Posted 4:02 PM by Blah blah

Candidate Howard Dean Takes the Lead (U.S. Presidential Politics)

If you want to attend a political event (such as a Howard Dean meeting) in your area, make sure to set up an account at

- Meetup.com
- Howard Dean Meetup Page

Dean: From ‘player’ to front-runner (MSNBC):

As of last week, his Internet-based campaign had amassed a donor list of 100,000 individuals. The average donation, campaign sources say, is $77. But the contribution limit for individuals is now $2,000 — which means, in theory, that Dean already has a potential pool of $200 million — a staggering figure compared with the $40 million or so he might be eligible for in matching funds....

Party leaders — such as they are — once dismissed Dean’s anti-war based message as too narrow and liberal to reach the Democratic mainstream, let alone the swing voters in swing states the Dems need to win the White House back.

That argument looks fatuous now, with public patience with the war in Iraq eroding, and with the combat deaths and financial costs mounting steadily. In the latest polls, by Newsweek and others, his views — if not his aggressive, anti-Bush style — are as mainstream as can be.

Dean’s lack of military service is seen, by many, as a fatal flaw. Not if the anti-war tide rises further. And we are only seeing the beginning of what is soon going to be a rip-roaring guns-and-butter debate, one that could put President Bush in real political peril.

The war is costing $1 billion a week — and soon may cost more. Other countries are paying little. Voters in the Newsweek poll expressed irritation at these spending levels, and they are beginning to make the connection between the overall health of the American economy and the amount of money we are spending on a war they still support — but don’t want to pay for.
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Dean surges to double-digit lead over Kerry in New Hampshire (AP):

"Howard Dean has grabbed a commanding 21-point lead over rival John Kerry in the latest New Hampshire poll in which voters said they prefer a take-no-prisoners Democrat even if that candidate seemed unlikely to beat President Bush.

The likely Democratic primary voters are realists who acknowledge that Bush is a formidable foe: Almost two-thirds -- 64 percent -- said they think the president likely will win re-election in 2004.

Dean, who trailed Kerry in polls earlier this year, led the Massachusetts senator 38 percent to 17 percent in the Zogby International poll conducted Aug. 23-26 and released Wednesday.

When asked whether it was more important to have a candidate willing to stand up for what they believe or a candidate who can win in November 2004, voters said they preferred the former by a 2-to-1 margin.
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Bich Ngoc and I wrote about the surge of Howard Dean's national popularity last month.