The Targeted Wing of the Democratic Party

[LuminousX]

The Targeted Wing of the Democratic Party

While Dean publicly wears the target on his back as a sign of his front-runner status, it seems increasingly apparent that there is more to it than that. Dean is the definition of a love-him-or-hate-him guy. He has inspired in the last year far more passion than any Democrat -- running for office or not. But he has also inspired more detractors than any Democrat.
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It's not unusual for the leading candidate in any election to draw the most fire, but Dean is hardly a consensus front-runner. In fact, national polls still suggest at least five candidates -- Dean, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), retired Army general Wesley K. Clark and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) have a shot at the nomination. Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) is running well in the key state of South Carolina (although according to one recent poll in the state he's fallen behind Clark) and has the skills, money and infrastructure to be competitive elsewhere.

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll is also instructive. That poll individually pits five candidates -- Kerry, Lieberman, Gephardt, Clark and Dean -- in a hypothetical general election match-up with President Bush. Kerry does the best, down only 6 points to Bush, while Dean does the worst, down 15 points.
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If Dean wins the nomination, it will be interesting to see the party try to rally around him. Should he win it, the party may have to live with the fact that Democrats have already done much of Bush's heavy lifting for him. In other words, there may be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy at work: The attacks on Dean for being too far left or too far right to beat Bush may turn Democratic voters off to Dean and make unelectable someone who might otherwise be a viable candidate.
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This clearly states my fear with supporting Dean. The hate here is palpable. Is the hate as bad in the real world? I don't think so, but if it is being reported how Dean either excites people or turns them off, then the hate must extend to the real world as well.