Who Can Beat Him ?

[M]

It's Joe, of course. Under the right circumsatnces he would be the overwhelming victor. With Bush the incumbent, he needs to run a good campaign and Bush a bad one. But it's doable. He realizes the fundamental truth that, my goodness, people, we're in the middle of a war? Am I the on;y one who still remembers those planes flying into the Twin Towers?

But Joe would never get nominated. The Dems don't want a patriot right now. They want someone angry, vindictive, and fundamentally anti-American. Well, they're gonna get him. And then they're gonna have to live with the results.

[M]

And you ask why you can't win the South! "There are no patriots left"- sheesh!

Um, the country thinks we're at war. Joe Lieberman is, in fact, not a conservative. The kind of politics that views Joe and McCain as political conservatives is very radical. Not designed for winning elections. If the republican core castrated Rudi and Arnold as liberals, they would be iin big trouble. But Rudi is accepted by the GOP, and the Dems want to evict Joe and Evan Bayh. (To say nothing of Zell Miller!) Many Dems even see Gephardt and Edwards, even Jofn Forbes Kerry, as too conservative!

So, are you losing cause you're liberal and we're conservative? No! In that case we'd both be unpopular. You're losing because we hold the center, as you did in the 90s.

Did FDR lead a fear campaign? Some of his contemporaries said he did. They didn't do well at the polls. They are remembered as hateful revisionists, or worse.

[M]

I should clarify what I mean when I say Dean and some other Dems come across as anti-American. I see that without explanation it can across as me saying something really horrible. They convey a general idea that the USA is not unique as a nation, even compared to other democracies. This idea of The USA as a "city on a hill" was a key part of the successes of candidates from both parties, including JFK, Ronal Reagan, and George W. Bush, among many others. Dean, however, see,s to view the USA as one among the nations, as in, "if France says its wrong, there word has as much value as ours, since they're just another country like us". Right or wrong, (and I think it's wrong), that just doesn't sell.

[M]

Yes, my feelings about Edwards are that he lacks substance, otherwise he would be an impressive candidate, although still with weak spots (trial lawyer, position on war not clearly defined). I agree that he would be stronger with another Senate term, but mainly I have found that he has been a bit clueless about the issues and simply wave all that hair around and uses his magnificently Southern accent. I think that has changed recently, although I do not know if he can recover lost ground. He was pretty good in the debate this week. He also seems to be poor at some of the basic campaign mechanics, ie shaking hands, picking up names, etc.