Wisconsin Wrap

Whoop! There it is:

With 99 percent of the precincts reporting in Tuesday's primary, Kerry had 40 percent of the vote, followed by Edwards at 34 percent and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean at 18 percent.

A big strong second for Edwards. Wonkette sums it up and offers the best line of the night:

Edwards: Still grinning, we're sure. Will this stunning surge break the dread "electability" meme that's propped up the lifeless corpse that is John Kerry? Let's hope. Also the best line of the night: "The voters of Wisconsin sent a clear message -- Objects in your mirror may be closer than they appear."

The lifeless corpse that is John Kerry. Gotta love that. Oh yeah, Edwards' mirror line was good, too, except he's already got the pretty-boy thing to live down -- maybe he should avoid comments that could be read as narcissistic. I mean, the line is "objects in your rear view mirror may be closer than they appear," right?

Kerry's still the only Dem who beats Bush in nationwide polls, but that could easily change. Perhaps Edwards' strong second last night will tip the "electability" scales in Edwards' favor.

So Kerry and Edwards will battle on, while something ended last night for Howard Dean. Was it his campaign for the Democratic nomination? Probably. Last night he told his supporters to maintain perspective:

"I know that some of you are disappointed because we didn't do as well as we had hoped we would do in Wisconsin. But I also want you to think for a moment about how far we have come," Dean said. "Change is tough, and there's enormous institutional pressure in this country against change."

And as the cliche goes, in every end there's a beginning. What will Dean do next? There's lots of speculation, and he's planning an "event" for 1 p.m. this afternoon to put an end to most of it (I hope).

Perhaps the best news of the night for Democrats didn't have anything to do with the presidential election, but instead focused on the special election in Kentucky:

Soundly defeated in last year's governor's race, former state attorney general Ben Chandler on Tuesday easily won the House seat of the man who beat him, ending a long Democratic losing streak in congressional special elections.

Can the Dems win the White House and take back a house of Congress? Kos breaks down the numbers for the House. This Dem turnaround is a realistic possibility, a fact for which we should all thank Howard Dean and his campaign. He won't be our next President, but I don't think history will soon forget what he's done for national politics. I know I won't.

Posted February 18, 2004 06:50 AM | election 2004