What has caused Kerry and Edwards to surge in Iowa?

[_Jumper_]

I am curious as to how they have suddenly become contenders for the win there.

Note: Edwards and Kerry are my second and third choices respectively. I am very happy to see them doing well.

[mopinko]

1. dirty tricks

and smears

[Democrats unite]

6. Got that right

They backfired on Dean & look what happened.

[Dookus]

9. To be honest...

I've seen very very little in the way of dirty tricks and smears. Criticisms? yeah, sure. Attacks? Kinda.

Overall, though, I don't think this race has been dirty at all. Dirty is push-polling in South Caroline to inform people of John McCains "nigger daughter".

All in all, whatever criticisms or distortions that have been thrown out in this race, by ALL teams, is historically very mild.

[PassingFair]

10. and bogus

...polls

[JohnLocke]

35. Evidence, please?

Include links.

[KissMyAsscroft]

2. The Corporate Whore Medias endless attacks on Dean.

nt

[mbali]

5. Of course, you're right

since it's utterly impossible for anyone to support any candidate other than Dean. After all, Dean is the one true candidate and anyone who fails to see that is a pathetic victim of brainwashing by the corporate-controlled media.

[chimpymustgo]

8. Iowans are thinking hard about who can beat Bush and be a good President.

It's time to get down to brass tacks.

I think people are really listening to their messages, and liking them. Kerry is clearly so qualified, and Edwards has such detailed plans, to go with his passion and optimism.

[blm]

16. The corporate media whores slowed down propping Dean up so much

as they did all last year.

Imagine the race if the media had been fair in their coverage of all the candidates and didn't fawn over Dean giving him a press plane last June and FIVE national covers while NONE of the other candidates even got one.

[AP]

22. I think that watching Democrats embrace and endorse Dean made the

whore media stop and think about what all their propping-up meant.

I bet the whore media expected Democrats (eg, the CBC and Clinton) to start in-fighting about whether Dean was a real Democrat.

Congratulations to them for not doing that. They left it up to us at DU to have that discussion. And they left it to the candidates to run on who they were, rather than who they weren't.

[Nadienne]

3. "suddenly" became contenders?

haven't they always been contenders?

[_Jumper_]

17. : P

They weren't seriously in contention for the win until now.

[Nadienne]

21. On what do you base this information?

(I'm curious)

[Leilani]

24. Beacause the media said so

Before 1 vote had been counted.

[stickdog]

4. A single, flawed tracking poll. (nt)

[poskonig]

7. Individuals like me who have recently switched

from Dean. I live in Illinois, but it makes sense that other locations have similar events. I've already given my reasons for switching.

[adadem]

11. I do think

it comes from attending the events and hearing the message directly from the messenger.

[vi5]

12. I think it's simply a matter of undecideds coming off the fence....

I'm not quite there myself, but I'm sure that's what it is.

[maddezmom]

13. couple of things

Endorsements, campaigning their butts off, and media coverage.

[sandnsea]

14. Answers are more important than anger

And people are finally settling down to choose a President. Everybody is horrified by George Bush and when people hear Kerry and Edwards speak, they know they are too. But they're ready to choose to vote for someone who believes what they believe and can really make the kind of difference they want to make. They have a plan stan.

[AP]

19. So get on the bus, Gus

and support one of these two candidates.

[sandnsea]

29. Hey, I'm not coy roy

If I could get on a bus, gus, I'd be kickin' butt in Iowa!! Winter is the absolutely worse time for my business and this year is worse than most. I keep hoping somebody will pop through with a payment so I can go!!

[AP]

30. The figurative 'bus', not the literal bus!

But we don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Sandnsea
And get yourself free

[poskonig]

23. Kinda.

When Kerry gave his answer about immigration during the last debate, he was very articulate and well-informed. I highly respect intelligence and competence.

Dean's animated campaigning style is actually one of his plusses. The inability to respond to attacks in a relaxed manner and the lack of comfort with specifics are two of Dean's drawbacks. Faux news tried to smear Gephardt as a segregationist racist who has links to the KKK, and Gephardt calmly pointed out errors, said this stuff happens in primaries, and that reasonable people know what he feels in his heart. Dean isn't used to getting slimed that nasty, evidenced by Sharpton's low blows in the last debate.

