Scaling Mount Dean

How far can Dean go? The campaign for US president has barely started and that's the first big question I'm trying to answer.

Dean is the only exciting candidate in the race for the Democratic nomination. But excitement is fleeting and it doesn't necessarily lead to victory.

Dean has a street level buzz that blows away the competition. He gets people charged up, makes them believe. But what works for the political core might not work for the Democrats as a whole. And what works for the Dems might not work for the country at large.

Does Dean have what it takes to excite the Democrat primary voters AND convince them he can win the larger race? If he can then can he really go the distance?

Honestly I have no idea. He's a down home straight talker with some good ideas. Is that enough? Doubt anyone really knows.

Dean is the high risk - high return candidate. If he can scale his energy to a national level he's got the best shot of taking out Bush. But he's got the biggest chances of flopping too. Going to watch closely and see how he handles a rising campaign. Posted by Abe at April 21, 2003 04:07 AM