From a reader:
“However, if Dean gets the nomination. And then he’s crushed like a bug by Bush and if Bush has coattails, don’t you think many Democrats will see that the hardcore lefty-populist stuff is a loser?”
Remember the Goldwater debacle? Many, many people in the GOP did not see serious conservatism as a loser. When the arch-liberal Nixon was nominated in 1968, many conservative Republicans supported him reluctantly. In fact a Dean blow-out would likely cause the left to do what conservatives did in the GOP after 1964. Which would down the road present the country with a Democratic Party significantly to the Left of
where it is today.
Worst of all, all the bad legislation heaped on the nation by the victorious LBJ and his coattailed followers is still with us today and no one in the GOP is suggesting that it be repealed. This is not a good thing if you want to do long range planning for 2020.