First Door on the Left

BEDFORD, N.H. — Near the end of five frenzied days when Howard Dean crisscrossed the country campaigning in five states and three time zones, a New Hampshire radio host asked Dean a bottom-line question: “How do you respond to the criticism (that) you might do well in the primaries, but in the general campaign they’ll eat you for lunch?”

As the clear poll leader in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary Jan. 27, and locked in a statistical dead heat with Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., in Iowa, where Democrats vote in caucuses Jan. 19, Dean hears that question increasingly, yet more from the media than from voters.

The former Vermont governor dismisses the question’s very premise: “I’m probably the only Democratic candidate that can be elected in November.”

Dean is moving fast to solidify his front-runner status. Enthusiastic crowds greet him at every stop. Both avid supporters and undecided voters are more likely to ask Dean about the war in Iraq, education, health care or the economy than whether he can win.

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People at Dean rallies voice no doubt.

“I never saw anything like this, and it’s only the primaries,” said Cindy Montgomery, a professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She was speaking of the excitement Dean generates among true believers as she attended a raucous party celebrating Dean’s 55th birthday this month at a D.C. restaurant.

“He’s a decent man who can do a better job” as president, said Chris Foster of Germantown, Md. “That’s all we want, and that’s what we’re going to get. He’s not Moses come down from the mountaintop. He’s a decent man.”

Dean rolled to his lead for the Democratic presidential nomination by opposing the war in Iraq, but he steadily is adding layers to his relentless attack against Bush policies. Dean wants to overhaul Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” education law, repeal his tax cuts entirely and extend health-care insurance to everyone.

He also is stacking up endorsements that should help him expand his initial base of upper-middle-class whites. In New Mexico recently, he won endorsements from the National Congress of American Indians and former Gov. Tony Anaya, a prominent Hispanic American.

Earlier, in Washington, he locked up two big unions and also had Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois stand by his side as he won the symbolically important support of Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Dean insists he’s going to compete for the South; he even campaigned last week in Bush’s home state of Texas.

Texas Republicans say no Democrat can win the state.

“There’s a lot of money in Texas to be donated to both political parties, so Dean had to come drag the bag,” said Court Koenning, executive director of the Harris County Republican Party. But “he’s gonna get his clock cleaned in the general election. I’ll run around naked and you can call me Sally if Bush loses Texas.”

While many analysts say that Dean’s drive for his party’s nomination may be unstoppable if he wins Iowa and New Hampshire in January, Dean says the nominee won’t be determined until the March 2 Super Primary, when 10 states vote, including California, New York, Georgia and Ohio.

“The critical battleground in this election is going to be the state of Ohio,” he said.

Meantime, Dean has a problem the eight other Democratic contenders wish they had — he is weighing whether to upgrade to a larger jet to accommodate the steadily growing corps of media clamoring to travel with him.

Of course Texas Republicans say no Democrat can win this state. What would you expect them to say? Do you really think they would admit that there is every possibility that Governor Dean will carry Texas? He’ll carry every state if people wake up and vote for their own best interests.

I wonder if Court Koenning will keep his promise? “I’ll run around naked and you can call me Sally if Bush loses Texas.” I, personally, have never laid eyes on Mr. Koenning. Does anybody want to see him naked? And, does he really look like a Sally when he is naked? Are these questions to which we really want answers?

Perhaps it’s best that we not hold him to his promise.