Game not over…

Here’s a sideways counter-point to Xian’s earlier post:
The newsmedia has a vested interest in keeping these things entertaining. That’s not conspiracy-talk. It’s just capitalism. Year in, year out, the one constant is, there’s always a tussle — a moment of drama. No drama from the Republicans this year, so you can bank on some Dem drama before we’re through — one of the other candidates will get a shot, just like McCain, Bradley, and Ted Kennedy did, or even, briefly, Jerry Brown and Pat Buchanan.
It’s just a question of which of the other candidates will get tagged annointed as the challenger, and when. For Dean, clearly, the later, the better. Besides his grassroots support and his financial strength, his best defense right now is this overloaded field. The longer his opposition stays finely divided, the weaker the challenger will be when they finally get their moment.
Right now, we’re in expectation-setting mode. The higher the expectations set for Dean, the easier it will be to sell the story that some other candidate has exceeded expectations and become a credible underdog alternative. Someone will do much better than expected in New Hampshire or South Carolina. And from there, ya never know. After all, when Bill Clinton reignited his campaign in New Hampshire, and dubbed himself “the comeback kid,” he did it with an expectations-shattering second-place finish.