That was then

Michael Barone states the obvious when he observes that “presidential campaigns work best when they are geared to the circumstances of the election year.” He then measures the campaigns of the Democratic contenders by this common sense standard. Barone locates John Kerry in 1972; Dick Gephardt in 1988; and Joe Lieberman and John Edwards in 1992. Howard Dean and Wesley Clark, apparently now the top two contenders, come closest to meeting Barone’s test — he finds their campaigns well-suited for 2003. That’s too close for comfort, as far as I’m concerned.