With early contests in Iowa and New Hampshire now looming, Democratic pols are fretting about the unstable candidacy of Howard ("Dr. No") Dean. Political reporter John Fund says they have only themselves to blame.
If Mr. Dean wins both Iowa and New Hampshire it's hard to see how--short of a political gaffe of megaton proportions--he will be stopped from getting the nomination.Posted by Alan at January 5, 2004 12:20 PMSuch a gaffe is certainly possible. But what worries Democrats is that if he is the nominee Mr. Dean will make that megagaffe in the long eight months between the selection of a nominee and Election Day. "Reporters tend to put candidates into stereotypical boxes," says political analyst Stuart Rothenberg. "If someone gets a reputation for outrageous statements everything they say is viewed as a potential gaffe. Al Gore had the same problem when he developed an image as a serial exaggerator in 2000."
Mr. Dean's gaffes during just the last two weeks of December prompted party leaders to worry that a public impression of him as an undisciplined candidate was starting to set in...[leading] Democrats to worry that Mr. Dean was turning himself into a piņata for Republicans during the fall campaign.