Anti-war sentiment in Iowa is good for Dean


via The Daily Kos, comes this news story about the rising tide of anti-war sentiment among Iowans. Given that Dean is the only candidate who has not kissed Bush's rubber stamp, this gives him a marked advantage in that critical state for the primary run:

Harkin was the warm-up act for the Democratic presidential candidate who is best positioned to ride the groundswell of dovish sentiment into next January's Iowa caucuses. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean earned the most enthusiastic standing ovation of the evening when he said: ''We ought not to resort to unilateral action unless there is an imminent threat to the United States. And the secretary of State and the president have not made a case that such an imminent threat exists.''

It wasn't too long ago that Dean was the Rodney Dangerfield of the Democratic race, the long-shot candidate from a minuscule state who didn't get much respect. But all that is changing fast, largely because of Democratic doubts about war. As Iowa party Chairman Gordon Fischer, who is neutral in the presidential race, put it Monday: ''I can see Dean winning the Iowa caucuses. He's as much a player here as anybody.''


Good strategic advice for Dean would be to publicize the essentially media-ignored story about the bi-partisan bill to repeal the Iraq Use of Force Resolution. There was one small mention in the AP newswire, but none in teh major outlets. Blogger Lisa English has a detailed post on the issue as well as links for advocacy.

It's virtually certain that Lieberman, Edwards, and Kerry will not support any such repeal. This makes them especially weak in Iowa, if Dean can leverage it and get people's attention.

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