With the election only 366 days away, these guys are never going to last. The latest attempt to turn a drainage ditch into a canyon involves pickup truck pandering.
First Howard Dean let's us all know what he thinks of those below the Mason-Dixon line:
"I still want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks," the former Vermont governor was quoted as saying in Saturday's Des Moines Register. "We can't beat George Bush unless we appeal to a broad cross-section of Democrats."
Dean's campaign said Saturday that Dean was intending to encourage the return of Southern voters who have abandoned the Democrats for decades but are disaffected with the Republicans.
But wait! There's more! Dick Gephardt tries to make some hay by letting us know that he has no intention of being the president of all the people:
Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, who shares the lead in Iowa with Dean, accused Dean of making a blatant move to win the votes of people "who disagree with us on bedrock Democratic values like civil rights."
"I don't want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks," Gephardt said in a statement. "I will win the Democratic nomination because I will be the candidate for guys with American flags in their pickup trucks."
Not to be outdone when the dirt is flying, John Kerry then jumps in the hole and keeps digging, trying to remind us all that NRA = confederate flag = racists:
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts contended that Dean's "pandering" to the National Rifle Association gave him an inroad to "pander to lovers of the Confederate flag."
Dean's comment was reported in story about Kerry's criticism of Dean's record on guns. The senator claimed that Dean was an NRA favorite who opposed a 1994 law that banned assault weapons to civilians.
"I would rather be the candidate of the NAACP than the NRA," Kerry said in a statement.
What's wrong with trying to gain the support of both? Oh, I forgot, Democrats needs demons and devils to fight since everything has to be a bloody holy war for them. But it has got to be tough to fight holy wars when you insist that God stay on the sidelines.
Hmmm... let's see...
The NAACP is an advocacy group for a specific group of people (nothing wrong with that). The NRA is an advocacy group for constitutional rights which apply to all citizens. Which group would be more conducive to pandering and which would be more conducive to supporting a wide spectrum of citizens?