Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) has endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, but he told The Washington Post in an interview published Tuesday that her rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), is a “phenomenon” who could pull out an upset.
“Bernie is a real phenomenon, not just a quirk of the polls. On the other hand, Hillary’s a pretty formidable candidate,” Dean told the Post in a Q&A. “I suspect Hillary is going to win this. She’s well qualified, she’s tough, and she’s been through all of this before. At the end of the day voters will choose a president who is basically ready for the job. I think that puts Hillary head and shoulders above everybody else in the race.”
The Post asked Dean, though, whether he could “dismiss the possibility that Sanders pulls off an upset.”
“No, I wouldn’t dismiss any possibility,” Dean said. “The voters end up making up their minds, not those of us who are pundits for a living.”
Dean, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, also told the Post that he disagreed with a rule the party had instituted regarding debates.
“The only thing I would disagree with is that I have heard that there’s a rule that says, if you participate in an unsanctioned debate, then you can’t participate in a sanctioned debate,” he told the Post. “That I don’t agree with. It’s not right.”
Read the full interview.
I agree with Dean and would like to add he probably would have won over W in 2004 if it weren’t Kerry’s turn to run. Kerry is a great man but was a piss poor Presidential candidate.
A meteor is also a phenomenon–very bright and very brief. Let’s see how Bernie, a very bright guy, fares after Iowa and NH.
Feel the Bern!
I’m not so sure. My conservative brother likes him and he doesn’t follow politics at all. He actually brought him up in a conversation a few days ago which was an odd thing for him to do.
Anything is possible. Is it probable, though? No, not really.
I have absolutely nothing against Bernie. I’d vote for any qualified Democrat who runs against a GOP candidate. However, Bernie’s run is highly unlikely to have lasting momentum or expand further than his very specific and very motivated subset of supporters.
I do like how he’s moving the Democratic Primary conversation in a much more progressive direction, though.
The basic fact here is that the Democratic Primaries aren’t the GOP Primaries. The Dem Primaries just aren’t dominated by a specific small subset of their base.