Political Pumpkin Patch

1. Braun to Quit Presidential Bid, Back Dean

Ah, Carol, we hardly knew ye! So much for her desire to "take the 'Men Only' sign off the White House door." Be interesting to see how she spins her backing Dean. Can you say high-profile cabinet position? Wonder who the National Organization for Women and the National Women's Political Caucus will endorse now since backing a winner was obviously never their goal. If they don't endorse Dean, what does that say about their committment to Moseley Braun? Considering they haven't helped her raise any siginificant money - one of the main side effects expected from such high-level, establishment endorsements - you have to believe they were only backing her symbolically, because she is a woman.

2. More Sniping As Democratic Race Tightens

Dick Gephardt accused Howard Dean of "manufactured anger and false conviction" in a hotly contested Democratic presidential campaign that turned sharply negative Wednesday...

"To me, there is no room for the cynical politics of manufactured anger and false conviction. I believe in standing for something," the Missouri lawmaker said.

"Howard Dean travels the country and yells and pounds the podium against NAFTA, against the secrecy of the Bush-Cheney White House, and against insider corporate deals," he said. "This is the same Howard Dean who said he strongly supported NAFTA, who won't release his records as governor, and who wanted Vermont to 'overtake Bermuda' as a tax haven for companies like Enron."

While I'm not a big fan of Gephardt's, I admire his willingness to give the Doctor a taste of his own medicine. It may be desperation but damn if he didn't pin the tail square on the donkey's ass!

3. Dean Accuses Clark of Being a Republican

Come on! There's plenty to be concerned about Clark's past (not to mention his vague present) but his voting for Nixon and Reagan don't even qualify as mildly interesting. Reagan got 52% of the vote in 1980 and 59% in 1984; Nixon squeaked by in 1968 (though the electoral college was a virtual landslide) but got 61% of the vote in 1972. For someone who's restated his positions more than Enron did their finances, and cannily wore the admittedly undeserved tag of liberal to boost the early stages of his candidacy, this is like Michael Jackson dissing Woody Allen on childcare.