Because organization matters

U.S. Lacks Records for Iraq Spending
U.S. civilian authorities in Baghdad failed to keep good track of nearly $1 billion in Iraqi money spent for reconstruction projects and can't produce records to show whether they got some services and products they paid for, a new audit concludes.

We Interrupt This Broadcast

On the last day of the Democratic Convetnion the Pakistanis announced the capture of a "high-level al Qaeda operative". Funny how that lives up the predictions made in the TNR piece "July Surprise" , which suggested that the Bush Administration was putting pressure on Pakistan to bring in members of the Al Qeada leadership before the election.

"Vote for John Kerry, Fool"

Kerry's acceptance speech is avaiable, surprisingly, on John Kerry's web site. He might never be as charsmatic or politically talented, but his performance tonight was pretty good. Senator Kerry had some particularly clever lines tonight that may have made an impact; "There is nothing more pessimistic than saying America can't do better" was a nice burn and "I don't want to claim that God is on our side As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side." which stand in contrast to statements made by the other candidate. All in all a good speech and even the folks on Fox have called it Kerry's best, though that could easily be seen as an underhanded compliment.

Just Great

Since the constitutional amendment to bar gay marriage was defeated the Republicans have been looking for other ways to fight homosexualism. The Marriage Protection Act is part of the right's latest offensive and has already passed the House. The bill would prevent any federal court, including the Supreme Court, from ruling on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. This of course undermines the principle of seperation of powers within the government by cutting out the judicial branch of government. It is interesting how being absolutely sure that gay marriage doesn't become a nation institution takes priority over protecting foundations of our government for the Republicans. Then again, as Rick Santorum said "Isn't that the ultimate homeland security—standing up and defending marriage?"

Operation Fiscal Trainkwreck Going according to plan

White House to Project Record Deficit
The White House will project soon that this year's federal deficit will exceed $420 billion, congressional aides said Tuesday, a record figure certain to ignite partisan warfare over President Bush's handling of the economy.

The best part of this story though is that the Administration has been trying to put a positive spin on it:

Either way, the White House was ready to emphasize that the figure is well below the $521 billion it projected for this year last February, and tie it to improvements in the economy.

A bit like that whole "even if we did torture innocent people, at least we aren't as bad as Saddam Hussien!" line of reasoning.

Bad Union! Bad!

On the whole I support the labor movement in this country. Unlike in many western European nations the US has been able to avoid developing any really troublesome unions. The problem here is just the reverse, too few workers are organized. However, there are some unions that live up to the worst stereotypes about trade unions (go teamsters!). The pilots' unions are fighting a the National Transportation Safety Board's recommendation that crash-proof cameras be installed in cockpits of large and small aircraft. The pilots are worried that these cameras will invade the privacy of the pilots. Of course invading pilots' privacy is the whole point. It isn't like this sorts of things are at all uncommon. Bank tellers, 7-11 clerks and host of other occupations are subject to this kind of observation. It doesn't seem unreasonable to ask the same when the lives of hundreds of people can be at risk.

Bush Summarizes His Philosophy

"By the way, to whom much has been given, much is owed."-GWB, 7/20

Sweetness, Light, Fairness and Balance

It looks like former Clinton National Security Advisor, Sandy Berger, is in trouble for lifting classified documents.

Extra!

The platform is here! The 2004 Democratic Platform is here!

TOP SECRET

It is often said that whatever you think of Bush, at least you know where he stands. Now, there are a lot of things wrong with that idea, but one of the most important reasons why that statement is inaccurate is that Bush has not made his agenda clear. Bush presumably plans on winning the upcoming election and being in the White House for another four years. It is rather unsettling then that he has yet to reveal an outline of what he hopes to achieve during his second term. Unlike a certain flip-flopper from Saudi Taxachusettsthes and his dangerously inexperienced, blood sucking trial lawyer running mate, the straight talker-in-chief has yet to really offer Americans any program at all and has instead opted to run a campaign based primarily on accusing his opponents of being liberals and implying that his opponents are a bit like Adolph Hitler. It is about time somebody, perhaps some plain folks with down home wisdom, went on down to Bush-Cheney Headquarters and explained that pessimism never created a job.

