WP: "Dean Works To Smooth The Edges"

[farmbo]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57289-2004Jan5.html

CHARLES CITY, Iowa, Jan. 5 -- Former Vermont governor Howard Dean is campaigning like a candidate who appears increasingly confident of winning the Democratic presidential nomination, striking a more conciliatory tone and signaling how he would run in the general election.Leading in polls in Iowa, in New Hampshire and nationally, Dean is toning down attacks on his Democratic rivals and avoiding the back-and-forth criticism that has defined much of the presidential campaign.
<snip>
"I saw significant change in his demeanor . . . that impressed me," said Lanny Davis, former special counsel to President Bill Clinton and a longtime friend and supporter of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), another presidential candidate. "Clearly, Dean recognizes the need to be more consensus-building and conciliatory toward his colleagues."
<snip>
A top aide said Dean is considering a tax reform plan for the general election that includes a reduction in payroll taxes. If Dean rolls out such a plan, it could offset what many strategists see as a big liability: his support of what amounts to a nearly $2 trillion tax increase by calling for a repeal of Bush's tax cuts.
<end>

Lanny Davis has been no friend to the Dean campaign in past months. Perhaps he's reading the handwriting on the wall.

And how about that Payroll tax reduction? It's the only tax which oppresses every working person in the country...but which has never been cut-- much less even mentioned-- by Bush.

[Maddy McCall]

1. He needs a 500,000 RPM grinding wheel if that's the case. n/t

[patricia92243]

2. Don't get edges too smooth or he will be just another poltician

[w13rd0]

3. As opposed to Bush's BS rhetoric "tax cut for every taxpayer"...

...it's an actual reduction for working people. None of the other "tax plans" would do squat for me, a payroll tax reduction would. Raise the cap as well..

And he just needs to smooth those edges a little. We already know he does better among dissaffected Republicans, Reagan Democrats and Independents than the other contendors. Smoothing the "edges" will help him keep that "edge"...

[Foswia]

6. Amm proof?

<quote>We already know he does better among dissaffected Republicans, Reagan Democrats and Independents than the other contendors. </quote>

Dean does? Amm, please offer more than anecdotal evidence.

[Melodybe]

7. I am in MS and ALL of the ex-republicans (about 20)I know, like Dean most

They like that Dean is good with money. I think that his payroll taxcut is by far the best plan yet. First announces the Mexican worker plan, which will piss off pretty much every Republican I know (they will see it as pandering to those Mexicans) and now Dean suggests a payroll tax that will actually HELP the majority of Americans. This has been a good week for us. Plus, this is by far the best story I have read on Dean in a major newspaper, yet. Go Dean!!!

[Voltaire99]

4. This is about establishment pressure to geld Dean

Dean has "rough edges"? That's rich, coming at a time when the nation is run by a strutting man-child whose edges are so rough you could make Dr. Caligari's cabinet out of them.

As for Dean "recogniz(ing) the need to become more consensus-building and conciliatory toward his colleagues," it doesn't take a Joe Lieberman Sekrit Decoder Ring to work that one out. The message: Grovel!

Soon, we will meet the real Dean. Is he the barnstormer who has inspired such passion? Or is he the corporate-friendly technocrat who will calm down, do deals, play nice, and cozy up to the establishment he once aptly described as cockroaches?

[joefree1]

5. "so he can stay away from the bickering"

edit ...
>>In recent days, he has been dismissive when other Democrats go after him, sending staff members -- or even a nurse from a local hospital -- to rebut the attacks so he can stay away from the bickering. In Sunday's debate, Dean was uncharacteristically calm as he brushed off criticism about his record as governor and his penchant for making controversial or contradictory statements. "As you know, I have a reputation for saying exactly what I think. And while the words may not be precise, the meaning is not hard to figure out," he said.<<

Dean is becoming flame proof. Next he have to become nuke proof once the bushies have started on him.


Images from Dean Rocks the House of Blues, Hollywood
From wtmusic http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=919849
From Joefree1 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=921300

[dusty64]

8. The articles in the washington post

this week reveal the medias plan of attack against Dean. "Arrogant, mean, divisive, liberal, angry"; those will be their keywords. Contrast them with their descriptions of our chimp in chief; "moral, glorious leader, forceful". Fair and balanced my ass. How do we counter a formerly free press that has become a propaganda arm of the extreme right?