By Linda Feldmann | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON - The race for the Democratic presidential nomination is far from over. … But there is a growing sense of inevitability among many political observers that, barring some unforeseen event or revelation, Dr. Dean will win the Democratic nomination.
Some big-name Democrats have begun to speak openly about Dean's vulnerabilities as a potential nominee. … On the flip side … In a memo last month, two Portland-based GOP pollsters warned that "Howard Dean can win because he believes in what he is saying, because he can semi-legitimately spin his record as governor into one of fiscal conservatism, and because he comes across as if he actually cares about people."
If Dean begins to win primaries and looks to be locking in the nomination, the party will fall in line and back him. But among operatives, [Democratic operative] Rothenberg says, the thinking is that while Dean may bring in 2 or 3 million new voters with his brash, "truth-telling" style, he may alienate 5 or 6 million others.
"That truth-telling stuff has strictly limited appeal," agreed Democratic strategist Spanky van Buren. "When we do focus groups, even a small true statement will have them keening and wailing. Say something like 'Bush is not clinically retarded' and they pound the table and cry, and some of them throw their pencils. It's really not pretty." Republican voters are similarly truth-averse. Ten percent of the GOP House Caucus, when told something as simple as "Iraq was not involved in 9/11," screeched like colobus monkeys and waved their bibles at the interviewer in a thrashing display of obscurantism.
The question that Democrats and Republicans alike are wondering is, does Dean's intelligence handicap him? If Dean attracts followers because 'he believes what he's saying,' but repels them with his truth-telling, then the ideal candidate would believe what he' s saying, but what he's saying wouldn't be the truth. "We already have a candidate like that, and he's George W. Bush," smirked one Republican pollster. "President Bush ideally combines the earnestness of the honest man with the reassuring pablum of the peddler of easy lies."
Democrats, somewhat begrudgingly, admit that Dean simply cannot combine the cliche-based nostrums of the Bush White House with his IQ-saddled approach to reality. "We've tried, God knows," said van Buren, "But the little SOB actually thinks, and that just throws everything into chaos." Still, Democrats have not lost hope. According to van Buren, "His ability to convincingly fake empathy continues to be a real and significant asset."
Asked if it were possible that Dean, who is notorious for being too un-stupid to think things that are not, technically, true, may actually care about people, van Buren appeared nonplussed. "Well, I guess, if they have votes to cast, technically a politician could care about them, but Dean's weird. He appears to care about people who don't have votes, like children. That's creepy."
Remember, Kids, the part in bold is actual 100% news-flavored media product.
The rest is the fakey part.
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