President Meatwad

Like the one trick pony that he is President Bush is pressing for a fourth tax cut (a bill to extend some of his middle class tax cuts) in four years. Thankfully it looks like it is ecountering some resistance from moderate Republicans in the Senate. George W. Bush's move seems like an act of desperation. There isn't even the justification of an economic slowdown (or as in 1999/2000, a projected budget surplus), many economists are actually worried about inflation. It is a transparent attempt to win votes in an election year at the expense of the fiscal health of the government. Even if the Bush bill does pass, I doubt it will make much of a difference. The President's domestic agenda has consistently failed to win over the public. Even measures like the medicare prescription drug benefit, which both parties supported in one form or another, had no lasting political benefit for Bush.

History Lesson

Paul Krugman proposes a thought experiment in his article "The Arabian Candidate", where he suggests that an American president under the control of Arab terrorists would behave a lot like George W. Bush. Krugman is not the first to make such a suggestion. Recently Matthew Yglesias developed his unified theory to explain the Bush administration's policies (the president is an Iranian agent. Mark Ames may have been the one start this all though, with a piece he wrote in the September 2001 issue of the Exile. Over time the "Bush is a foreign agent" meme (almost always applied hypothetically) has steadily gained ground and gone from the fringe (Ames) to the mainstream (Yglesias and Krugman) of liberal opinion. This evolution isn't especially important, but it does symbolize how much Bush has polarized the country and unified the left.

2008: The non-story

Dems Seen Favoring Sen. Clinton in '08
An Associated Press survey found that the first-term New York senator is the choice of more than a quarter of the delegates while Edwards, recently tapped by Kerry to be his running mate, was favored by some 17 percent.

I continue to believe that all this Hillary speculation is baseless. As a matter of fact, the AP story is a bit misleading since it identifies Hillary as the favorite 2008 among the Democratic Convention's delegates when a vast majority of the delegates believed that Kerry would win this year. Clearly with such a large portion of the sample unaccounted for nothing close to a definitive answer can be reached. Setting aside this survey for a moment, it would not be surprising if in the early days of the 2008 Democratic primaries (assuming Kerry loses) Hillary led in the polls, but these early reports are always extremely inaccurate. I remember in 2002 and 2003 seeing polls where Al Gore and then later Joe Lieberman were the most popular candidates for the Democratic nominee. Clinton has name recognition and fundraising resources, but these characteristics do not guarantee success.

Deep Thoughts

David S. Broder, Dean of the Washington Press Corps, serves up this bit of ice cold truth with a slice of lemon today in the pages of the Washington Post (and the Journal News, which relies on outside writers becomes no one in Westchester is able to handle the grave responsibility of cliche riddled political journalism):

John Kerry can congratulate himself on a successful vice presidential choice. But if he is realistic, he will recognize that the heavy work of winning this election still lies ahead of him.

Intrigued? Well, Broder is because he takes up 759 words to talk about how 2004 is going to be a tight race which neither candidate has succeeded in locking up. He then concludes his treatise on democracy in America with the following observation, an observation which burns with the brilliance of a thousand suns:

Next week in Boston, at the Democratic National Convention, Kerry will have his best -- and perhaps his last -- chance to put his own stamp on this race. He cannot afford to miss it.

I suggest everyone check out David Broder's column tomorrow which promises to answer such burning questions as "is water wet?" and "does Whoopi Goldberg's off color comedy routine disqualify John Kerry as a serious candidate?"

Franken's Factor Feud

The infamous Matt Drudge is reporting that reporter Al Franken has reportedly surpassed Bill O'Reily's radio report program among a key demographic. Here are the stats repeated as they were reported on drudgreport.com:

NYC RADIO
APRIL-JUNE 2-3 PM ET
AGES 25-54

LIMBAUGH [WABC-AM] 3.1 SHARE
FRANKEN [WLIB-AM] 2.6
O'REILLY [WOR-AM] 1.1


AGES 12+

LIMBAUGH 5.1
O'REILLY 2.3
FRANKEN 2.0

As you can see from the data Al Franken beats O'Reilly among "adults", but appears to be trailing when it comes to attracting the attention of teenagers and the elderly. I suspect that my Grandpa and Matt Dollar play a key role in all of this. At any rate, Bill O'Reilly probably takes solace in the fact that he still maintains the lead in total listenership and in addition to his radio show has several other media outlets at his disposal, such as his syndicated column, his television show and his spread in ladmag's such as Maxim and Stuff.

