January 22, 2004
DEAN CLARIFIES POSITION
Remember this line from Howard Dean?
I still want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks.
Hmmm. Dean’s method of attracting the pickup truck/Confederate flag demographic is a little unusual:
Late yesterday afternoon, while speaking to a rally crowd in Concord, Dean happened to notice a man mockingly -- but quietly -- holding a Confederate flag. Whereupon the governor stopped himself mid-sentence, announced his view that the flagholder ought by rights to be removed from the scene, and then stood there glowering, while the TV cameras whirred, as security guards literally dragged the poor guy away.
UPDATE. Desperate to revive his stalled campaign, the former frontrunner invokes the magical turkey of falseness:
Later, Dean is speaking about Bush’s Thanksgiving Day visit to the troops and recalls a photograph of Bush holding a roasted turkey that didn’t end up getting served to soldiers.
“This is not the only fake turkey in this administration,’’ Dean chortled, wagging the fingers of his left hand over his head.
He’s still got that sleeve-rolling act going on, too. It might work if Dean was from a labouring or farming background, but Dean is a doctor.
And when doctors roll up their sleeves, usually the next thing they do is put on rubber gloves ...
UPDATE II. A couple of hours ago NPR (relayed to Australia via ABC News Radio) broadcast the James Lileks Screamin’ Deanie remix. You know what? You know something? (as Dean would say); Howard really is the first Presidential candidate to run his campaign via the internet. Oops, typo -- I meant ruin. Or maybe Dean lost in Iowa because he was imprisoned in an energy-beam cage that dampened his Zenn-Do attack capabilities, leaving him unable to battle the other Democrat Superheroes.
No; that’s crazy talk. Luckily genius Dean campaign manager Trippy Joe is here to tell us the real story:
On Monday night Howard Dean walked in to the ballroom in Des Moines and there were 3500 people there. And the energy was higher than most victory parties I’ve been to.
Joe worked on the Presidential campaigns of Edward Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Gary Hart, and Dick Gephardt. Has he ever been to a victory party?
The Governor looked out at the room and saw 3500 people who had come from all across the country because they believed in changing their country and he wanted them to know how proud he was of them and their efforts. And he wanted them to know that we’re going on no matter what.
We know. To California and Texas and New York, and to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan ...
He wasn’t thinking about the cameras. It was the people right in front of him who had done so much because they believe in a better America that he was speaking to.
He wasn’t thinking about the cameras? As David Letterman said: “Why can’t this man be President?”
That the press would report on his speech for one day is understandable. But what’s remarkable is that they could run it over and over for 48 hours and still call it journalism.
Hey, it’s not just the press. It’s that pesky internet. According to this USA Today piece, you’re an internet cybermaster:
The Internet has been a fixture of sorts in two previous presidential campaigns. But admirers say it took Trippi to capitalize on its explosive potential to spread word of mouth at the speed of bytes.
It can spread screech of lunatic at the same speed.
UPDATE III. We’re going to New Hampshire:
Democrat John Kerry, riding a wave of momentum from his Iowa caucus victory, grabbed a three-point lead over Howard Dean in New Hampshire five days before the state's presidential primary, according to a Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll released on Thursday.
(Trippi link via contributor J. F. Beck, presently capitalizing on his explosive potential)
Posted by Tim Blair at January 22, 2004 05:42 PMTim, I'm disappointed.
I know you're a bit of a Republican- and you know George Bush is going to win anyway- Katherine Harris will take care of that- so why not let the Democrats elect the funniest guy possible! Dean easily takes the cake as far as humour is concerned!
Posted by: Ben at January 22, 2004 at 08:23 PMDean=Hitler!
Yeah, the Hitler comparisons are always lame, but when it ocmes to rallying crowds, pure burning hatred, finger-stabbing and divisiveness (as well as abject intolerance) Bush doesn't have a patch on Dean in the Hilter-like stakes.
I can't be the first to have noticed this...
Posted by: Will at January 22, 2004 at 09:15 PMDean really doesn't "get" that freedom of speech thang, does he?
Posted by: ushie at January 22, 2004 at 10:11 PMTV cameras whirred? They must be using the old Scandinavian TV cameras from the Norse Viking days.
Posted by: Ron Hardin at January 22, 2004 at 10:12 PMNext up there should groups of college students yelping like Dean did in Iowa. That man will never be able to live that loony display down.
Posted by: Andrew Ian Dodge at January 22, 2004 at 10:47 PMHey Ben - Exactly how is Katherine Harris going to insure that Bush gets re-elected now that she is no longer the Sec of State of Fl, but a Congresswoman? This should be interesting...
Posted by: hen at January 22, 2004 at 10:51 PMAnd Ben, I am only an ignorant Aussie but that Kucinich fellow looks a lot funnier from here than even Dean does.
Kucinich for Pres! All the little furry animals of the woods support him! The only man in the race far-sighted enough to protect us from "chemtrails" and mind-control satellites!
