July 10, 2003

Duck and Edwards Not Ready for Prime Time

Richard Reeves writes,

The Democrats are no longer seen as a party ready to govern. Whatever one thinks of the very decisive George W. Bush's personal capabilities, he has inherited impressive Republican governance, beginning with the kids of the Nixon administration, Vice President Richard Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld among them. They know what they're doing, even if what they are doing may turn out to be spectacularly wrongheaded.

The moral of the story: Winning is not enough. The Democrats cannot afford another failure of governance. Is Dean or Edwards ready to govern? I don't think so. Democrats have to take a long look at folks who have been around a while. Perhaps Richard Gephardt. Perhaps John Kerry. The Democrats need someone ready to end their 30-year cycle of political start-ups.

He compares Duck and Edwards (he's needs a nickname) to Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

"Why I am Against Howard Dean -- and John Edwards, Too"