[Cicero]

If Dean's base will stick with him when he talks about Confederate flags, they'll stick with him when he moves to the right--no doubt with a wink to people in the know. The question is whether the average non-political joe, who probably still doesn't know who Dean is, will notice the contradictions.

[Egregious Philbin]

The question is whether the average non-political joe, who probably still doesn't know who Dean is, will notice the contradictions.

I'd say "doesn't know who Dean is" is a bit of exagerration, but I otherwise agree with your assessment. It seems that Dean's plan was a move to the middle all along, and that is probably where he feels more comfortable. I think the Republican plan to stick the McGovern tag on him will fail, for the reasons you describe. What does that suggest to the average voter? Not that much. Certainly not the damning phrase it is meant to be.

[randog]

The question is whether the average non-political joe, who probably still doesn't know who Dean is, will notice the contradictions.

If you accept the author's assertion that Dean is playing it right out of McAwful's playbook then the answer is yes, the average joe will notice the contradiction. The McAwful Stragegy is a miserable failure, resulting in dems losing seats in state and national races at a record rate.

D. Flanagan: good article and assessment of the situation. The dems are running on fumes, having exhausted any reasonable ideas several years ago. They can continue to play this switch-and-bait game for only so long; eventually they're going to have to bring something to the table or face extinction.

[dpflanagan]

You may be right. I do think, however, at least some of his supporters will feel betrayed by any dramatic change of tone. They'll see him as "selling out," or worse, as having lied to them in a way similar to the way he accused Bush of lying to the American people. At the very least, Republicans can point this out at every opportunity to show that Dean is just another politician who is willing to compromise his values for the opportunity at gaining power.

Thanks.

David Flanagan