No, she has no sanity at all. If she did, she'd allow Hillary to lie to position herself as a moderate, knowing full well that she's not.
That's what she's doing. Ain't it?
It is the nature of poilitical parties that the outer wings of each have the most dedicated and active members. Another permutation of Tip O'Neil's "all politics is local" credo. The road to SD, state, and national conventions begins at local precinct primary caucuses, which most voters never attend. Been a precinct chair and election judge since '92, never had anyone other than wife and I attend.
By the time we get to state, the distillate extremism is sometimes hard to contain. Fortunately, the Dems suffer worse from this tendency toward unelectable positions than we do.
Howard Dean I call the gift that keeps giving. I really think the best thing the Republican Party can do to advance whoever runs Republican in 2008 is to start now, create a Russ Feingold campaign PAC, send our people to the early primary states, walk precincts, man phone banks, drive get out the vote vans, get this fool the Dem nomination. Punch home the message that us good progressive Democrats are tired of perpetuating the family dynastic royalty bouncing back and forth between Familia Bush and Cosa Nostra Clinton. Feingold may make the Molly Ivins of the party stand up and cheer, but he CANNOT win the uncommitted center.
Sorry folks, too many people confuse winning idealogical points with winning elections. A solid 60% of voters consider themselves independent, ticket splitting, vote for the man not the party voters, and no one can win without them. Lose the election and we can go off in a corner and congratulate one another for adhering to principle. Might as well do that, the other party will be busy running the country and appointing SCOTUS judges.
Molly Ivins and the Deaniacs have forgotten THE central fact of 2008. It will be the first Presidential without an incumbent Pres or VP (I am assuming Cheney will not, cannot, age and health) since LBJ bailed out in '68. At this point I have not a clue which Rep will emerge, anyone saying different today is blowing plumes of smoke. Our best strategy is to sit back thoughtfully and let the Dem form into a circular firing squad. Right now Hillary's most effective opposition is from within her party.
You cannot win running agin'. If either side comes up November running on "they are rascals", without also saying "we are X and Y", that Party loses.