Posted on 06/05/2011 10:44:22 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Howard Dean, the former Democratic National Committee chairman who helped Democrats capture the White House in 2008, warns that Sarah Palin could defeat President Obama in 2012.
Dean says his fellow Democrats should beware of inside-the-Beltway conventional wisdom that Obama would crush Palin in a general-election contest next year.
“I think she could win,” Dean told The Hill in an interview Friday. “She wouldn’t be my first choice if I were a Republican but I think she could win.” Dean warns the sluggish economy could have more of a political impact than many Washington strategists and pundits assume.
“Any time you have a contest — particularly when unemployment is as high as it is — nobody gets a walkover,” Dean said. “Whoever the Republicans nominate, including people like Sarah Palin, whom the inside-the-Beltway crowd dismisses — my view is if you get the nomination of a major party, you can win the presidency, I don’t care what people write about you inside the Beltway,” Dean said.
Dean spoke to The Hill the same day the Labor Department revealed the national economy added only 54,000 jobs in May and the national unemployment rate had risen to 9.1 percent.
Last month the private sector created 83,000 jobs, about a third the average for the previous three months.
Dean said he doesn’t think Palin will win the GOP nomination or would have the advantage over Obama in 2012. But he warned it is dangerous for Democrats to dismiss her.
Palin said Friday that she was "still weeks away" from making a decision about a presidential campaign. “Anybody who gets the nomination could win the presidency,” he said. “Do I think she’s going to get the nomination? No. But that process is so difficult and really tests candidates in ways that no other process can."
Dean knows the rigors of presidential primaries first hand. In 2004, his unconventional campaign briefly put him in contention for the Democratic nod before the eventual winner, Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), pulled away.
“Anybody who survives the process can win the presidency,” he added.
Dean said Republicans made the mistake of underestimating Bill Clinton in the rest of the Democratic field in 1991 when former President George H.W. Bush seemed to have a strong advantage but the economy was still mired in recession.
“I can remember Bill Clinton, I think, was one of the seven dwarfs,” Cain said. “This goes on every four years and I think it’s best not to pay attention to that kind of talk.”
Did that scumbag Dean,Grow a brain??
Dean Reloaded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwto2s_FbnI
Naaaaaaaw, but I'm sure he's giggling over the thought that libtard heads (of which he is one of the biggest) are exploding all over the country. Kind of a gotcha from one of their own who feels marginalized. He's sulking.
“Did that scumbag Dean, Grow a brain??
Naaaaaaaw, but I’m sure he’s giggling over the thought that libtard heads (of which he is one of the biggest) are exploding all over the country. Kind of a gotcha from one of their own who feels marginalized. He’s sulking.”
Excellent post!
Whatever they say, I am not listening. I am no sheeple, and I DO have a brain.--That brain says Mitt can't win--too insider, too much baggage. Newt--same-o. Thank you Huck for getting out.
vaudine
The logical conclusion of Obama beating McCain is that anyone can win. Really, ANYONE; Dean is right to be concerned.
scream it, Dean
>>Dean told The Hill in an interview Friday. “She wouldn’t be my first choice if I were a Republican...”<<
Make a good billboard in the primaries. Big pic of Dean saying “She’s not my first choice.”
And just down the road a bit: Another pic of Dean saying: “Huntsman’s my guy!”
Should seal Huntsman’s fate. Then if she could get Dean to speculate on his next best choice...reload and repeat.
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