> And my comments in this thread weren't intended for or about
-the Greens, but against the "elitism" within the Democrats -- an elitism
-that can't even stomach a fiscal hawk like Dean. Dean doesn't advocate
-socialized medicine, has a gun control position any Centrist should love,
-can't even accept Kyoto, and has a pathological loathing of government
-deficits -- no matter, he's still too extreme, too left-wing.
According to whome is Dean "too extreme, too left-wing"? Dean is being treated as a top-tier candidate by almost every major political venue involved in the Democratic primaries. The only group really bashing Dean is the Democratic Leadership Council, and almost none of the other candidates thought them worth the time of a visit.
This "elitism" charge is a straw man-- it posits a problem, elitism, and then defines it as the existence of some large corporate contributors. But where has that corporate money translated into marginalizing Dean? He started out with no national reputation, so a certain amount of skepticism early on was warranted. As soon as he proved he could get serious support at the grassroots, he was treated seriously. So where is the elitism?
-- nathan Newman