One Size Fits All

I'm not sure Senator Kerry approves of makeyourownjohnkerryshirt.com's message. Then again, he might.

Didn't We Have A War About This?

Vermont ski town takes next step in secession plan Officials from the ski resort town of Killington, Vermont, will meet with New Hampshire governor on Tuesday in the latest step to secede from Vermont over what they consider unfair tax policies.

Actually, what the people of Killington are trying to do seems to be legal. Article IV, Section 3 of the US constitution says that new states can't be formed out portion of existing states except with the approval of the legislatures of the states involved and Congress. Though it doesn't say anything about simply transferring control of part of state to another state, I assume it would work the same way. In theory at least, Killington can enter the low tax paradise of New Hampshire, though seeing as how the Vermont state legislature is unlikely to be interested in losing millions of dollars in tax revenue I don't think that is at all likely.

Bad Luck

According to switchboard.com there are 12 people in the US with the last name "Hitler". After reading that, I decided to do a little searching of my own. In addition to the Hitlers, there are the Stalins (75), Mussolinis (30), the Himmlers (41), the Miloševics (2) and the Pinochets (75). I wonder what it is like to be someone who shares the name of an infamous mass murderer? I am sure their lives can't be all that different from ordinary folks, but introductions must be a bit akward and they must have been teased without mercy during their elementary and middle school years.

Bush: He'll Git Tuff 'N' Stuff

"You can't negotiate with terrorists... You can't sit back and hope that somehow therapy will work and they will change their ways."-George W. Bush

I guess the President never heard of that little agreement that was reached between Coalition Forces and the Iraqi insurgency regarding Fallujah that basically turned to the city over to the insurgents.

"Bring Back Pat!"

Pro-life speakers sought for conventionMore than half the Republicans in the House have signed a formal complaint to President Bush about the failure to give prominent conservative, pro-life party members even one prime-time speaking role at the Republican National Convention.
Bush and Rove have been trying desperately to conceal the true, reactionary nature of today's GOP during the convention. Rather than picking speakers that represent the views of the Republican Party's leadership and base, the Bush campaign slated some of the party's moderates to receive the most attention. Now the natives are restless and demanding their fair share. I hope they get their way. Having the diatribe of a conservative firebrand broadcast across the country worked out really well for the President's father.

A Complex Messiash or Messiah Complex?

"I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job."

-- President Bush

Why, that's almost as arrogant as saying "No President has ever done more for human rights than I have." Then again, in George W. Bush's defense, he never published a family geneology titled Good People Beget Good People like Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist did.

It's Official

The Department of Homeland Security's color-coded  terror threat system is a joke.  Congress' General Accounting Office has found that "the warnings were often vague and inadequate, and had "hindered their ability to determine whether they were at risk" and what protective measures to take in response."

John and John Go Marching On

It is commonly believed that undecided voters generally tend to support the challenger rather than the incumbent.  In previous elections the challenger benefited from a surge of a point or two on election day that put them slightly ahead of where the last polls had them and so far it looks like this pattern will be a factor in 2004.  According to a Republican polling outfit undecided Americans lean towards Kerry and the majority of them have a negative view of the President.  This combined with the fact that Senator Kerry holds on to the longest lasting tracking poll lead (six days) of the campaign is reason to be optimistic about the Democrats' chances.  To top all this good news off, Dick Cheney says he will keep his place on the Republican Presidential ticket.

The Last Full Measure of Devotion

The weblog Winds of Change  began "Operation: Buy Christopher Hitchens A Drink" on July 13th. The objective of the campaign was to honor the prominent left wing hawk and merciless critic of Mother Theresa and Henry Kissinger by purchasing Mr. Hitchens bottles of Johnnie Walker.  Since the start of the endeavor, several hundred dollars have been raised and Hitchens has responded by announcing that he will use the proceeds to support the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.  Not only is Hitchen's decision kind it is wise as well.  No honest man can look at the this picture and deny that Christopher Hitchens is one of the last people in the world that needs several cases of free alcohol. 
  

