:: blame the extended gestation.... ::

:: Sunday, November 02, 2003 ::

The New Republic Online: Continental Divide: "The media often depict the Democratic primary as a battle between liberals and centrists. But those terms don't capture the real divide within the party: between yuppie reformers and working-class party regulars. "

"Dean, as the national media is discovering, is the most committed fiscal conservative to contend for a Democratic presidential nomination since Tsongas. In Vermont, which isn't constitutionally obliged to balance its budget, Dean nonetheless made balancing the budget his top priority, repeatedly spurning calls for greater social spending and winning praise from the libertarian Cato Institute. He has flirted with raising the Social Security retirement age and, as Gephardt charges, supported far deeper cuts in Medicare than most Democrats. On the stump, Dean delights in tough-love statements like: 'Tell the truth: We cannot afford all of the tax cuts, the health insurance, special [education funding], and balancing the budget.' "

I can't help but wonder why this is all coming out now. These are things we knew. And then I hear an echo of myself about the war...

"Dean, who learned fiscal conservatism from his investment-banker, Republican father, embodies today's Democratic Party better than Gephardt, the son of a Teamster from working-class St. Louis. Perhaps nothing explains the fight for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination better than that."

:: Jim Nichols 11/02/2003 02:35:00 AM [+] ::
...