BY DAN
KENNEDY
Serving the reality-based community since 2002.
Notes and observations on
the press, politics, culture, technology, and more. To sign up for
e-mail delivery, click
here. To send
an e-mail to Dan Kennedy, click
here.
For bio, published work, and links to other blogs, visit
www.dankennedy.net.
Monday, January 19, 2004
Kerry-Clark '04? Why not? It
makes sense, so it probably won't happen. But here's why it should.
Although it may still turn out that Howard Dean's and Dick Gephardt's
field organizations are too much to overcome, there is a pretty good
chance that the story coming out of Iowa tonight will be John Kerry.
The final
Zogby Iowa tracking poll:
Kerry, 25 percent; Dean, 22 percent; John Edwards, 21 percent;
Gephardt, 18 percent.
Meanwhile, in New Hampshire,
Kerry's campaign - dead as recently as a week ago - has sprung to
life; he's essentially tied for second with Wesley Clark (Clark, 20
percent; Kerry, 19 percent) in the American Research Group
daily
tracking polls. Dean still
holds the lead with 28 percent. (The Boston
Globe/WBZ-TV tracking poll
isn't quite as good for Kerry: he's lagging with 14 percent, behind
Dean's 30 percent and Clark's 23 percent).
To finish setting the table: on
Sunday, the
Concord Monitor endorsed
Kerry, writing, "Only Sen.
John Kerry of Massachusetts has well-reasoned and rock-solid answers
to every question, foreign or domestic. Kerry is prepared to take
office tomorrow." So
did the Nashua Telegraph.
The Boston Globe and possibly the Boston Herald (even
though it will be with George W. Bush in November) can be expected to
follow suit in the next few days.
Now, then. I can't dig up the
citation, but I know I saw a comment from Clark recently saying that
he wouldn't have jumped into the race if Kerry had caught fire. And
Kerry, after being all but written off, is finally on the move. But
if Kerry and Clark split the anti-Dean vote in New Hampshire next
Tuesday, then Dean could win, regain the momentum, and roll to the
nomination.
Clark has run an interesting
campaign, and he's a very smart guy, but huge questions remain about
his lack of experience in anything other than the military. If he
were to drop out, and Kerry were to take the unprecedented step of
naming his fellow war hero as his running mate, the combination might
be too much for Dean to overcome. And if Dean can't win in New
Hampshire, he likely can't win anywhere.
Little People news.
Yesterday's Providence Journal reviewed
Little People. Reviewer Jeanne Nicholson writes:
He weighs the risks and
rewards of bone-stretching surgery; he seeks out and interviews
adult dwarfs on their home turf for insights into how Becky might
attain a life of quality in spite of her difference; he attends
and writes about the meetings of Little People of America, knowing
his daughter will have to build a life for herself in a world with
people of average height.
posted at 9:30 AM |
|
link
MEDIA LOG ARCHIVES
Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
