Democratic Backbone

Democratic Backbone -- From an article about Howard Dean...

When it comes to the war in Iraq, or the growing influence of Christian fundamentalism on public policy, or the mounting budget deficit exacerbated by targeted tax cuts for the wealthy, Mr Dean - in contrast to John Kerry, who beat him to the Democratic presidential nomination - does not believe there is room for compromise with the Bush White House, or any of the like-minded politicians he characterises as 'right-wing wackos'.

Instead, he believes, the Republicans need to be fought on their own turf, in places where ordinary working-class voters have been persuaded to vote Republican but may yet be open to the notion that they are betraying their own interests.

'You've got to show them the Republicans will never deliver jobs and education because they can't manage money,' Mr Dean said. 'You've got to talk about the enormous deficits. These are people ... who really struggle with money issues of their own and know they can't go into debt. So when they see the country go into debt, they worry about it.'

This campaign could have been exciting.