AS IOWA demonstrated, Dr. Dean may have been too bitter a pill for most Americans to swallow. His mediocre showing in Iowa, a full 20 points behind John Kerry, has certainly slowed the pre-primary favorite down. Nevertheless, even if Dr. Dean goes down in defeat, his fellow Democrats should thank him because his campaign gave a much needed shot in the arm to the Democratic Party.
The midterm election of 2002 taught the Democrats that whatever strategy they had to defeat the GOP was -- and this is an understatement -- a miserable failure. After Sept. 11, the donkey could not stand on four feet. The Democratic base grew furious as their representatives voted for The Patriot Act and the resolution to allow Bush to invade Iraq. Nobody knew where to turn for Democratic leadership. Liberals suffered as the GOP tried to claim the American flag as their own. It was a dark time for Democrats.
Then, out of nowhere, came the dark horse Howard Dean. His blunt opposition to the war, the No Child Left Behind Act, while capturing the liberal anger, reinvigorated the Democratic base. As an outsider, he fought against special interests while generating an incredible campaign built on average citizens rather than wealthy donors. At first, a media favorite, he became the first Democrat to get serious media attention. The Democrats -- despite the party's objections -- found a voice.
With an equal fervor, anti-Dean forces began to seep into the mainstream. Dean kept imploding -- having to correct, apologize or retract on a daily basis. The candidates began a team effort to kick Dean off his pedestal. It worked.
Despite his claims, Iowa disappointed the Dean campaign. He's no longer the front runner, and New Hampshire, previously an assumed blow out, is now at least a three-way race. As a Dean supporter, it is hard for me to admit this, but his fall from glory might end up being the best thing to happen to the modern Democratic Party.
All the negative press on Dean ended up being positive press for the Democratic Party. With so much Democratic in-fighting, and Dean being the victim, the media had to pay attention. Meanwhile, Bush proposed going to Mars while the Democrats got air time about real issues. By claiming to be against the media favorite Bush (as well as against Dean) the so-called anti-Dean candidates got more face time. After all, there could be no anti-Dean candidate without the doctor himself.
To be sure, Dean's ideas were not necessarily bad for the Democratic Party. Responsible spending, multilateral military action, equal rights for all Americans were not radical ideas in conjunction with gun rights and states rights. However, Dean himself ended up being dangerous. The media's insistence on portraying him as "angry," and his occasional actions to support the claim, made him a bull's-eye for Karl Rove and gang. Dean's behavior after his defeat in Iowa only adds to the belief that people think there's something not quite right about him.
Of course, ideally, people should vote for ideas, not for people. Unfortunately, that's not the way this great country works. As a recent Washington Post article concluded, "As a whole, the survey findings portray Bush as a popular president who is championing unpopular programs' ("Domestic Issues Hurt Bush in Poll," WashingtonPost.com, Jan. 20). Unfortunately, Democrats must accept this horrible political reality that people actually vote on whether people are "nice."
Luckily for the Democrats, many of Dean's competitors, especially John Edwards, are very likeable. Even better news, Dean's competitors started mimicking his policies. The same people who at first cowered into standing up to the Bush machine suddenly began to understand that agreeing with the president on everything except taxes and abortion does not win elections. Even Howard Dean admitted his opponents strategy in an e-mail to his supporters: "Now the other candidates have adopted our message -- they have adopted our position on Iraq, our criticism of No Child Left Behind, and our opposition to Bush's tax cuts." He offers further insight into the significance of his campaign: "Finally our party -- formerly in retreat -- is standing up and offering a real alternative to George W. Bush." Without Howard Dean, the Democrats may have never found its spine. Joe Lieberman could have become the voice of the Republican -- oops -- I mean, Democratic Party.
Howard Dean still has too much money and too many supporters to count him out yet. Bad press will continue to plague him after his Iowa loss, but Iowa is only the beginning. But Dean supporters don't despair. Even if he loses, the Democrats will get the best of Dean without his "yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaw" behavior.
(Patrick Harvey is a Cavalier Daily opinion editor. He can be reached at pharvey@cavalierdaily.com.)
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