Saddam's Capture Has Dems Nervous Over Dean

Fr. Mike Reilly details how Saddam Hussein's capture has shaken up the field of Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Democrats nervous that Saddam Hussein's capture has made anti-war candidate Howard Dean even less electable are now giving former Gen. Wesley Clark a second look.

The ex-Vermont governor still looks competitive against Dick Gephardt in the upcoming Iowa caucuses. And Dean continues to hold a commanding lead in New Hampshire surveys.

But subsequent contests in South Carolina, Oklahoma and Arizona may derail Dean's runaway primary train.

Enter Gen. Clark, who, according to the latest Survey USA poll, is coming on strong in those states.

In South Carolina, Dean and Clark are deadlocked at 21 percent and 20 percent, respectively. But in Oklahoma, Clark leads Dean by a whopping 13 points.

And in Arizona, the Vermont Democrat has only a slim lead over Clark – 30 percent to 29 percent.

Trouble for Dean may also be brewing on the financial front, with George Soros – the Democratic party's most generous fat cat – now reportedly getting cold feet about the anti-war candidate's chances.

Soros had begun "privately expressing doubts about the Democratic Party's front-runner," reports columnist Robert Novak.

Citing accounts from the Democrat billionaire's "political friends," Novak says Soros has become "alarmed by Dean's recent performance and wonders whether the former Vermont governor is capable of defeating George W. Bush."

In one recent conversation, Soros reportedly expressed new interest in Gen. Clark.

The Hungarian-born billionaire has pledged to raise $75 million to defeat George Bush, a goal he recently described "as a matter of life and death."

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