Reply #11: Agree with almost all you say

[Jerseycoa]

But I don't think the leftist thing is the main problem. He can talk that around and already has been doing it. He has never been a leftist and that is hard to disprove, although some will try and fail.

It's the talking around I see as the biggest drawback. He is verbally clumsy. Attempts to confirm an issue or statement, lead to circles within circles. I think Dean will suffer more than any other nominee from the things he has said and then unsaid and then said again, things he says he's done, undone, and again done. He has made it very easy for a concentrated, negative GOP campaign to wipe him out. His great appeal for the GE is being seen as a "straight talker" and yet there he is weakest.

I know Dean is easy to love to his supporters, so saying he is not likable seems weird, but I do agree his persona is abrasive and not in the Give 'em hell, Harry, kind of way some people seem to see.

I will vote for Dean if he wins the nomination. I do not want to see him win the nomination, because I do not see him as the best candidate we have to beat George Bush.

I believe we have to have this discussion, painful as it has been so far. It would be nice if it were civil and thoughtful, but I don't bank on it. I think we should be doing this with all candidates, but without the automatic backslap that so often comes along.