T-Bone sez:
Democrats cannot and should not intend to compete for the south by appealing to cultural valuesObviously, Bill Clinton's primary issue in '92 was the economy, but he knew that he had to send signals to Southern whites that he wasn't just a dope-smoking Harvard hippie - he was also the first white-trash president since Andy Jackson.
First, you have the Ricky Rector case, where Clinton presided over the execution of a retard. For those of you who don't remember, Rector tried unsuccessfully to kill himself, and was left with an IQ around 65. Before being led to his execution, he left the pie from his last meal "for later". Second, there was the Sister Souljah affair, where Clinton bashed a black female rapper who had made anti-white comments, humiliating Jesse Jackson in the process. Even Bush the Elder knew this. When running in 1988, he professed a love for pork rinds. Not bad for a Yalie.
I'm not saying Dean should come out against affirmative action, but a few token gestures might be enough to offset his pot-smoking, draft-dodging, Yale-educated, Aspen-skiing, know-it-all Yankee, son-of-a-stockbroker image. The lunatic fringe of the Democratic party isn't going anywhere. Those feminist types didn't take long to ditch their principles and defend Clinton, and neither did the blacks abandon our "first black president".
I think there is an opening on the foriegn policy front. Maybe Dean could criticize Bush on his dealings with Saudi Arabia. Stand a bunch of Muslim bigwigs behind him and call them terrorists. He's got to do something, because he's looking at carrying 6 or 7 states at this point.
Marc
