And the Dean narrative has begun. From Faux News

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

All of the hot-tempered, shoots-from-the-hip, actually a moderate, etc. is the subtext. The real political narrative of this article is here (and I've seen it before, just never put together like this). Yes, you see, Dean is just a political opportunist. Get ready to puke once this story line picks up steam:

"Former Republican state Sen. John McLaughery said Dean was never as liberal as he is labeled, and often fought bitterly with liberals in Vermont. He called Dean a man driven by political ambitions for higher office, and said Dean's flashing liberal credentials now is his key to success in the primary.

“He was always intensely political, he was never interested in managing the state government -- except for when there was a politically charged situation that demanded his attention,” he said. “I think the liberals here would tell you the same thing. It was always ‘me, me, me.’”

Here's the link: <A HREF=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,91790,00.html> HERE </A>

[MercutioATC]

1. "flashing liberal credentials"????? When did THAT happen?

Dean has ALWAYS campaigned as a centrist. That's what I liked about him. I guess the addle-brained Repubs have a hard time with it, but it's very possible to be pro-GLBT equality and pro-universal health care and NOT be a raving fringe liberal. Labels are always insufficient. This is a perfect example.

[killbotfactory]

5. He doesn't kiss Bush's ass

That makes him a liberal to Fox News.

[Dudley_DUright]

2. The repukes are projecting again

If you take this statement and replace the word liberal with conservative, it would fit Bush's tenure as governor of Texas to a T.

“He was always intensely political, he was never interested in managing the state government -- except for when there was a politically charged situation that demanded his attention,” he said. “I think the liberals here would tell you the same thing. It was always ‘me, me, me.’”

Dean has a demonstrable record of success in Vermont. Bush on the other hand,...

[Walt Starr]

3. I lean towards Dean and am one of the most Liberal people I know

I know for a fact that Dean is not a Liberal.

The Repukes are TERRIFIED OF DEAN!!!

And the more the Repukes try to derail his campaign, the more I know I should be backing Dean.

I think I'll make a donation soon...

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

7. I find this line of attack particularly interesting.

A political opportunist. This attempts to undercut ANY political message he uses. During the primaries, it tells us liberals that he's not really liberal, which he never claimed anyway (ahhhh, this was the first lazy narrative put out there about him). If he makes it through the primary, well, come on, he's an opportunist. See, he was a liberal in the primary (which he wasn't), now he's trying to be moderate, an attempt at Clintonian triangulation. If they're tagging him with being a political opportunist, they've just pulled out the big guns early. We'll see how he responds. If he tells someone in the press to go fuck himself or herself (the Adam Clymer "asshole" comment by Bush helped him immensely), I will donate every last spare dime I have.

[killbotfactory]

4. I like how they get republicans to badmouth him..

Since almost every democrat in the state has endorsed Dean, I guess they couldn't dig up much dirt on him that way.

[Classical_Liberal]

6. That narrative started several weeks ago!

:yawn:

[Beacho]

8. Scream. little ditto-monkeys...

Scream.

Guess no other tactic worked and it seems that the GOP Werhmact is worried that liberals are starting to support Dean. This means a desperate attempt to put a wedge between Howard and the liberal base. Watch for lame attempts to try and tie the Dean campaign with the DLC, or some such other nonsense, before the primaries. Also watch for phoney 'progressive groups' to start push polling against Dean.


After that, if the political manipulation doesn't work, then the Atwater tactics will start to appear, right on cue.

[deacon]

9. shut fox off-- don't waste your valuable time with them

n/t

[wtmusic]

10. I 2nd that motion don't watch Fox, don't read Fox

don't watch Fox, don't read Fox

[DianeK]

11. Not sure I would label myself as liberal...

but i would not run away from that label either.  I live in
Vermont and I am one of those who have been angry with
Governor Dean more than once.  We are a very small state and
we happen to know our neighbors and it is difficult for those
of us who live here to see our freinds & neighbors go
through hard times. Dean often refused to eleviate alot of
that.  His focus was always the budget.  Not only to balance
it, but to secure a 'rainy day fund'.  The liberals among us
became angry and frustrated because our focus was on the
hardship.  Well, lo and behold, here we sit with 40 of our
states at the verge of bankruptcy and little ol' Vermont is
sitting with a 10+million surplus.  Come on up the weather is
great!  Ask any liberal you see who they may be supporting for
President

[Beacho]

12. Love to come up and join you

But I prefer living in the trenches. I live right on the bordderlands between liberal dominance(Tacoma&Seaatle) and the hinterlands of bedroom community republican enclaves. If you're familiar with Cali at all, it's the 'Orange County' of the Puget Sound area.

If I can find someone to take over the listening post for awhile, maybe I'll come by for a visit.

[Capn Sunshine]

13. where areyou?Federal Way I bet

That struck me as pretty O.C. Great investment potential up there. We love it.

[Beacho]

14. Close

close enought o federal way to spit at it, but on the Pierce side of the county line.

[Woodstock]

15. Actually, Faux is doing Dean a favor

The more he is presented as the moderate he is, the better his chances are of beating Bush. (And his support among Democrats is NOT based on the perception that he's ultra liberal - most Democrats and Independents who are supporting a candidate for the Democratic primary this early in the game are smart enough to check out his record for ourselves, thank you very much. We support him because we feel he's the best candidate for the office of the president, plain and simple.)

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

17. Yes, but . . .

I don't think the moderate part of the article is what was important. Everything was framed within the context that he's a poltical opportunist. I guarantee you this is how it will go:
1) For the Democratic primary: he poses as a liberal, but he's actually a moderate. He's trying to dupe the democrats into voting for him. You see, he's a poltical opportunist (yes, I agree with you, we all know he hasn't posed as a liberal, but that's been the media script thus far. Only real junkies pay attention to this stuff, even during the primaries).
2) If he wins the primary, he'll have to go through the "is he too liberal" stuff all over again. Then they'll repaint him as a moderate, then we'll once again hear that he just goes the direction of the political winds. See, he was a liberal for the primaries (which he wasn't) and now he's shifting gears.

***I really think this will be the entirety of the campaign against Dean. If the media feel disdain for him, he may have some problems. The above two example narratives are short and barely scratch the surface of the illogic the media will use. Just look at what they did to Gore. Calling Dean a political opportunist is like labeling Gore a liar, except a bit more ingenious. Dean can clearly run as the "outsider" in both the primaries and the general election. But if he's an opportunist, that just drags him right back into the game.

I may be wrong about all of this. But if the press didn't like the fact that they thought Gore thought he was smarter than they, well, they're going to HATE Dean. He KNOWS he's smarter than they are, and his disdain for their general whorish stupidity shows.

[annagull]

16. Whaaa? Fox isn't Endorsing Dean?

But, I thought KKKarl Rove was campaigning for Dean? I thought Dean was the candidate the repukes WANT to run against? Or did Karl's little plan backfire--hmmm....