07/03/2002 Archived Entry: "Gephardt/Gore, 2004, Dean"

As the WA Post write-up on Gephardt, Two National Campaigns, One Track points out, Gephardt has strengths second only to Gore. Gephardt's resources are perhaps even stronger than Gore's, especially if the Democrats regain the House. 5 candidates, Gore vs Gephardt as the front-runners. Kerry, Edwards and Dean looking to break through their second-class status.

Reading through the article, the media presents Gephardt much like Gore "complex" "developing" and so forth... ...Gephardt's critique of his own party's failings in 2000 has far more to do with tactics than with ideas.... Get the picture? Try this: ...stylistically, there are two Gephardts on the campaign trail this year...

As we saw with the re-emergence of Gore, the media's focus upon both Gore and Gephardt is not substance-focused, but tactical-focused, because that's where the focus of these two candidates remain. With this skepticism rides along the free-pass to Bush, who claims the "ordinary guy" label-- a tactical voice of authenticity itself. The result, due mostly to the comparison at the hand of the media, is that tactics are treated as substantive matters that are used to define candidates. The way for the Deomcrats to combat this is not to become smarter in their tactics (Gephardt), or to use Dubya's tactics of giving lip by casting out polls and letting it rip (Gore), but to choose substance itself.

Add two very wealthy DC Senators, Kerry and Edwards, in with these two complex Presidential candidates, and the voters are still left looking for that voice of authenticity that is grounded in practical experience. Look at this, a LA Times write-up on Dean, From where? Dark horse runs from back of pack.