Dean's Move to the Middle

TNR takes a look at Dean's move to the right. Contrary to some who think think the inevitable collision between Dean's centrist credentials and many of his early supporter's loony leftism will cause a problem for the campaign, TNR believes the loss of the wing-nuts will help.

Why? For one thing, Dean has already gotten more mileage out of the far left-wing than he could have reasonably hoped for, having used their early support to cement his image as coming from the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." Now that he's trying to strengthen his centrist bona fides, their support isn't so important. And given that he's held these particular centrist positions for years, it was only a matter of time before some groups started to raise eyebrows. In any case, their votes were hardly secure--these are people who typically vote Nader, who long ago indicated that he would run against Dean if he got the nomination. Nor are we talking about all that many people--as noted in &c. today, the vast majority of progressives are still on board.

But most of all, their defection is the best possible advertising for Dean's centrism, and a solution to one of his campaign's stickier problems. Indeed, while he has always had mainstream credentials, his antiwar image has ensured that people will greet his attempts to tack to the middle with skepticism. But when you get criticism from The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, even the most doubting of centrists have to rethink their assumptions about Dean's supposedly ideological tendencies. So for now, it seems that the Dean folks have managed to have their cake and eat it, too.