 

Last Stand

From Political Wire:
"The Senate Republican leadership is aiming for a mid-July vote on a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, forcing Democrats to take a stand on the controversial topic just before the party heads to Boston for its presidential nominating convention,"

It is clear that the Federal Marriage Amendment will not pass with enough votes for discrimination to be written into the United States constitution, fortunately. The Republicans plan to put the Democrats "on the spot", but Kerry and Edwards have made their posistion quite clear and I think that the public will back them.

Teaser

Which 9-11 Charity is actually a terrorist front? Tune in tonight to find out.

The Sequel

Since Jack Ryan's campaign was laid to waste by a sex scandal a few weeks ago, the Republican Party has been in need of a candidate for the Illinois senate race. The situation might provide another opportunity for an unholy marriage between celebrity and politics. A Draft Ditka campaign has been organized to get superbowl winning former Chicago Bears Coach Mike Ditka to throw his hat into the ring.

Update: Ditka has since ruled out a senate run.

This is a joke?

Nation’s Liberals Suffering From Outrage Fatigue
WASHINGTON, DC—According to a study released Monday by the Hammond Political Research Group, many of the nation's liberals are suffering from a vastly diminished sense of outrage.

"With so many right-wing shams to choose from, it's simply too daunting for the average, left-leaning citizen to maintain a sense of anger," said Rachel Neas, the study's director.

I want to hate the President, but I am so tired, so sleepy...

Bad Vibrations

Officials discuss how to delay Election DayU.S. officials have discussed the idea of postponing Election Day in the event of a terrorist attack on or about that day, a Homeland Security Department spokesman said Sunday...

Newsweek said the discussions about whether the November 2 election could be postponed started with a recent letter to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge from DeForest Soaries Jr., chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission...

Soaries, who was appointed by President Bush, is a former New Jersey secretary of state and senior pastor of the 7,000-member First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset.

Newsweek reported that Soaries expressed concern that no federal agency had the authority to postpone an election and asked Ridge to ask Congress to give his commission such power.

While in theory delaying an election in the aftermath of a particularly serious terrorist attack (something along the lines of a dirty bomb in a major city, maybe) might be a good idea, the fact that an executive agency is considering it on its own is not good at all. If the President of the United States, or rather an appointee of the President can postpone an election unilaterally there would be almost no limit to his power, why he could even claim the right to detain citizens indefinitely without trial.

Update: Rice: No Plan to Delay National Election

The Dean-Nader Debate

I caught some of Howard Dean's debate with Ralph Nader (NPR has the audio here. When I first read that Dean was going to face off against Nader, I thought it would give the independent presidential candidate some trouble. As is so often in the case, I was wrong. Nader used the debate to talk about policy, which is one of his stronger points. He talked about public transportation, proportional representation, single payer healthcare, withdrawal from Iraq and all sorts of things that would please likely Nader voters. Dean would try to bring the discussion back to practical politics, but Nader would brush off these concerns with a glib remark or two and then return to his dessert menu for the doughfaced progressive. In retrospect, Nader had a natural advantage since he does not really have to take reality into consideration since he will never be within reach of higher office. Howard Dean played it safe and did not engage Ralph Nader, probably because he did not want to antagonize potential Nader supporters, but by doing so he forfeited a chance to drive up Nader's negatives and reduce the danger he poses.

The Blame Game

When reading about Senate Intelligence Committee report on Pre-War Intelligence (which has prompted somewhat misleading headlines such as "Senate Report Said to Fault CIA for Iraq Intel Failures", it is important to remember this key detail:

Under a deal struck between Republicans and Democrats, a Senate intelligence committee report that is highly critical of prewar intelligence on Iraq will sidestep the question of how the Bush administration used that information to make the case for war, congressional officials said Wednesday.

Since the Senate's report only covers the intelligenc community's role in the information used to sell the Iraq War, it only makes sense that it is highly critical of the CIA and by no means lets the administration off the hook.

Military Campaigning

Most other liberal blogs have already pointed the way to the New Republic Aricle"July Surprise?":, but I think it is important enough to link to anyway.

From the article:
This spring, the administration significantly increased its pressure on Pakistan to kill or capture Osama bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman Al Zawahiri, or the Taliban's Mullah Mohammed Omar, all of whom are believed to be hiding in the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan...

