Brian McCabe's blog

Memo to all Howard Dean supporters:

You are about to see the value of being the front runner weeks before the Iowa Caucus and the NH primary. The debate in Iowa clearly shows that the other campaigns will raise any and all issues to try and dent the Dean armor. The other campaigns are close to desperate to knock Dean down a couple of pegs. You never know how flawed your own candidate is until the real negative campaign heats up. However, Dean is not one to help his cause by attacking the middle class tax cuts. Guess he doesn�t need their votes any longer. The interesting thing to watch - will he hold up under the pressure or show some of his quick temper especially as calls for his records from VT heat up.

This weekend a couple of the campaigns conducted door to door campaigns and lit drops around the state. This is the true grassroots activity that the national press expect from the NH primary. From a campaign standpoint, I can tell you they are a huge pain in the neck. My worst memories of campaigns past all (ok, mostly) revolve around lit drops and door to door efforts. Their staff should be thankful for nice weather and now pray that no one else at the campaign has the bright idea that next time they could do 50,000 houses!

Howard Dean must be feeling the pressure now. Every thing he says winds up under the microscope and becomes good fodder for the other candidates. It will be interesting to see if his MO of shooting from the hip ends up getting him in trouble more then the last statement about confederate flags. I think what it exposed for many people was the trouble Dean may have transforming from a Northeast liberal to a candidate who has appeal in the South.

On the heels of the decision not to participate in the Iowa caucuses, Joe Lieberman must surely have been disappointed to see he stands at just 3 percent in New Hampshire, according to the just released Franklin Pierce College poll.

The Lieberman campaign's lack of traction isn't so surprising after observing their tactics today in Concord. In the middle of a cold, windy day -- with the first snow of the year falling all around them -- a team of young Lieberman supporters were promoting the fact that their man fights global warming. Apparently oblivous to the large white flakes around them, an observer noted, "It's snowing!" Unabashed, one young supporter replied, "That's because of global warming!"

The race to the finish is closing fast. Well at least the end of this quarter of fundraising closes on Tuesday. It looks like Howard Dean will not only be the top dog in the polls but his Internet fundraising will catapult him to the top of the fundraising heap.

The real question of the fundraising will not be Kerry, Dean or even Clark. The real question will be what can the rest of the field do.

Let the race begin, or maybe not. The announcement that Gen Clark was entering the race would seem to fill the dance card with 10 candidates. At least that is what I thought, until the NY Daily News reported that Bill Clinton said that his wife is a maybe. Presidential politics is great theater, and as we enter fall in NH we are only seeing Act One. It should be fun

If you are John Kerry do you wake up in the middle of the night in cold sweats, wondering how in the world a Governor from Vermont did this to me? The Dean craze is unbelievable.