Lieberman and Clark are bailing out of the Iowa caucus:

Democratic presidential candidates Joe Lieberman and Wesley K. Clark have decided not to campaign in the initial caucus state of Iowa, gambling on winning the nomination with a later surge in the primary race.

Lieberman and Clark have decided not to spend their money in a state they probably have no chance of winning. Their decisions allow them to shift money to New Hampshire and other states with later contests.

This makes some sense for General Clark, who just started in the race (and just started being a Democrat) and may not have a strong enough organization yet to really work the caucus. Lieberman, on the other hand, has been running or threatening to run since Bush finished saying the oath of office. He doesn't want to go up against Dean in Iowa, but feels comfortable tilting at Dean in Dean's neighborhood? (To be fair, it's Lieberman's neighborhood too, but if Dean wins in Iowa, the momentum is not going to favor Lieberman.) Sound retreat, Joe, and too bad, because I think Lieberman is the one candidate with the right foreign policy philosophy; if Bush was defeated, Lieberman at least wouldn't keep me awake at night.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Two Democrats Decide Discretion Is The Better Part of Retreat:

» Monday Clarkbot from Independents For Clark
The main buzz is about Clark and Lieberman's withdrawal from the Iowa caucuses. I believe that Clark could have done well if he had started at the same time as the other candidates. Lieberman did start at the same time,... [Read More]

Tracked on October 20, 2003 7:23 PM