After a relaxing weekend of sun and skiing, it's time to get back to work. First, though, there have been a number of pro-Dean articles in the press of late. First here this newsday article which is positive. Then there's this piece in the Burlington Free Press. Finally, there's this Ryan Lizza story in The New Republic. The last, more than the others, underscores Dean's strength: the other candidates keep confusing themselves about Dean's actual political record. Instead of attacking him from the right for supporting gun owner's rights, they're attacking his stance on Iraq as being too dovish. Implying that he is too far left to be a credible candidate in the primaries is sure to backfire, because it will attract support from the very people who vote in primaries. And when the general election rolls around, most people will be surprised to learn of Dean's fiscal conservatism and overall moderate nature. This is much like 43's strategy in the 2000 primaries: he emphasized his (relatively short) conservative credentials to begin with, helping him defeat the other challengers despite not having a more principled conservative stand than any of them. Yet by the time the general election rolled around, 43 was able to seamlessly transition to the center, claiming he had never left and that he was a "compassionate conservative".

Dean, by contrast, really isn't the uber-left candidate most have made him out to be. So his transition back to the center is an easy one to make. Unlike Gore in the 2000 elections, no credible candidate is considered "to the left" of Dean, despite his policies which place him more squarely in the center than candidates like Gephardt, Sharpton or Braun. By winning over the base so quickly, Dean can concentrate on his real strengths: fiscal conservatism (he's all for balanced budgets), healthcare issues (who could argue with a doctor?) and education. He won't have to keep looking over his shoulder to make sure he's pleasing the left-leaning folks: they're already on board. The fact that they may have embraced a candidate whose views don't parallel their own is good for the party today, and good for the nation in 2004. Let's just hope he picks up some more money along the way, scores a few upsets and then knocks 43 out of the ring next fall.