Democrats claw each other

AEI has a neat little piece about how Democrat presidential hopefuls are scratching and clawing at each other. It's a good thing, I think.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and retired Gen. Wesley Clark are outsiders. Just as Bill Clinton was in 1992, Dean is the former governor of a small, out-of-the-way state who has never worked in Washington. Clark, meanwhile, made his career in the military and has never been an elected politician. He can claim ties to Clinton, too. Clark is from Little Rock and has opened his campaign headquarters in the Arkansas capital. More important, several former Clinton administration officials are working for Clark.

Dean never tires of reminding Democrats that his leading competitors are Washington insiders. "Here are the differences between me and the other folks, from Washington," he said during the October 9 debate in Phoenix. Dean is equally tireless in arguing that he represents the true Democratic faith, which he claims the Washington insiders have sold out. "Let me tell you . . . why the Democrats aren't winning," he said in the debate. "It is because we don't stand up for what we believe in."

Read it all here, if you are so inclined.