This public pressure would be appropriate, even laudable, had it not been accompanied by an unseemly private insistence that the Pakistanis deliver these high-value targets (HVTs) before Americans go to the polls in November. The Bush administration denies it has geared the war on terrorism to the electoral calendar. "Our attitude and actions have been the same since September 11 in terms of getting high-value targets off the street, and that doesn't change because of an election," says National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack. But The New Republic has learned that Pakistani security officials have been told they must produce HVTs by the election. According to one source in Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), "The Pakistani government is really desperate and wants to flush out bin Laden and his associates after the latest pressures from the U.S. administration to deliver before the [upcoming] U.S. elections."

Reading scripts-it's a lot cheaper than going to the movies

The transcript of Fahrenheit 9/11 has been posted on In Java, Literally.

(link via atrios)

Allawi's Real Ultimate Power

Iraq Passes Emergency-Powers Law to Fight InsurgentsThe Iraqi government, on its 10th day in office, introduced a law to give Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's administration the power to impose a state of emergency to combat insurgents...

The interim government will be empowered to detain people without charge, restrict the movement of foreigners, ban groups, and seek U.S. military help in times of emergency. The law can't be used to postpone elections, scheduled for January...

The new law in Iraq is ``similar to the Patriot Act in the U.S.,'' [Human Rights Minister Bikhtiyar] Amin said. It will be ``available to us when we feel there is danger to national security.''


Hopefully this policy is nothing more than a temporary measure and not the thin end of the wedge, but these states emergency have a way of lasting a very long time, just ask the people of South Korea, Taiwane, the Phillipines or a certain European nation with a very troubled past.

To Milk The Cash Cow Or Take The Government Cheese?

Some in the Democratic Party are suggesting that Senator Kerry turn down public funds for his presidential campaign in order to avoid the fundraising limits that come with them. Kerry's success at raising money, they believe, would allow him to finance his run with only campaign contributions and allow John Kerry to negate the advantage George W. Bush enjoys thanks to the late date of the Republican Convention (which allows the Republicans a longer period in which they can receive private contributions). There is nothing especially wrong with this idea, it does not violate campaign finance laws and the cause of clean elections will not be advanced by a Republican victory, there is no reason for Kerry to have to fight with one hand tied behind his back thanks to the scheduling of the parties' conventions. However, like the plan to avoid this problem by delaying Kerry's acceptance of the Democrats' nomination until after the Convention , this scheme will be a bad public relations move. The high brows in the media will reprimand Kerry for his "hypocrisy", Ralph Nader will invigorated by an example of "Democratic corruption" and Bush's attempt to paint himself as the true defender of the little guy will seem just that more plausible to some. Rather than talking about the issues, where Kerry hold the advantage, the Democrats will be stuck trying to justify a campaign tactic which may not be able to produce the results that were expected of it.

Wild Speculation

Is the New York Times passing on political spin? In this article from today's issue of the paper, the Times reports that the CIA neglected to inform President Bush about evidence suggesting that Iraq had abandoned its weapons of mass destruction program. The source of this report are certain "government officials" mentioned by name. It is possible that these officials don't have a political agenda, but then again it could be someone inside the Administration attempting to minimize the damage created by our failure to find Iraqi WND. To some degree the specific charged leveled against the CIA, that they were told my relatives of Iraqi scientists that Saddam had given up on his weapons programs and not informed the President, does not seem all that serious. True, this was important information, but in the grand scheme of things it was unlikely to have made much of a difference when weighed against all the other data the that had been amassed which did suggest that Iraq was building unconventional weapons. So, it is possible that partisan hack from the White House (or Pentagon)simply leaked this story to the Times in order to smear the CIA before the Senate Intelligence comes out with its report on the WMD intelligence failure this week, an event which more than likely bring attention to that issue again.

Best VP pick EVER! Yay!

NBC News, AP: Kerry selects Edwards as running mate
That is all.

2h0t2hand-L

via the Hot Sauce Shoppe.

Porn! Porn! Porn!

While promoting a special news segment on pornography, the Fox New Channel forgot to censor sample pictures used in the advertisements.

Brotherly Love

Florida "felons" list strikes eligible voters
More than 2,100 Floridians who had their voting rights restored were included on a list of purported felons who are potentially ineligible to vote, a newspaper reported Friday.

Of the 2,119 people identified by the Herald, 62 percent were registered Democrats, and almost half were black. Less than 20 percent were Republicans..

