchy, but it is rumored that a group centered around former Clinton Press Secretary Joe Lockhart has been holding regular meetings to plan and execute an aggressive effort to manipulate the media harangue and establishment crush bludgeoning Dr. Dean.
The stated motive of this cabal is a work-of-the-Lord effort to absolutely prevent the nomination of a candidate deemed unelectable by these establishment types (and thus damage the party). That this logic fails in the face of Dr. Dean's history-making fundraising efforts and his record of practical pragmatics as Governor of Vermont seems of little importance to this entrenched special interest group of Democratic Party insiders. That Dr. Dean's record as Governor makes him the most attractive candidate to a broad coalition of progressive democrats, independents and disillusioned republicans casts doubt on this high toned mission.
The inference is obvious that the real threat Dr. Dean poses is not to the party as a whole but to the carefully cultivated spheres of influence meant to ensure the continued well-oiled performance of the insiders' gravy trains. That these efforts have been conducted in the shadows belies the assertion that Dr. Dean poses a threat to the viability of the party. Let's see if they withstand the light of day.
Howard Dean can beat George Bush. He has won five terms as Governor of Vermont, delivered balanced budgets, delivered on promises to make healthcare accessible to the broadest range of Vermont's citizens, and energized a new wave of voters. Does any serious Democrat really think that John Kerry's lifestyle of private islands, compounds and private jets predicated on his wife's wealth, and his non-record of accomplishment in the Senate, Wesley "the national security candidate" Clark, having been relieved of his command by Bill Clinton, and John Edwards' one term inexperience in the U.S. Senate, makes them more viable?
