Does OpinionJournal read VodkaPundit? Here’s OJ today:
Howard Dean’s withdrawal from the Democratic primaries yesterday ends one of the more remarkable flameouts in Presidential history. But while the former Vermont governor won’t be his party’s nominee, he deserves to be recognized as the most consequential loser since Barry Goldwater.
Here’s VP last July:
Nominating Dean would be an electoral nightmare in 2004. His more extreme positions would bring out Republican voters in droves, and his more moderate positions could keep Democratic voters at home.
But big losses often lead to big reforms. The German Army that lost in France in 1918 wasn’t the same German army ensconced in Paris in 1940 after a six-week blitz. A national loss on the Dean Scale might just force the Democrats back closer to the broad middle of American politics, and onward to future wins.
And while that might be bad for Dean, it would do the Democratic Party a world of good.
The big difference between the two columns is, OJ thinks the results will be bad for the Democrats, rather than spurring needed reforms. We’ll see.
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