Quick Links

Common Dreams - By their attacks on Dean, "Senators Kerry and Lieberman and the House Democratic leadership have gone on record supporting the policies of the Bush Administration against the overwhelming majority of the American people."

Mother Jones Blog - As of a week or so ago, the Washington Post reported that, in addition to 1,500 casualties shipped out of Iraq, over 4,500 other soldiers have been flown out of the country with mental and physical ailments of various sorts.

Historian Paul Kennedy and other scholars have written about the slow motion collapses of militarily and economically overstretched empires. Some have said that Iraq is Vietnam on crack cocaine, so perhaps we're beginning to experience imperial overstretch in triple-time.

Newsday - To the winner may go the spoils of politics, but to the front-runner goes a different prize - a large bull's-eye on the back.

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean is learning this harsh lesson as he tries to maintain his newfound status as the candidate to beat. Dean's rise in the polls has gotten his opponents' attention, and they are taking aim and firing away.

The Mahablog - Howard Dean Rocks

The Zogby Poll has Dean ahead in Iowa.

Dean was the choice of 23 percent of voters surveyed, to 17 percent for Mr. Gephardt, 11 percent for Mr. Kerry, 6 percent for Mr. Edwards and 4 percent for Mr. Lieberman. (EL - I think that the recent strong attacks on Bush by Gephardt may have pushed him up.)

Gallup Poll - With Clark in he would be a major candidate but ranking 5th nationally.

The national poll, conducted Sept. 8-10, finds Gephardt in the lead with 16% support among registered Democrats and independents who lean Democratic, followed by former Vermont Governor Howard Dean (14%), Lieberman (13%), Senator John Kerry (12%), and Clark (10%).

In a poll two weeks ago, Lieberman received support from 23% of Democratic voters and led by 10 percentage points over his next closest rival. Clark received just 2% of the vote, suggesting that recent publicity about his pending announcement has boosted his name recognition and support.

EL - GOP and conservative leaning Gallup has lost some astuteness and objectivity on his polls in the last few years. He also leans his headlines and first paragraphs of his reports. His national polls are not restricted to the more probable primary voters which would push up Dean's numbers and drop Lieberman's. Gallup does have good analysis later down in the article which clearly suggests this.