January 2004

Howard Dean has an excellent chance of becoming the next President of The United States and, a week before the Iowa primary, I hereby throw my punditry into the bull ring of pundits.

Dean's success depends upon the following events falling into place, any single one of which could sink the effort:

· Obviously, he has to carry the majority of primaries and be selected at the Democratic National Convention. Given that as a necessary first step, I would hope for the following:

· Shortly thereafter, he will have to pull Wesley Clark onto the ticket as Vice President. Clark fills a role no other can match and Dean will need to use him as a close advisor if he wins the national election. He's too important to be presiding over the Senate. Clark has said he wouldn't accept the slot, but that's what any viable candidate must say while his hat's still in the ring. I think he'd accept, because he believes in himself, his ability to contribute and because it positions him well as a future presidential candidate.

· Next, Dean must make some accommodation to Ralph Nader. Nader has said he will not be the 2004 candidate for the Green Party and one can only assume he feels some responsibility (as he damned well should) for paving the Bush road to the White House. He represents a large constituency of voters---enough to have put Gore solidly in the Oval Office in 2000.

· Additionally, Howard Dean ought to make known his primary Cabinet choices and set these people loose in his behalf on the campaign trail. Reaching back into the Clinton administration for at least two choices would make a great deal of sense. Madeleine Albright was an astute and highly respected Secretary of State; Robert Rubin knows no equal as Secretary of the Treasury. Each of them know their way around the territory, able to hit the road already running, without taking precious months to learn the cast of characters. Eliot Spitzer, NY Attorney General would make a dandy Attorney General of the United States. Take your best shot on the rest, but these are key positions that would immeasurably strengthen Dean's chances if they were announced in advance.

· Finally, and this goes for any Democratic candidate, Howard better polish a relationship with former President Bill Clinton. Many (myself included) feel that Gore's distancing himself from Clinton lost him the greatest campaigner of modern times. Bill Clinton is a weapon of prodigious power, which is another reason to bring Clark on board, as Clinton is very much on Clark's behind-the-scenes team.

Wow! Now that would be a Dean Dream Team of landslide proportion.

Get out of the Archives and read what Jim's writing today