[AP]

15. Because, until mid-december, people don't really pay attention.

When you start paying attention, people realize who has the best message.

Kerry is really appealing to people who think that Bush has created a dangerous world and we need someone who knows something about risking his life for Democracy, who is a good liberal.

Edwards is appealing to people who think that Bush is destroying middle class opportunity and are looking for the new FDR.

Nothing has changed about the candidates. It's just that people are listening to them now.

[Zech Marquis]

18. I see it like this

the corporate media whores gave no credit to Kerry or Edwards, while at the same time going after Dean 24/7. Kerry has really come alive, and Edwards is catching fire too.--this IS a competition after all.

[mmonk]

20. some of it...

hard work

[Tom Rinaldo]

25. Three things.

First, some Dean support is softening and it has to go somewhere.

Second, Iowa Gephardt people for the most part always were and will remain Gephardt people in Iowa. I doubt there will be much late breaking to or away from him.

Third, Clark isn't running in Iowa, and Edwards and Kerry are voter outlets for people who value positive campaigns or strong foreign policy experience from their candidates.

Now why Dean support has softened is another discussion.

[BigMcLargehuge]

26. it's been their campaign strategy from the beginning

hang back and spend little in the runup, then spend and campaign hard right before the caucus when they will get the most media coverage. Standard campaign tactics if you ask me.

Good for both of them :)

Gonna be an great primary.

[mbali]

27. Things like this:

Senator Edwards, this is your opportunity now to ask one of your opponents a question.

EDWARDS: Thank you.

My question is to Governor Dean.

Governor, one of the things that I've talked about tonight and throughout this campaign is the plight of the middle class and the working poor who are trying to enter the middle class.

And one of the great problems that they face are the abusive practices of payday lenders, predatory lenders and, to some extent, the credit card companies that are absolutely taking advantage of them every single day. And it probably cost them about $9 billion last year alone.

And I've laid out a whole group of ideas about how to crack down on the credit card companies, making them fully disclose when they're changing the interest rate on people -- in fact, ending some of the most abusive practices by payday lenders and predatory lenders, so that they can't continue to take advantage of and prey on all of these middle-class families and these poor families that are trying to just build a better life for themselves.

I guess my first question is, do you agree with what I'm proposing? And second, do you have other ideas, specific ideas, yourself?

DEAN: I do agree, John. That was an excellent proposal that you laid out. And I appreciated it very much.

And I don't know there's a lot I could do to improve it."

-----
It's hard to argue with substance, substance, substance

[AP]

31. That made me smile.

Another reason Edwards is going up: Dean made the strategic error of underestimating Edwards. In the last debate he played nice with Edwards because he thought Edwards wasn't going to reach 15%. He wanted Edwards's voters. Now that Edwards has hit 15% (cross fingers) it might have been a mistake for Dean to leave people thinking that Edwards was a good place to go if you were having second thoughts about Dean. He also helped Edwards create his image as the positive guy who isn't attacking anyone.

Woops.

[mbali]

32. As usual, you are right.

:-)

[sandnsea]

33. Yes, he calls them snipers

But he isn't attacking anyone. lol. Sly, that one.

But it's okay, Edwards really is running an upbeat campaign, about 99%. I like him and I do believe he really cares.

[RogueTrooper]

28. Hard work and persistance

You have to give credit where creidit is due.

[displacedtexan]

34. Here's how a national campaign works

Early last fall, the Kerry campaign opened offices in at least 8 states, staffed them with both locals and seasoned national campaigners. From then until now, those staffers, along with the DC HQ and MA staffers, met with state leges, municipal leaders, governors, unions, etc. and framed a long-term strategy (not just short-term tactics) based on the calendar (so as not to peak too early or too late).

Kerry is peaking at the perfect time for Iowa. He has endorsements from a majority of the state lege, the governor's wife, the state sec. of agriculture, the firemen, etc., who are all bringing in the necessary caucus votes to get the job done. Meanwhile, the staffers in all other offices have been on the phone for months, inviting Iowans to rallies and surveying potential voters for their input on issues, why they may be leaning toward other candidates, and asking for their consideration before making a final decision on a candidate.

[arewethereyet]

36. I'm not so sure that its all that sudden

I'm not a big believer that the polls were all that good an indicator of how the actual people actually feel.

We may STILL not know.

But we will next week.

Go Edwards !