Posted on 03/03/2004 5:05:57 AM PST by Clive
After last night's "Super Tuesday" of 10 primaries, the big winner is -- the Democratic National Committee.
A couple of years ago the committee decided, after watching how George W. Bush built early momentum and won the Republican nomination in 2000, that they'd do the same thing for the Democrats in 2004.
The idea was that sooner a candidate is chosen, the less party in-fighting there is, the more the party can unify, the easier it is to devote money and energy into fighting the incumbent president.
It worked for George W. Bush against John McCain.
It has worked for Sen. John Kerry -- against his Democratic rival, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who started way back and who has steadily closed the gap.
But after yesterday's results, it's now probably too late for him.
What the Democratic National Committee decided was to hold primaries closer together, earlier than in the past, and in greater numbers.
The aim was to have the race realistically over before the convention begins -- anti-climactic, but more time to bash President Bush instead of one another.
Now that Kerry has such a commanding lead in primary wins and delegates, it is forgotten that just prior to his win in the first primary -- Iowa -- Kerry was a disappointing third in opinion polls.
He won Iowa with 38% of the vote against Edwards' 32% -- a remarkable showing for Edwards, a relatively little-known southern senator.
But second means little if you're an unknown.
Kerry's Iowa momentum swept him through New Hampshire -- and the rest is history.
In the buildup to yesterday's gaggle of primaries, some of Kerry's previous momentum, was fading.
He tends to talk in cliches and platitudes, without advancing solutions.
For example, when asked about Iraq, he says Bush has made errors.
His solution is to get the outside world involved.
How would he do that?
Well, he'd just do it -- overlooking that Bush has tried mightily to get allies involved to share the load, and the costs.
In response to Bush's intention to amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as between "only" a man and a woman, Kerry says he's against same-sex "marriage" but wouldn't change anything.
Not much leadership there.
Anyway, that's the nature of the guy and his vacillating record (some 12,000 votes since first becoming a senator) show him voting pro and con on so many issues, that he's a bit of a bouncing ball.
There's an uneasy feeling among Democrats, that Edwards would be a more formidable opponent for George Bush, had not the decision already been made for Kerry in the most significant primaries.
For what it's worth, that's also a feeling -- but this time with relief -- among Republicans.
Compared to Edwards' cheerful, contagious enthusiasm and eager vitality, Kerry seems ponderous, predictable, lugubrious.
So what if he had a decent war record -- so did Bob Dole.
That was then, this is now.
Another ominous sign for Kerry and Democrats is that things seem to be breaking positively for Bush.
The economy is rebounding, the stock market rising.
In Iraq the improbable has occurred and feuding factions seem to agree (for the moment) on how the country should be run, with democratic safeguards for all parties.
As well, Libya -- once the most militant terrorist state -- has moderated and is now an ad for the Bush "with-us-or-against-us" doctrine.
Haiti is being restored to some sort of order, and there are signs the net is closing on Osama bin Laden, with Pakistan seemingly allied with America. Of course things can quickly change.
But after yesterday's primaries, John Edwards becomes the leading contender for the vice-presidential nomination.
For one thing, there just wasn't that much coverage of it - and when there was, there was these very matter-of-fact statements from the lamestream media such as, "And...it looks like John Kerry will be the nominee for the Democratic Party...trouncing John Edwards in just about every state....and the big news is water on Mars!..."
And watching all the commentators, it was the convervatives with big relieved smiles on their faces as they chirped, "Well, it looks like Kerry has nailed it down - and will be the nominee Bush faces in November!"
I can imagine all the glum faces around the 'Rat party - "Dammit Terry! You set the whole contest up just like we asked you to!"
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