Dean, Pelosi Find Agreement

Dean's opponents are rapidly finding that simply jumping on every word the frontrunner says will not pay dividends - either in terms of public policy, or public awareness. That game can rapidly backfire, and be turned against other candidates - especially when the general meaning of a candidate's statement should be clear (as was the case when Dean said we should be "even-handed" in our negotiations. I think for most of us it was clear he was simply referring to being an "honest broker" at the negotiating table, rather than saying that we should radically alter our existing relationship with Israel and put US relations with Israel and the Palestinians on equal footing... clearly that was not the intent). Is there anyone out there who really believes that Dean would question Israel's right to exist? Clearly, Pelosi quickly realized this was not the case and has shifted on the issue and now says she is in accord with Gov. Dean.

The other candidates should focus more on finding their own messages (and, ahem, finding their own styles) rather than simply trying to parse and spin every word out of Dean's mouth. The fruits of that approach are short-lived (as this article shows), and will not ultimately win over new voters to their candidates. Rather, I suspect negative campaigning simply turns voters off.

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