Why Dean's Iowa showing doesn't matter
... and might even be a blessing From a comment by Chad Robinson to a Billmon post on this:
On the good side:
You know what the truth of the matter is? Dean was not going to fix all of our problems and bring forth a paradise of Heaven on Earth repleat with a choir of angels and dewy sunlight pouring over the endless fields of ambrosia and groves of whatever would look most picturesque. Wasn't going to happen. If elected, his job is to reverse specific policy decisions implemented by the current administration and their supporters in Congress... that's it. That's all any of us want him for. Clark, Edwards or Kerry can do exactly the same if they win.This really is it in a nutshell. Stop the bleeding. Stop the craziness. The rest of that stuff about Heaven on Earth? Well, we'll get to that, ... but first things first. And the first thing is cleaning up the mess.
So if you're for Dean, stay with him. Someone else? Stay with him. This whole thing has just begun.
On the good side:
- More media: Spending more on the primary means spending less on the general election, BUT, there is a LOT of free publicity coming with all of this media attention, and a tight primary will create a lot more of it than one that is decided early.
- Less media: Up until now, the press has been on a feeding frenzy against Dean, supposedly because of his front-runner status. With Dean's third place showing, any attempts by them to continue this will show their efforts to be personal instead of professional. Further, they can't simply transfer their venom to Kerry because Clark and Lieberman are now in the race and have good head starts in New Hampshire.
- Less Karl Rove: Rove now has the same problem that the media has. If he keeps going after Dean, it will be totally obvious that Dean is who he fears most. On the other hand, if goes after others but leaves some of them out, he'll be sending an equally clear message of who he doesn't fear. And if he goes after no one, well then we'll just have the nightly news to ourselves for a week!
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