Despite dire predictions to the contrary, Al Sharpton has conducted his presidential campaign with such a remarkable degree of moderation and restraint that he's barely distinguished himself from the rest of the Democratic field. That's fine by Sharpton, who has evidently concluded that in order to establish himself as a mainstream politician--the obvious goal of his presidential campaign--he needs to dull himself down a bit and make a clean break with his racebaiting past.

But last night, at the Brown & Black Presidential forum in Iowa, Sharpton backslid, returning to his old form by shamelessly racebaiting Howard Dean. Addressing the … click here to continue.

For all his talk of his national security credentials, I'm beginning to think that Wesley Clark is really a Howard Dean with stars on his shoulders. Indeed, when it comes to his critique of U.S. foreign policy, Clarks sounds virtually indistinguishable from his ill-tempered rival. Last week, Clark told the Concord Monitor that one of the "greatest lies" being peddled today is that 9/11 couldn't have been prevented. This, of course, amounts to an echo of the numerous occasions when Clark has come close to pinning blame directly on Bush for the 9/11 attacks. Never mind that … click here to continue.

It's amazing that Howard Dean can turn a moment of sensibility and thoughtfulness into a display of crass dissembling. But that's how it appears now that NBC reports that it has viewed over 90 videotapes of then-Governor Dean's appearances on a Canadian public-affairs TV show talking about the Iowa caucuses. As a result, the other candidates are tearing into Dean's impolitic comments about "special interests" like manna from oppo-research heaven, and their transparent opportunism speaks for itself. But look at something else Dean said. Interviewed in 1998 about NAFTA, Dean claimed, "I'm a little nervous about … click here to continue.

It has hard for strategically-minded Democrats not to be relieved when Howard Dean abruptly recognized his vulnerability on religion (though it was a bit worrying that he did so almost certainly in response to this article by Franklin Foer). But Dean's most recent tactic is either brazen, or astonishingly ignorant.

In his clumsy effort to neutralize the religion issue, Dean has announced that his Christianity informed his decision to sign the bill legalizing civil unions. Come on! A guy who, up through yesterday, told people he didn't let religion influence any of … click here to continue.

Okay, we all agree that Howard Dean is not nearly as liberal as George McGovern. But why does he keep giving the impression that he is? In this week's New Yorker, he says the following:

One professor who made a big impression was Wolfgang Leonhard, who taught Russian history. He'd been a Party official in East Germany and had defected. A fantastic lecturer. He once told us, 'Pravda lies in such a way that not even the opposite is so.' That really hit home. I felt he wasn't just referring to the Soviet government but to our own at the … click here to continue.

posted 5:07 p.m.

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Education, as an electoral issue, is a funny thing--polls consistently put it at or near the top of voter concerns, and yet it rarely figures prominently in national elections. As a result, few candidates make it a signature issue. And yet, though he's received frustratingly little press for it, that's just what John Edwards has done. For almost a year he has been rolling out what is now a long list of specific policy proposals. This week he put out a 60-page "Real Solutions for America" booklet that included everything from college-loan reform to teacher scholarships to adopt-a-school programs for … click here to continue.

The Dean campaign is laying the groundwork for another volte-face, and for his inconsistency, Dean won't get the highest mark on this one. But on the merits, his coming tax reform proposal is a fantastic--and long overdue--idea.

According to a campaign aide, Dean will probably discard his (and Dick Gephardt's) contention that America can achieve economic security only by repealing President Bush's tax cuts. As Dean-o-phobe has pointed out, this means raising taxes on the middle class, which, of course, is tantamount to political suicide. At long last, thankfully, Dean is coming to a position … click here to continue.

It seems like every few days another presidential campaign schedules a "major policy speech" to unveil a "bold, new initiative." But almost all of these speeches turn out to be old news: The candidates simply co-opt ideas that have been circulating in politics for years or--even worse--repackage the very same proposals they themselves made just weeks before.

How refreshing, then, it was to hear about General Wesley Clark's tax-reform plan yesterday. By reform, Clark doesn't simply mean fiddling with the tax rates like most other candidates. He means changing the way Americans actually deal with the IRS. (Well, some of … click here to continue.

A few weeks ago, Dean appealed to Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe to persuade his rivals to stop attacking him. "If we had strong leadership in the Democratic Party, they would be calling those other candidates and saying, 'Hey look, somebody's going to have to win here,'" Dean complained at the time.

This was an understandable, if self-serving, move on Dean's part. It was nevertheless irritating given that Dean became the front-runner by constantly tearing down his rivals. I know I'm not the first to make this point--but today I stumbled upon this Associated Press story from … click here to continue.

What is up with this new "Fighter With Results" campaign slogan? Why not just put up a banner that reads: "Not quite as pithy as 'Reformer With Results,' but George Bush already used that one in 2000"? Last time around, all the Republicans wanted to be reformers. This time, all the Democrats want to be fighters à la the pugilistic front-runner Dr. Dean. I understand the impulse. But "Fighter With Results"? Please. It's not even catchy. "Compassionate Conservative." "Reformer with Results." What do these things have in common? Even Al Gore's pathetic "People vs. the Powerful" mantra understood the basic … click here to continue.