Vilsack vs. Dean

Vilsack vs. Dean

It looks like the DNC fight is coming down to my governor and my first choice presidential candidate. The few, the proud, the 19% are in a quandry here...

The blogosphere seems to be settling into a blame Iowa, kill the caucuses mood. I can understand that. In retrospect, Kerry's caucus win was not just critical, it was the whole ball game. And it was a huge strategic blunder, as Bush proved. The middle of the road has become irrelevant; you WIN by energizing the base. Kerry won Iowa in January by being more "electable," then couldn't win the state in November.

It's not fair that I'm spoiled by being a Key Iowa Party Activist. Everyone should get the opportunity to chit-chat with three presidential candidates in one day, like I did in January 2003. Everybody CAN'T of course. And I like being one of the lucky ones. That's not a good or a fair argument, it's just my own bias.

I have some parochial concerns, too. If Vilsack wins the party chair job, does he stay on as governor? It may be politically incorrect for me to bash the woman who would be Iowa's first female governor. But I've never been a big Sally Pederson fan. Her Democratic Party credentials are thin, I don't understand how one can go from being a Republican donor to a Democratic candidate in six months.

Is it possible to separate the issues of Dean vs. Vilsack and Iowa No vs. Iowa Yes? Having followed both Dean and Vilsack closely over several years, it's clear that Dean would be a better spokesperson and a better person to energize the grass roots of the party. Which, as Karl Rove will tell you, is teh way to win.