[Pikamax]

If the GOP can't make Dean to look like the stalinist wannabe that he is given the quotes over the last year, then its their fault if Bush loses.

[p. henry]

Roughly 60% of the voters will vote the party line virtually without regard to the identity of the nominees. The battle is always over the remaining 40%. Dean is locked into his position that taxes should be raised "to reduce the deficit." He will be hurt by this stance because (i) it defies the historical evidence, (ii) projected deficits will be substantially smaller by November, and (iii) swing voters don't want to pay more taxes. To overcome this problem Dean will have to attack the Bush foreign policy. If the public perception is that Iraq is a mess, Dean could win. Otherwise, the public is unlikely to support an antiwar candidate when the nation is demonstrably at war with a group of people intent on killing us whenever and wherever they can. The "Bush misled us" argument will not survive the scrutiny of the campaign in the eyes of independent voters.

[expatpat]

It's actually a clever plan by Hitlary to make her look like a centrist in 08, compared with Dean and the rabid wing of the Party.