John Fund's Political Diarrhea

No rational person would solicit dating advice from John "Thumb" Fund, and it's doubtful any sane person would accept political advice from him either. Fund provides this tired bit of Clinton bashing in the course of an analysis of General Wesley Clark's entrance in the 2004 presidential race:

One of the challenges Mr. Clark will face will be his closeness to the Clintons. It is no secret that they are suspicious of Dr. Dean, the current front-runner, whom they fear would be trounced so badly against President Bush that he could hurt Hillary's prospects in 2008. Should Mr. Clark be elected president, the Clintons would have a strong ally in the Oval Office. If he does well but doesn't get the nomination, he may be viewed as a suitable running mate for Mrs. Clinton or some other Democratic nominee in the future.

Mr. Clark is no doubt running for president for many reasons. But an important, unacknowledged one is that he is the favorite candidate of the Democratic Party's two best-known figures.

Fund's dubious mind-reading aside, I don't see why a Dean loss is bad for President and Senator Clinton, if, as Fund often suggests, the Clintons always place their own interests over those of the Democratic Party. If Clark wins in 2004, Senator Clinton wouldn't get a chance to run for the White House until 2012. If Clark wins the primary but loses to Bush, it will be seen as a repudiation of the Clinton-favored Democratic candidate. If Dean loses badly to Bush in the 2004 general election, as Fund hopes, Senator Clinton would have a better shot in 2008 than if Clark either wins or loses in the general election.

Maybe this is why the Journal limits Fund's writings to the web.

Meanwhile, it's not surprising that Fund, Bob Bartley and Nooners don't figure in any of these award-winning photos. (Warning: Really ugly pink stars.)