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The Burlington Democrat called it a “winnable race,” saying that polling showed him getting within 10 percentage points of Scott. But to prevail, he said, he would have to wage a “scorched earth” campaign with negative attack ads. He said that such a race would be bad for the state and not the Vermont way.
Despite the positive spin, this reads as if Dean's polling just wasn't solid enough to justify a roll of the dice on returning to electoral politics in his mid-seventies.
I am grateful to have been spared a really nasty campaign, but I also worry that this is a sign that Democrats will just give up on getting more serious about reigning in the state budget. Dean's attraction wasn't just his name recognition, fundraising heft, and experience, it's that he's a fiscal moderate in an increasingly profligate party.