*WHO'S 'WE'? Trying to explain his strategy of discovering Jesus as he heads into the Southern primaries, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the Democratic presidential frontrunner, said last week: "I think we have to stop thinking about the South as some peculiar region."
*DEMOCRATS' DESTINY: Dean is likely to determine the Democrats' destiny this year. Many political insiders agree that if he wins both the January 19 Iowa caucuses and the January 27 New Hampshire primary he will knock both his top rivals-Rep. Dick Gephardt (Mo.) and Sen. John Kerry (Mass.)-out of the race, gaining momentum that will probably make him unstoppable for the nomination.
Right now, Dean leads in both contests. KCCI TV conducted a poll January 5-7 of likely Iowa Democratic caucus voters (margin of error +/-5%). The results: Dean 29%; Gephardt 25%; Kerry 18%; Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) 8%; retired Gen. Wesley Clark 3%; Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) 2% and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) 2%. American Research Group polled 619 likely New Hampshire Democratic primary voters (margin of error +/- 4%) January 1-3. The results: Dean 37%; Kerry 14%; Clark 14%; Lieberman 7%; Gephardt 6%; Edwards 3%; Kucinich 2%.
*CLARK EMERGING? With his far-left views, Dean also remains the national choice of the Democratic Party, although Clark is gaining ground, giving hope to some Democrats who would like to see the retired general emerge as the "anyone but Dean" candidate after a likely Dean victory in New Hampshire.
Time/CNN released a national poll (margin of error +/-5%) on January 1. When all Democratic candidates were listed, Dean led his closest rival by more than 2-to-1: Dean 22%; Kerry 10%; Lieberman 9%; Clark 8%; Gephardt 7%. Dean also bested them all in head-to-head match-ups: He beat Clark, 46% to 32%; Lieberman, 50% to 32%; Kerry 51% to 29%; and Gephardt, 53% to 28%. However, the registered Democratic voter sub-sample of a national CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted January 2-5 (margin of error +/-5%), showed Clark rising: Dean 24%; Clark 20%; Kerry 11%; Lieberman 10%; Gephardt 9%; Edwards 6%.
*NOT AMERICA'S CHOICE: The full sample of the same CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll (margin of error +/- 3%) showed that while Dean may be the choice of Democrats nationwide, he most certainly is not the choice of most Americans. The poll gave President Bush a 60% job approval rating. When respondents were asked to say whether they had a "favorable" or "unfavorable" opinion of Bush, 65% said "favorable" and 35% "unfavorable." However, only 28% said they had a "favorable" opinion of Dean, while 39% said they had an "unfavorable" opinion. Dean, in fact, had the lowest "favorable" rating of any Democratic candidate. The poll showed Bush winning a direct match-up against Dean, 59% to 37%.
*'MOMENT OF BIRTH': As he showed signs of gaining support among registered Democrats, Clark also was taking an extreme position on abortion. In a January 6 interview with the Manchester (N.H.) Union Leader, he said that "until the moment of birth, the government has no right to influence a mother's decision on whether to have an abortion. . . . Life begins with the mother's decision."
*DIVINE INSPIRATION: The Washington Post reported that Dean said "his decision as governor to sign the bill legalizing civil unions for gays in Vermont was influenced by his Christian views."
"The overwhelming evidence is that there is very significant, substantial genetic component to [homosexuality]," Dean told the Post in an interview. "From a religious point of view, if God had thought homosexuality is a sin, He would not have created gay people." Dean also told the paper: "My view of Christianity . . . is to reach out to people who have been left behind. So I think there was a religious aspect to my decision to support civil unions."
*'MASSIVE INCREASE IN TAXES': In a presidential debate sponsored by National Public Radio in Des Moines, Iowa, last week Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut went on a tirade against Dean's and Gephardt's proposals to repeal the Bush tax cuts.
"I don't know of a case where a Democratic candidate for President has been elected who called for a massive increase in taxes on the middle class," said Lieberman. "These are our people. This is what America is all about.... They worked hard for it; they ought to be able to keep it."
*'YOU OUGHT TO PAY MORE': In the debate, Kerry joined Lieberman in attacking Dean on the tax issue. You're "going to increase the burden on middle-class Americans," Kerry told Dean. "You're going to add to those people's burdens [by] taking away the child credit, taking away the 10% bracket. Everybody in Iowa will pay additional taxes at 15% and the marriage penalty [will] be reinstated. Now, there's a terrific message. Democrats: in America, if you get married, you ought to pay more taxes."
*GET READY TO 'SACRIFICE': Dean did not back down from his vow to repeal the Bush tax cuts to pay for new federal social programs. "We cannot keep telling people we're going to give them all the programs they want and then there's not going to be any sacrifice of any kind," he said.
*GEPHARDT'S GOOD ADVICE: Gephardt indignantly suggested: "If you like the Bush tax cuts, you think that's the best as it gets, then vote for George Bush."
*SOUTER'S THEIR GUY: When asked what sort of person they would like to appoint to the Supreme Court, both Lieberman and Dean cited one of President Bush's judicial nominees as their model. Unfortunately, they weren't talking about the current President Bush.
"Justice David Souter," said Lieberman. "I would have picked exactly the person Joe picked," said Dean. "David Souter has been an extraordinary justice."
