Sure, I lose four years but I think it’s win – win
Rich’s post about how Dean can win got me to thinking. In 2004, I can rule out a third party winning the presidency completely. The winner will be Bush or some Democrat. That Democrat could very well be Dean. I’ve said in the past that I don’t think Bush can lose but we’re still a year out and a lot can change.
If Dean wins, I think the message will be sent to the Republicans that they screwed up with their big government, pro-gun control, pork spending, PATRIOT act loving ways. Maybe then the Republicans can get back to being the party of small government. If we vote Dean, at least the PATRIOT act takes a hit.
If Bush wins and the GOP sweep of congress continues, the Democrats maybe will figure some stuff out too, such as catering to the fringes is a bad idea. After 2004, one of the parties will be taught a lesson and that’s a good thing.
November 24th, 2003 at 5:47 pm
I agree with the idea of not voting for Bush; my prob is that actually voting for Dean may ended being interpreted by the Republicans as a need to be _even more_ “big government, pro-gun control, pork spending, PATRIOT act loving.”
I intend to vote Libertarian, even though they have no chance of winning. It still costs Bush my vote, and it sends a clear message to the Republicans as to exactly why people are angry with them.
November 24th, 2003 at 6:21 pm
I don’t know about that…Dean is anti-gun control (and get’s good marks from the NRA FWIW). He also has a record of balancing budgets in Vermont even though Vermont doesn’t require balanced budgets. As I see it, Bush seems to love to bring good news..lower taxes, check. higher spending, check. Dean has been willing to be the bearer of bad news by promising to repeal the taxcuts.
Let’s face it, taxcuts combined with higher spending leads to larger deficits which can pretty much only be solved by tax hikes in the future since attacking the deficit with spending cuts would require hacking away at the military and entitlements. Something few politicians have the muster to do.
November 24th, 2003 at 7:39 pm
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Libertarian Party run a candidate specifically designed to hurt Bush. This has been their strategy in several states like Oregon with governorships and Senate seats. They attack the Republican candidate even though they tend to prefer that candidate over the Democratic opponent. The thinking is that it sends a message to the Republican party, which is more receptive to Libertarian thought, to come around. There’s little hope of getting a Democratic candidate to embrace big-L Libertarian ideals, so targeting that party would accomplish nothing.
November 25th, 2003 at 2:44 pm
The daring Dr. Dean?
If Howard Dean is the Democratic candidate for the presidency, will he cause his party to seemingly abandon the precious “Southern Strategy”? I can’t think of a more counter-intuitive idea, for it completely violates all conventional wisdom, the South …