Clark's on the move

Jonathan Cohn at the tough-on-policy TNR Primary likes the General's tax plan.

Of all the tax plans out there right now, this would certainly seem to be the most cleverly conceived. Other candidates have offered tax breaks for the poor and middle class, but only Clark lets people escape the painful process of tax-filing in the first place--something voters are bound to like, even if only a relatively small number of them can actually take advantage of it. And while this plan would raise taxes on a handful of wealthy Americans--by a whopping 10 points--Clark is cannily taking on that issue directly, daring Karl Rove to fight him on it:

Also noted in the TNR Primary is Dean's about face on his plan to cut ALL of Bush's tax cuts, almost certainly in direct response to the great reception The General's plan is getting. Those who can lead do, and those who can't lead copy.

According to a campaign aide, Dean will probably discard his (and Dick Gephardt's) contention that America can achieve economic security only by repealing President Bush's tax cuts. As Dean-o-phobe has pointed out, this means raising taxes on the middle class, which, of course, is tantamount to political suicide. At long last, thankfully, Dean is coming to a position for which Wesley Clark, Joe Lieberman, and John Kerry have been stumping all season. Tagged with the moniker "tax reform," Dean's forthcoming plan will probably do the same thing as theirs: preserve the middle-class tax cuts while reversing the upper-class ones.

There's more discussion of Clark's tax plan available at the the CCN as well as a calculator to show those of you with kids how much you'll save under Clark's plan.

On the subject of The General's reception:

The crowds at his campaign appearances are growing. At one stop over the weekend, a fire marshal barred more people from entering a building where Clark came to talk-and two more busloads of supporters were still on the way. A second meeting for the overflow crowd was quickly arranged at a restaurant across the street.

Momentum is growing for a big showing in New Hampshire, and even though Clark withdrew from the Iowa caucuses a while back, I wouldn't be surprised if we got a nice surprise.

Dean is worried...

In a telephone conference call that reporters were invited by mistake to hook into, Dean's campaign staff spoke candidly about strategy surrounding the impending Bradley endorsement.

"Tomorrow, (Tuesday) we're going to start by having Bradley do sort of a subtle thing, if we can, by saying that Dean is a real Democrat, and then follow that up the next day with an in-state person that's probably a little more direct," one unidentified staffer said.

The "in-state" appeared to be a reference to New Hampshire, where Bradley, Al Gore's opponent for the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination, was to appear this morning at a previously unscheduled breakfast.

Another staffer indicated that in a survey of voters Monday by telephone, people expressed concern that "this guy (Dean) is indecisive" and Bradley, a former Hall of Fame player in the National Basketball Association and a three-term senator from New Jersey, could help counter that.

"The Bradley message could be, like, (Dean) knew where he stood on the war, is still a Democrat, takes . . . positions, blah, blah, blah," the staffer said.

The next day, the speaker said, "surrogates" for Dean, both local and national, could "then hit Clark on the flip side of the argument: that he's indecisive, didn't know what party he's with, doesn't know his position on the war," she said.

The strategists ended their conversation when another reporter joined the conference, telling him, "I think you may have the wrong call-in number. This isn't a press call."

...and he should be says Mother Jones...

It makes sense that Wesley Clark, having decided to skip the Iowa caucuses, was a no-show at Sunday's Iowa debate. And since the Democratic debates seem to have devolved into raucous shout-fests, Clark may have calculated, probably correctly, that staying above the fray could only work to his advantage. Clark's absence certainly won him some attention, which in turn fed the growing sense, bolstered by his recent money-raising success, that the former general may be emerging as the Anyone-but-Dean candidate.

...and the latest USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll!

Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean, pounded by rivals in recent weeks for his positions and his temperament, has lost ground in the USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll, and retired general Wesley Clark has emerged as his chief rival.

Dean still tops the Democratic field in the national survey, at 24%, but the 21-point lead he held over Clark less than a month ago has narrowed to just 4 percentage points, within the poll's margin of error.

Things are looking good. Want to help keep the momentum building? Head over to the web site and take action! Join TechCorps and help develop the software that keeps the campaign running, Contribute some cash, Help get the word out in New Hampshire, or Iowa, or the February 3rd Primaries. There's all sorts of ways you can help Wesley Clark to the Whitehouse.