[Marxism] Moving the mountain

["Marvin Gandall" <marvin.gandall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Howard Dean is trying to become the first to succeed in a long line of
dissident politicians who claimed they could energize the large inert
non-voting mass of the population, reports today’s Wall Street Journal.
In the US, this amounts to nearly half the voting public –
disproportionately low-income and non-white.

Dean strategists are trying to allay Democratic concerns about his
“electability” by promising to turn out up to eight million new voters.
But reporter John Harwood notes that previous “political comets” like
George McGovern, Gary Hart, Ross Perot, Jesse Ventura, and John McCain
who made similar pitches all “eventually flamed out”.

While Dean has surprised observers with his early recruiting and
fund-raising success within the Democratic party, “rousing new
enthusiasm in the country as a whole will prove more difficult”, Harwood
says, especially since polls show unregistered and younger voters are
slightly more supportive of the Iraq war than the general population.
The upcoming Iowa caucuses will be the first test of Dean’s ability to
broaden the electorate.

WSJ (sub-only) article reproduced on www.supportingfacts.com


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