Dean's Staying Power

An interesting piece from The New Republic wonders if Dean will have staying power following the war in Iraq. Will the anti-war liberals that flocked to his campaign stay aboard when they hear more about his ideas? TNR thinks the upcoming Democratic debate hosted by ABC News is a big one for Dean to find out if his appeal can extend beyond the anti-war vote. They say that it's likely the campaign will try to reposition Dean as the health care candidate. Health care may indeed be an important issue in the race, but to pin his hopes on the health care issue is what everyone expects him to do... a better strategy to separate himself from the rest of the field (and to effectively attack Bush) is to become the "balanced budget" candidate.

Dean can hammer both Bush and the Dems in congress for pushing for tax cuts while state budgets languish, and social programs go down the tubes. Meanwhile Bush (and the Senators and House members) fiddle with tax cuts we cannot afford while the country burns. Dean is the only one who has consistently balanced budgets in this race and he needs to get that message out now and take the domestic debate to a new, and unexpected place. Health care can come later, after he's established his credentials on this issue. The South Carolina test is indeed a big one, but tactically it won't be health care that decides this presidential election - it will be the economy and foreign policy. Dean needs to establish himself as the candidate to be trusted on the economy.