I have followed the Democratic presidential campaign very closely over the past several months and would like to share some observations with readers.
Four candidates that have the support and resources to win the nomination: Sen. John Kerry, Sen. John Edwards, Gov. Howard Dean and Gen. Wesley Clark. Of these four candidates, two have opted out of public finances for their campaign, Sen. Kerry and Gov. Dean. President Bush also opted out of the public financing in both his 2000 campaign and his 2004 re-election bid. The Bush campaign has indicated it has raised $175 million for his re-election efforts without having to run a primary campaign. Given the war chest of the GOP, any candidate subject to the spending limits imposed by public financing will be out-spent 10 to 1 leading up to the November election and will likely be defeated.
I believe that leaves the Democratic Party with only two viable candidates – Sen. Kerry and Gov. Dean. One cannot help but notice that Sen. Kerry has adopted virtually all of the positions that Howard Dean has been promoting for 18 months. This would include health care, No Child Left Behind act and a balanced budget – just to name a few. Howard Dean, as governor of Vermont, has actually done what he is promising. Sen. Kerry voted in favor of No Child Left Behind, the invasion of Iraq, voted against the military funding for Iraq (after voting to send them there) and ws absent for the vote regarding the outrageous prescription drug benefit plan, which does not help our seniors.
The National Democratic Committee is afraid of Howard Dean and the changes that he would be able to bring to the party. As a lifelong Democrat, I think that Mr. Dean is just what the doctor ordered.
Stanwood
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