This explains it

[Mile Hi]

Dean got a lot of flak from Conservative groups. I always thought it odd because if Dean was such a weak candidate versus Bush why would they attack him so much.

Well here is why. Do you remeber the The Club for Growth and their repeated attacks on Dean just before the Iowa Caucus.
The ones that painted him as a tax hiking latte drinking liberal.

Well here's what Stephen Moore the president of the Club for Growth and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute wrote in regards to Dean back in Sept 2003.

The Appeal of Howard Dean
From the September 15, 2003 issue: Why he could be Bush's more dangerous opponent.
by Stephen Moore
09/15/2003, Volume 009, Issue 01

<snip>
Republicans are said to be salivating over the prospect of a Bush-Dean match-up. They shouldn't get carried away. Howard Dean, warns John McClaughry, has been "underestimated throughout his political career. He has an uncanny knack for finding where the political capital is stored and walking off with it." The trick for Dean is to ensure that the ultra-liberal positions he has taken in the primaries, which contradict his sometimes centrist record, don't cripple his ability to reach out to Middle American voters in a general election--should he make it that far. If he does, and then finds a way to zig-zag back toward the center, Howard Dean could be George W. Bush's worst nightmare.

Basically he says Dean could have given Bush a real fight because he could appeal to Centrists, Republicans as well as Democrats.

That's why the Club for Growth attacked him so much and why they have been quiet since in regards to Kerry. They aren't afraid of a Kerry - Bush match up.

[Skinner]

1. Um, you posted this already.

Your previous effort is here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=303311&mesg_id=303311