Howard Dean, the 2004 insurgent presidential candidate who previously said Hillary Clinton would not get a free pass for the Democratic nomination in 2016, has adjusted his view.
Appearing in Iowa Wednesday to speak before a labor conference, Dean told The Des Moines Register he’s supporting Clinton in the next White House contest.
“At this point, I’m supporting Hillary Clinton,” Dean, a former Vermont governor and 2004 presidential candidate, told The Des Moines Register in a brief interview in Iowa today.
Asked if he’s definitively ruling out a White House bid, Dean climbed into a waiting car and said with a grin, “Ahhgh, we’re done here. Thank you.”
It’s a peculiar recalibration for Dean, who was one of the few progressives willing to publicly put the breaks on a coronation for Clinton. And for someone who has been through the ringer in Iowa before, it would be odd if he were caught off guard by a 2016 question lobbed by a reporter.
To be fair, Dean never said he wouldn’t support Hillary — but to put his conditional stamp of approval on her yet-to-be-announced bid once again underlines the real possibility that Clinton won’t have a formidable challenger.
The only way to contest Clinton ideologically is from the left — and if one of the foremost leaders of the liberal movement is already tipping his hat to her, it’s an early indication that unity may trump policy fissures.
Follow Dave’s blog at TheRun2016.com
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