TFK
Posted by: Bob Bunnett at January 23, 2004 at 12:41 AMHowever should the very worse occur and Dean end up POTUS then the entire world (at least the free/western part)will experince that rubber glove snape flinch
Posted by: Zombium at January 23, 2004 at 12:47 AMTry playing the Lileks Mix while watching this (which I didn't make). I have a different take on the Voting Night Scream.
Posted by: EvilPundit at January 23, 2004 at 01:02 AM
Dean's done. He's jumped the shark. His "I Have A Scream" speech was his Ed Muskie moment; his Donna Rice sitting on Gary Hart's lap photo. He's a future trivia question.
Posted by: Randal Robinson at January 23, 2004 at 01:06 AMI am still praying for a Dean-Kucinich ticket. The next 10 months will then be a long national laugh-fest!
Posted by: sam at January 23, 2004 at 01:25 AMGod damn that would be experience and snap bugger this late night drunken posting
Posted by: Zombium at January 23, 2004 at 01:36 AMNo, SecStateFL is now someone even more evil.
Posted by: Slartibartfast at January 23, 2004 at 01:39 AMFrom today's London Times:
Dean Credibility Doubts Give Impetus to Kerry Campaign
A chastened Howard Dean was struggling to hold his once-fancied campaign together after his poor showing and bizarre behaviour in Iowa forced him to fend off fresh questions about his credibility.
Their foreign correspondent used less judicious language yesterday.
Thanks, Tim. I'm glad to be blogging again - I've missed all you guys as well.
Posted by: EvilPundit at January 23, 2004 at 02:15 AMMy $0.02 on Screaming Howie Dean: He will finish second or third in NH. He will go thru some of the motions of continuing as the Dem spoiler, and then switch over to the Green Party. Or at least this is what i am dreaming about.
Posted by: hen at January 23, 2004 at 02:27 AMAs is my God-given right as a NH Granitehead, I am voting for Dean in the state primary on Tuesday.
We simply *must* have ol' Dean-o to kick around some more...
Posted by: Carl in N.H. at January 23, 2004 at 03:10 AMJust thought Bob Burnett would like to know that Dennis Kucinish comes from a town where the river caught fire.
Posted by: Gary at January 23, 2004 at 04:55 AM"Just thought Bob Burnett would like to know that Dennis Kucinish comes from a town where the river caught fire."
Comes from, hell, he was mayor of that "town" (actually city) of Cleveland. (IIRC, he was mayor when that river caught on fire.)
A group of historians put together a list of the 10 best and 10 worst American mayors of the past. Dennis-the-K made the list, and not the good list either.
Posted by: David Crawford at January 23, 2004 at 05:35 AMI'm not sure about this (they only played a few seconds) but i could swear CNN also played Lileks Dean song. They said it was made by a "web DJ", whatever that is, but it sure sounded like Lileks.
I know that this is a republican website, yada yada yada...but we NON-republicans and Kucinich supporters can sleep better at night knowing that we do not support a man who commands and commits, every day, those crimes that he tells others to stop. Whether it be weapons manufacturing, torturing human beings, or destruction of the environment, George W. Bush is a powerful man on a godawfully big power trip. The only way to actually avoid WW 3 at this point is to get him the hell out of office. You know this war we're in? Wait until the world gets involved (it's on it's way). Then we'll ALL be nuked.
Posted by: SM at January 23, 2004 at 04:45 PMknow that this is a republican website, yada yada yada...but we NON-republicans and Kucinich supporters can sleep better at night knowing that we do not support a man who commands and commits, every day, those crimes that he tells others to stop. Whether it be weapons manufacturing, torturing human beings, or destruction of the environment, George W. Bush is a powerful man on a godawfully big power trip. The only way to actually avoid WW 3 at this point is to get him the hell out of office. You know this war we're in? Wait until the world gets involved (it's on it's way). Then we'll ALL be nuked.
Firstly, not being an American, nor a member of political party, i find it difficult to believe "I'm a Republican", being an atheist with no beef against gay marriage.
Secondly: When the hell did George Bush commit or command "weapons manufacturing, torturing human beings, or destruction of the environment"?
Take off the tin foil hat, dude!
No wonder the left is being frozen out of power. They left their brains behind somewhere in Florida, 2000.
Posted by: Quentin George at January 23, 2004 at 08:39 PMIt's not a Republican website, you fucking idiot! (SM, that is). It's an *Australian* website on an American server where RWDBs the world over can kick back and feel at home.
Go off and do something useful, like meticulously counting and recording "chemtrails" or something. After all, we need detailed records for when Bush gets prosecuted for crimes aginst humanity at the ICC.
Posted by: Bob Bunnett at January 24, 2004 at 07:51 AMNON-republicans and Kucinich supporters
Wait... so are there republican Kucinich supporters?
Posted by: Sortelli at January 24, 2004 at 06:35 PM