Buh Bye

Over at The New Republic, Jonathan Chait winds up Diary of a Dean-O-Phobe:

FAREWELL: My work here is done. I've loved writing the Diary of a Dean-o-phobe, but it's no longer necessary.

Not that anybody is going to plead with me to continue, but I thought I'd give my reasons for stopping. First, obviously, Dean is finished as a potential nominee. He's blown all his money, his campaign is in disarray, and he's turned to an inside-the-Beltway Democrat to run his campaign. Dean may well play a potent spoiler role, but it's almost impossible to see him winning. Even if he somehow pulls out a plurality of delegates and goes to a brokered nomination, the other candidates will pool their delegates and select a non-Dean.

OK, but that's so yesterday! Let's skip the other reasons and cut to the good stuff.

Finally, John Kerry takes all the fun out of Dean-o-phobia. Indeed, if there's anybody who could make Dean attractive, it's Kerry. Kerry is a miserable candidate, bereft of political skills, and possessing of a record and a persona tailor-made for Karl Rove. The Republicans will merely have to say about Kerry what they said about Gore--that he wants to be on every side of every issue, that he's culturally out of touch with mainstream America, that he's a pompous bore--and this time the sale will be easier, because all these things are far more true of Kerry than of Gore.

Yikes! The French guy must be worse than I thought!

I'd love to see the Democrats nominate Wes Clark, who still has great potential as a general election candidate, or John Edwards, who has great potential not only as a candidate but as a president also.

Well, now we know what the Kool-Aid drinkers think.