IOWA EVENS UP: All of a sudden the Iowa caucuses are a four-way near-dead heat, and at this point I'm almost as undecided as the Iowa voters. Must be that whole Midwestern solidarity thing...
I generally consider myself a good TNR neo-liberal, though my decision wasn't made any easier by last week's Joe Lieberman endorsement, which also gave space for long-winded dissents in favor of Dean, Gephardt, Clark, and Edwards. (Sorry, Kerry). It also didn't help that editor Peter Beinart gave even more space to the dissents than to the pro-Joe staff editorial.
As I've said before, I'm a natural supporter of Lieberman because I agree most with his views, but I've just plain never liked the guy, especially his sanctimoniousness and anti-Hollywood crusading. If I were voting next week I'd probably pick Edwards or Gephardt- I'm generally impressed with the campaigns of both, and while I used to look at Kerry as a future president when I lived in Boston, he's run such an inept campaign that frankly it's hard not to laugh at him. And Wesley Clark, let's be frank, just seems nuts.
As for Dean, yes I agree that most of the attacks against him- both by the media and his opponents- are unfair. And while I admire his tenaciousness, I can't say I agree with him on much of anything, and it'll be an interesting guessing game in November whether he wins only Vermont, Massachusetts, and California, or merely Vermont only.
The less said about Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich, the better.
Meanwhile, the New Republic wasn't the only big endorsement procured by Joe Lieberman in the last week- today ESPN's own Chris Berman came out for Senator Joe. So what if Martin Sheen made "West Wing" fantasists happy with his backing of Dean- Joe's got the swami!