Reaching for the Life Jacket
I think that pretty much captures Dean's strategy of attacking Kerry. Now that the war is over, and slipping out of many primary voters' minds, Dean has to do something to keep his name in front of the public. I have long argued that once liberals scratch away the anti-war veneer they will see a candidate much less to their liking. Dean's support of balanced budgets certainly calls into question his ability to support massive liberal social programs and his support of states' rights and gun rights certainly do not jibe with liberal orthodoxy. But, I think his tiff with Kerry allows him to sidestep those portions of his portfolio. In the end, though, Dean will have to do something substantive because Team Kerry will eventually realize the folly of fighting with a nobody like Dean.