all-encompassingly

Senator Joe Biden has fired the first official shot in what will inevitably be a bloody fight for the proverbial “heart and soul” of the Democratic party.

On ABC’s This Week he had the following exchange with the host, George Stephanopoulos, regarding DNC Chairman Howard Dean (paraphrased by Trey Jackson, where you can get the video) :

STEPHANOPOULOS: He also said he hates republicans, they’re mean and the house majority leader ought to return to Houston where he should serve his jail sentence. Is he doing the party any good?

SEN. BIDEN: Not with that kind of rhetoric. He doesn’t speak for me with that kind of rhetoric and I don’t think he speaks for majority democrats and I wish that rhetoric would change.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you think you have to rein him in?

SEN. BIDEN: Well, I don’t know. I don’t presume to suggest I can rein in any chairman but I think that the response from the bulk of the elected democrats, I don’t imagine it’s much different than the one I gave you and I hope he listens.

Biden is no idiot, this was not some off-the-cuff response.

The mainstream of the Democratic party is about to start an all-out offensive against Howard Dean and the far-left (dare I say “loony”?) wing of the party. They’ve come to realize that with Dean at the helm the 2006 elections will be a full blown disaster for their party. Better to get the bloodletting over with now rather than wait until after the election and try to fix the party for the 2008 presidential election.

Let the fight begin!