clark

This poll, by Newsweek shows Dean statistically tied for the lead among the Democratic candidates. This is the first national poll, I've seen with Dean in the top tier. Several New Hampshire and Iowa polls show him doing this well, but this is the first national one.

The current poll:
Dean - 12%
Gephardt - 14%
Lieberman - 13%
Kerry - 10%

More startling is the comparison with a similar poll Newsweek conducted in January, with the results as follows:

Dean - 4%
Gephardt - 13%
Kerry - 13%
Lieberman - 22%

Dean's numbers tripled, whereas Lieberman's were almost reduced by half. Gephardt and Kerry were stagnant.

The Washington Post has a story about it here.

The Dean campaign has wheels! Everything seems to be heading in the right direction .

THOUGHTfully Yours,
Clark

ex-idaho

I'm surprised to see Kerrey with only 10% and I would wager that the media is surprised as well. Most everyone in the media has stated from the beggining that Kerrey was the one to beat and now it seems Gephardt has jumped ahead.

speters

I'd love to see Dean win it, except for one thing--he wouldn't stand a chance in the general election because he's too far to the left.

ex-idaho

Just keep repeating that media lie. Dean is far from the left. He is a fiscal conservative that has made nary a liberal move in his political career. So he signed a bill allowing civil unions in Vermont but he did under duress and primarily because the Vermont Supreme Court ordered that the state had to grant gays the same legal recognition as heterosexuals. Yes, he provided health care for every Vermonter under 18 but so did the Republican governor of Idaho the most conservative state in the union. So he opposed the war in Iraq but so did Bob Novak the prominent conservative pundit, so did Dick Armey the former Republican Senator from Texas.

Dean is a populist that appeals to progressives because he speaks his mind regardless of the political consequences. If you keep repeating the lies from the media and the right then you won't see him win the general election. This notion that any candidate is not electable is such utter bullshit. Any candidate can be elected if those that support are willing to work for him and then vote for him. If you really beleive that Dean is the man for the job then get off your ass and volunteer. Go out and preach the Dean gospel and most of all vote! Stop making excuses for the status quo.

Sauron

I also understand that Dean has a 100% approval rating from the gun nut lobby (NRA). Hard to square that with being too far left.

RED DAVE

Dean also favors capital punishment under some circumstances. I'll try for a point-by-point analysis of his program, soon.

RED DAVE

dcwolf

He's for state's rights on gun laws and civil unions.

Mr. Superbad

I think he deserves more credit than that. He came out in favor of the ruling an hour after it, didn't allow it to be studied for a year or the Vermont constitution to be amended (like it was in other states that had similar rulings), and basically pushed the issue before an election because he felt it was the right thing to do. Lots of dems lost their jobs over it, and he had to wear a bullet proof vest for a while.

ex-idaho

I agree that he deserves credit for signing the bill but not that much. Like I said the bill was the result of Vermont Supreme Court ruling. The state legislature was warned by Dean that he would not sign any bill that ok'd "gay marriage" and when he did sign the civil unions bill he did it outside the spotlight only holding a brief press conference afterward. It wasn't like he was out there giving speeches about the disenfranchised gay couples of America. He does deserve credit for signing it and then standing up for it after the fact.

Sakpo

I'm tired of the ideas, mentioned here, that one can't be a leftist and support firearms rights or, to a limited extent at least, capital punishment. Dean isn't left wing at all, I agree, but that's mostly because of his "fiscal conservatism" as far as I'm concerned. I believe people should be allowed to own guns, and that that as long as the 2nd Amendment stands, that right, in America, ought not to be infringed. And I believe some scumbags ought to be hanged or shot or whatnot, at least in my theory. My problem is not with the concept of execution for heinous crimes, it's with how it's carried out in practice. Other than that, my views would probably have most rating me fairly left wing (abolishment of private ownership over the means of production, of national infrastructure, massive wealth redistribution, anti racism, major democratic reform in the political system, environmentalism, etc).

Anyway, as has been said, Dean isn't left wing. But it's because of how he has attacked welfare and such, as far as I'm concerned. I don't think issues liek gun control/gun rights and capital punishment should be seen as being as tied to sides of the left/right spectrum.