(Host) Commentator Allen Gilbert thinks Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean has met his biggest challenge so far — the entry into the race of retired four-star general Wesley Clark.
(Gilbert) Are you like me, still scratching your head over Howard Dean’s campaign successes? Dean’s racked up a string of wins, from cover photos on Time and Newsweek magazines to raising millions of campaign dollars. It’s pretty heady stuff.
But I’m wondering if maybe Dean didn’t get checked the other week when retired General Wesley Clark joined the race. Clark isn’t just any run-of-the mill candidate. He’s well-known and well-respected, a former NATO commander, Rhodes Scholar, TV analyst. And, he’s supported by the Clinton-Gore camp. That’s significant. The former president, first lady, and vice-president hold a lot of sway among Democrats.
This isn’t the first time that the Clinton-Gore camp have shoved a boulder in Dean’s path. In 1997 Dean flirted with the idea of running for president, in the 2000 election. It seemed a real stretch, especially since Gore was already assumed to be the candidate to carry the party’s banner. In January of 1998, Dean ended speculation that he would run. He said Vermonters deserved his undivided attention as governor. He wasn’t running for president.
That explanation wasn’t quite the whole story. In December 1997, Gore met with Dean in Washington – a meeting that, if you read between the lines in the news stories, was the political equivalent of a trip to the woodshed. The Clinton-Gore camp viewed Howard Dean as an upstart. They told him to get out of the way.
It’s five years later. Howard Dean isn’t just thinking about running for president in 2004. He’s doing it, and he’s sprinted to the front of the pack. Through the early months of this year, the Clinton-Gore folks let things run their course, even to the extent of Al Gore’s bowing out of the race early. Then as Dean picked up steam, the centrist-right Democratic Leadership Council, which Clinton and Gore have relied on for political support, issued thinly veiled warnings that a Dean nomination would be a disaster for Democrats. It would be McGovern-Mondale all over again.
But that didn’t slow the Dean train.
So, late last month, the equivalent of another “woodshed trip” was administered – in the form of Clark’s candidacy. Like the Clintons, Clark is from Arkansas, a southern state. Many strategists think that strength in the South is key to next year’s election. A number of former Clinton advisors have signed on to Clark’s campaign.
Can Dean survive this assault? He’s certainly in a much stronger position than he was in 1997. But Dean has to acknowledge the power that the Clinton-Gore folks still wield. Clark may prove to be a formidable opponent.
This is a defining challenge for Howard Dean. Great show, this political campaign, isn’t it? And we’ve got front row seats.
This is Allen Gilbert.
Allen Gilbert of Worcester is a writer and parent who is active in education issues.