My tinfoil hat theory on Dean's declining numbers and his endorsements

[mot78]

(Please don't flame me for this. It's just a theory I'm putting out)
:tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat:
It seems kind of odd that so many establishment types are coming out and endorsing Dean, even though he calls many of them cockroaches. I'm wondering if some of them are endorsing him to make it harder for him to campaign as an insurgent, so he doesn't get nominated. After all, a major taking point among Dean's opponents recently is that Dean, the "insurgent" is now the establishment's favorite, and is acting like a hypocrite.

[LuminousX]

1. People don't burn political capital like that

[KissMyAsscroft]

2. No flame, but a disagreement...

I think the people that are supporting him actually support him and his views!

Imagine that!

[AP]

3. Two of the weirdest defenses of endorsements that made no sensen to me:

- J.Jackson Jr, in response to Al Sharpton's question, "why are you endorsing someone so mediocre on the issue of race?": "Well, Al, you can't expect to be on the same page on EVERY issue." But not on the same page on RACE? Jesse? Jackson? Junior?

- The black congressmen from NY defending the same question: "Well, we see in Dean the same thing that led every member of the CBC to vote against the 87 Bill Iraq allocation." WHAZZIZAT????? Dean was FOR that allocation?????

There is something totally funky about Dean's endorsements, and if it were a multiple choice test question and one of the choices were "Dean got these endorsements to take away the insurgency argument." I would have to think hard about choosing it.

[juajen]

9. Hey, great picture of Edwards

The woman in the picture looks amazingly like David Letterman's mom. Where are they from?

[JasonDeter]

4. Because Terry McAuliffe front loaded the Democratic race

Because Terry McAuliffe front loaded the Democratic race for the nominee this can be a way for the republican controlled media to say, "In your face." And I think the media need a horse race so they're manipulating the poll numbers.

[KissMyAsscroft]

5. I totally agree...

The media wants a horse race for ratings...

[JasonDeter]

10. They totally lost their integrity during the 2000 election cycle

why should we expect them to change now?

[buckeye1]

11. Terry has done well.

He found money for a new DNC HQ.(saves$750,000/year) Paid off all debts. He has 20 mil for the nominee. He has a data base of 150 mil voters.
He has not wasted his time with toddler tantrums that some favor.

I think he has done a good job.

[JasonDeter]

12. I would rather he be more in your face with the republicans

I'm tired of gentile Democrats and want the Democratic Party to take it to the republicans HARD! I want to hear someone call bush* a liar on national tv on any number of issues and watch the republicans try to defend it.

[Lobo_13]

13. 150 mil voters?

That's a neat trick for a country that only has 100 mil voting age population.

Terry gets one more chance, if he doesn't deliver, he needs to go.

[fabius]

6. I think there may be a connection but a different one...

I think the major figures are endorsing Dean because (1) they think he's going to win, and (2) He's the outspoken anti-Bush candidate.

I can certainly see Al Gore's because because Al opposed the war from the beginning. I think a lot of others (Harkin for example) think Dean's tough, well organized, and can take on Bush.

One thing that might be happening as an unintended consequence of "mainstream" endorsements is a loss of some anti-establishment Democrats because Dean is harder to perceive as the insurgent candidate now. It's hard to be simultaneously the front runner and the insurgent.

The other thing is Kerry and Edwards have virtually abandoned other states to focus on Iowa, which certainly gave them a boost. We'll see if they can go the distance.

Dean is probably still stronger in more states than any other candidate but I bet this will be closer than anybody thought.

Another thing, the press likes underdogs and they're loving it.

[Rich Hunt]

7. who are the 'establishment'?

Jesse Jackson Jr., CMB and a number of congresspeople are NOT the 'establishment'. Yeesh.

As far as Gore, I think he wanted to go a different route this time, IYKWIM.

It's about the process.

[beaconess]

8. For some reason, people think that if you're black

you are by definition anti-establishment. This, of course, is completely wrong. It's hard to argue that a members of the most elite club in the country, many of whom have been in Congress for years, even decades, are not part of the establishment simply because they are not white men.

After all, I think it's a safe bet to argue that Charlie Rangel and John Conyers and Sheila Jackson-Lee are probably more "establishment" than, say Paul Wellstone ever was.