The Question All the Candidates Must Face

Can you make us feel safe? Not every Democrat has a convincing answer

In New Hampshire last week, I bumped into howard Dean's worst nightmare. Her name is Ruth Bedinger. She is retired and working in the Dean campaign office as a volunteer. I met her at a house party for General Wesley Clark. "I'm switching to Clark," she told me, after listening to the general's new, sleek stump speech. "When I saw Dean speak, it was like a revival meeting--very exciting but not much detail. This was a lot more intelligent and cogent. There was no anger here, which is the one thing I was worried about with Dean."

Bedinger's change of heart...

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