In 2000 Florida's state government used a similar list to keep "felons" from voting. Fortunately this year more attention is being paid to this matter and hopefully serious mischief involving the list will be avoided. The People for the American Way have already set up a searchable database so people can check to see if they are on the list or not.

The Rebels Seem To Be Co-operating

Sudanese troops to quell Darfur violence
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan won a promise from Sudan's government to send troops to stop militia violence that has forced 1 million people to flee in the Darfur region, in what has been called world's worst humanitarian crisis...

The communique said the United Nations recognized Sudan's improvements in allowing humanitarian access to Darfur but highlighted the urgency of the situation by pushing for the resumption of talks between the government and the rebel group.

"The U.N. shall continue the preparations it has started for a possible peacekeeping role when agreements are reached," the communique said.

Thousands of people have been killed and more than 1 million forced from their homes, most taking shelter in makeshift camps with little access to clean water or proper sanitation.

Keepin' the faith

Conservative Christians have been key partners in the Republican coalition for a generation. George W. Bush, facing a tough re-election campaign looks like he is determined to maximize the support he can get from this constituency. Religious groups are beginning to resent this attempt to make their denominations subsidiaries of the GOP. The AP reports:
y
The Southern Baptist Convention, a conservative denomination closely aligned with President Bush (news - web sites), said it was offended by the Bush-Cheney campaign's effort to use church rosters for campaign purposes.

"I'm appalled that the Bush-Cheney campaign would intrude on a local congregation in this way," said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

"The bottom line is, when a church does it, it's nonpartisan and appropriate. When a campaign does it, it's partisan and inappropriate," he said. "I suspect that this will rub a lot of pastors' fur the wrong way."

Other religious organizations also criticized the document as inappropriate, suggesting that it could jeopardize churches' tax-exempt status by involving them in partisan politics.

No Probalo

Federal Reserve Announces Modest Interest Rate Hike
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve raised short term interest rates by one-quarter of one percent. This is the first rate hike in more than four years, but it will likely not be the last as the economy continues to strengthen...

Commercial banks raised their prime lending rate one quarter of one percentage point also. Economists expect to see slight decreases in the housing market and in automobile sales as a result of the rate increase.

With the era of cheap money over, borrowers would be wise to head over to Senor Mortgage today.

Don't Tell Nicky!

Kristof:
A consensus is emerging on the left that Mr. Bush is fundamentally dishonest, perhaps even evil — a nut, yes, but mostly a liar and a schemer.

Newsday:
New surveys by The New York Times and the Washington Post reveal a perilous plunge in the commander-in-chief's credibility. The Times found that 79 percent of the public thinks Bush either is hiding something about Iraq, or worse, is "mostly lying" about it. The Post asked whether Bush or Kerry is "honest and trustworthy," and the president was judged to be honest by 39 percent. Kerry came in at 52 percent.

The shrillness and partisanship of the American People is making baby Kristof cry.

Kristof At It Again

The liberal water boy for David Brooks, Nicholas D. Kristof, is back. In a column printed yesterday, Brooks complained once again about how liberals aren't being fair and balanced in their criticism of the Bush adminsitration as they ought to be. In response to Kristof's return to school marmish lectures about civility, I'd like to repeat the Dick Advice of the Vice President, "go fuck yourself".

Right On.

Dean Vs. Nader
This election it seems that rather than ignore Ralph Nader's candidacy, the Democrats are going to confront the spoiler wannabe. In a particularly clever move, Howard Dean has appears to have been the one chosen to do the job. Dean probably has more credibility with potential Nader voters than any other Democratic politician. Nader has spent his career talking about the need for greater popular participation in politics, Dean ran an unconventional "people powered" primary campaign. In these debates I believe that Howard Dean doesn't not need to win big to set Nader back. The justification for Nader's run is that American should have a chance to vote their consciences rather than vote for the lesser of two evils. Therefore all Dean has to do is tarnish Nader's progressive credentials and Ralph Nader's entire rationale is destroyed. Clearly, Nader can't appeal to political pragmatism to defend himself and even if he does, these arguments will be completely transparent. True, some diehards will stand by their man no matter what, but if Howard Dean does an adequate job in the debate then a crucial portion of Nader's supporters might reconsider.