Dean needs to chill

[DJcairo]

He's going to win the nomination so he should just relax and stop saying crap like this. Why don't one of his handlers slap him and say "look Dr., you've got it in the bag now don't ruin it by running your mouth off at the party chairman."

You can't criticize MaCualiffe for not somehow "stopping" political attacks in a free speech society.

http://nytimes.com/2003/12/30/politics/campaigns/30TRAI.html

[Catch22Dem]

1. The primaries are over?

What month is this? Did I fall asleep and miss something important? Dean as the nominee is NOT a foregone conclusion.

[DJcairo]

2. Right...and pigs can fly

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

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[leyton]

14. No, but

his position is about as good as one could hope for going into the primaries. He's favored in New Hampshire and in Iowa (well, unless he's running neck and neck with Gephardt); he's got money flowing in and knows that if he wins the nomination he won't have spent all his money. Dean hasn't won the nomination yet but he's got it pretty good at the moment; he would do well to stop alienating so many.

[madfloridian]

3. Not a single vote has been cast.

The primaries are not over.

[wtmusic]

4. agree dj

not very presidential. He's gonna have to learn to take more heat than this if he's nominated.

[BOSSHOG]

5. His handlers haven't slapped him

and he hasn't won the nomination. Is he grasping defeat out of the jaws of victory? Meanwhile, the General is waiting in the wings.

[Catch22Dem]

6. BOSSHOG

The Dukes of Hazzard. Now there's a show for the ages. :) Never gets its due. Sorry, off topic.

[stopbush]

7. Hate to haul out a Reagan-esque bromide,

but Let Dean Be Dean.

Right now the media is focusing on the "Dem anger" issue, not because of anything Dean has done, but due to the attacks by Holy Joe and Kerry. This issue will eventually die as a Dem-vs-Dem issue and will become a nominee vs bush issue.

I expect Dean's more-nuanced positions to gain more media light as the campaign goes, but right now the anger issue is working for him in spite of the media's attempts to characterized it as wacko. Why should he stop? Because Frank Luntz and the other repigs are telling him it will hurt him and the Dems? BS! What's going to happen before the election? A) The bush disasters on the economy, foreign policy etc will all miraculously turn around to positives, sweeping him into the WH, or, B) More crapola from bush that gets even more Americans pissed off at him? I go with "B".

Yeah, just what we need - for the leading Dem candidate to abandon the strategy that got him to the lead position and become a Lieberman- or Kerry- lite until after the primaries. THAT would play right into the "Dean is wishy-washy" theme that the repigs are already floating. Dean is too smart to fall into that trap. In fact, it's the other "contenders" who are taking the repig bait. I don't see Al, DK or CMB telling Dean to cool it. Nope, it's the "I'm entitled to the nomination" establishment candidates who seem to have a problem with Dean.

More and more, I'm amazed at how out of touch the Liebermans and Kerrys are with the pulse of TODAYs Democrats. It rather boggles the mind.

BTW - even though I have Dean as my avatar, I fully intend to support whichever Dem gets the nomination. While I would be very unhappy voting for Lieberman, I could easily vote for any of the others, though Kerry has moved down near Lieberman in distaste over the past two weeks.

[polpilot]

8. As if Dean needs political advice. His strategy has DEMOLISHED the

others and it's not happenstance.

Dean '04...

[KaraokeKarlton]

9. He doesn't use handlers

It would be pointless to have them because he wouldn't listen to them anyhow.

Dean's comments weren't so much about him as they were a warning that the attacks are only helping Republicans, and ultimately Bush. He also listens to his supporters and he's likely concerned that the others are insulting his supporters so badly that they won't vote for anyone else. He's right. McCauliffe should understand this, see it coming and step in to stop it. Not for Dean, but for the good of the party.

[Oreegone]

10. Not so Fast

My mother who has contributed to the Demo Party is mad at the way the establishment is handling the election, she is not making her donation to them writing a nasty letter and sending it to Dean.....I heard more of this last night at a Dean party from other retired people who are fed up with the partys status quo.

[GaryL]

11. Same here.

I bailed on the DNC and now am sending my contributions directly to candidates. BTW, all you BS'ers who occupy this board to badmouth dem candidates other than your own can go piss up a tree. I'm voting for ABB so at this point, I don't care who the dem is against the usurper. They're ALL better.

[Crunchy Frog]

13. Much better

that he ruin it now, than ruin it in November.