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Maryland's primary occurs on 02 March. This is the primary they call super tuesday. A little disappointing really, ten states go off that day including the large states California, New York, and Ohio. All of which have over 150 delegates. This severely limits the possibility that any of the remaining candidates will show up in Maryland looking for votes. I was looking forward to seeing one of these guys in action. I've seen Al Gore speak twice. I suppose now I will have to pay attention to the Leher Newshour
Online NewsHour Vote 2004 when they broadcast entire stump speeches, or worse
read speeches in the newspaper. Stump speeches are mostly useless anyway. They're all about the candidates positions and issues. These people don't have issues, not ones that they're going to tell you. First they decide whether they want to run for president. Then they try to raise a little money for the effort. One of the things they buy with that money is a staff. They tell the staff to set them up with some issues. It's better to look back to the last real job any of them held, or watch how they react to new or unexpected situations. It is, or rather with the New Hampshire results in, was early days yet. If a candidate gets all the way through the primaries and heads off to the convention with any notion of becoming the nominee his or her staff will have looked at what consistency lies in whatever he or she has said and done and arranged it in the best possible light. They will then hand this over to the parties platform committee and a beautiful wedding will take place. Now you've got issues.
It is important to try to get a read of these people as individuals before the press turns them in to objectified and typified celebrities, and before the institutional mantle of chosen one is laid on some ones shoulders. One of the critical things that any president does is select people for jobs, thats half the presidency right there, This is something that George W Bush does very well, I can't really tell how or why - it can't be that people want to receive their official debasing nickname from him (he calls former secretary James Baker III jimbo , I hope he calls Rumsfeld Pinky and Wolfowitz the Brain . The Bush white house is the tightest, most on message administrations I have ever seen. If, there is some jostling from behind the backdrop and
occasionally feet can be seen sticking from underneath the curtain they get dragged back under - upstage before anyone gets a close look.
The selection aspect to the job is one reason to look at Kerry, who faced with a campaign that was disintegrating replaced a number of people and brought things back under control. Over all though my impression of Kerry is that he will look best among the democrats losing to Bush. He will look presidential, he will look noble, and statesmen like. Women will have babies just so he can kiss them, and for years -decades - to come, people will say his concession speech was a thing of beauty and vision and an example to all. The Democratic Party will be available for viewings on tuesdays and thursdays at the the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Nothing against Kerry but he is simply on the wrong side of a power curve that George Bush is on the right side of. Barring a clear turndown of the economy or obvious failure of the Iraq and terrorism based foreign policies. things are proceeding along lines that would bring Kerry in short in November despite all the rhubarb that he is the electable one. Looking at republican commentary, I think they are also concerned with scenarios where a democratic candidate could seize on an unfolding situation and catch fire. I think they view this as the only way they could lose and are more afraid of Dean and Clark because of that. Dissatisfaction with the Iraq war has not coalesced into a national feeling and would be unlikely to without going on for another year or so with the current casualty rate, But it could be re-branded and presented as myopia, incompetence, and the product of crass puerile meta-strategic thinking.
As you see Dean struggling to attain gravitas, and Clark discover America, look for the Kerry campaign to signal a willingness to more sharply engage Bush, probing for seams in the teflon.
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