Watching Howard Dean on Tweety. Did the Dean Scream really take him down? All such a blur.

[zonkers]

[UniteFightBack]

1. OMG OMG I know this one!! Yes it did. This is one event I actually remember happening in real time

since I was not much for politics then.

[WillowTree]

4. LOL!!

I so know the feeling...………..

[backtoblue]

11. Ha, me too!

I think that's when I found this site! Lmao. Was searching for the DNC and ended up landing here

[blm]

12. Not really. He came in 3rd in Iowa, and, IMO, the press was to blame for pushing the

expectation for a huge Dean win in Iowa. The press corps had it all wrong. When Dean ended up a not even close 3rd the press wouldn’t dare say that THEY had it all wrong, they blamed Dean and used that scream as cover. They used that as the story out of Iowa instead of explaining the heavy lifting Kerry had done on the ground in Iowa.....”the scream” hype got them off the hook for their pisspoor reporting on Iowa.

[karynnj]

15. The sad thing is the media NEVER bothered to explain the plain truth. Kerry won by retail politics

He and his vets, both his men in Vietnam and vets from Massachusetts, who were his advocates for decades. Add to that Massachusetts local politicians who came to Iowa to speak of the man they knew. One reporter, who did get it, spoke of how Kerry would stay to answer every last question and was actually warmer when the cameras were not there -- unlike the media star John Edwards.

Imagine if the national media put aside their biases and actually showed a man who had lived a life of public service and who WAS comfortable speaking to every day people. He was an under appreciated genuine American hero in a country, that even then valued shiny cubic zirconiums over unpolished diamonds.

[doompatrol39]

2. Yes, it did. One of the more absurd moments in our political history....

The fact that an overmic'd rally cry could undo a presidential campaign is just completely off the charts bonkers.

Not the finest moment either for our media who made a big deal of it, or Democrats who actually allowed it to become an issue. I remember at the time just being completely jaw on the floor dumbfounded that people were saying it was a reason to not vote for Dean.

[zonkers]

3. Our loss.

[lpbk2713]

5. It was what the MSM made of it that took him down.

Just like they did with Dukakis riding in a tank.

[katusha]

6. no, it only capped the end

he finished third in Iowa so he had already peaked and was on the down slope. In my opinion it was the capture of saddam hussein the previous month that put some doubt in the minds of primary voters who began second guessing putting an anti iraq war politician on top of the ticket, which gave kerry a shot as an anti war VETERAN. anyways that primary was what brought me to DU ( go Wes Clark!)

[Trumpocalypse]

7. Well said nt

[UTUSN]

8. Yip. & MUSKIE's tears for his wife. Sigh: lost innocence.

[zonkers]

10. It sure is a weird world. Of weird unknown rules. Didn't know about Muskie.

[UTUSN]

18. HAH!1 Ya gotta be old (to know some things - & we'll all never know *all* the old things) !1

One time I said to somebody, "You're so smart!1" - and was told, "Nah, we just know the same things!1"

[UTUSN]

19. Here's news to me, too - I really didn't know what it was all about back then:

***********QUOTE*********
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Muskie

.... Muskie was elected to the Senate in 1959. As an environmentalist, he helped pass the Clean Air Act of 1970, and introduced the Clean Water Act of 1972. Muskie also supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the creation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Muskie supported New Federalism in opposition to Richard Nixon. Muskie ran alongside Hubert Humphrey against Nixon in the 1968 presidential election, losing by 0.7 percentage points (42.72% vs. 43.42%), one of the narrowest margins in U.S. history. As a candidate for the 1972 presidential election, the release of the "Canuck letter" derailed his campaign during the primary. ....

Upon his retirement from the Senate, President Jimmy Carter nominated him as the 58th U.S. Secretary of State. While Secretary of State, Muskie negotiated the release of 52 Americans, concluding the Iran hostage crisis. ....

"Canuck letter"

On February 24, 1972, a staffer from the White House forwarded a letter purporting to be written by Muskie to the Manchester Union-Leader. The forged letter– reportedly the successful sabotage work of Donald Segretti and Ken W. Clawson[114] [115] –asserted that Muskie had made disparaging remarks about French-Canadians which were likely to injure his support among the French-American population in northern New England.[116] The letter contained reference to French-Canadians as "Canucks"– an affectionate term among Canadians[117] –leading to its sobriquet, "The Canuck letter".[118]

A day later, the same paper released an article that contained accusatory reference to his wife, Jane, as a drunkard and racially intolerant. On the morning of February 26, Muskie gave a speech to supporters outside of the Manchester Union-Leader offices in Manchester, New Hampshire. His speech was viewed as emotional and defensive; he called the newspaper's editor a "gutless coward".[116] Muskie gave the speech during a snowstorm which created the appearance of him crying.[119] Though Muskie later stated that what had appeared to the press as tears were actually melted snowflakes, the press reported that Muskie broke down and cried, shattering the candidate's image as calm and reasoned.[120][121][122]

Evidence later came to light during the Watergate scandal investigation that, during the 1972 presidential campaign, the Nixon campaign committee maintained a "dirty tricks" unit focused on discrediting Nixon's strongest challengers. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigators revealed that the Canuck Letter was a forged document as part of the dirty-tricks campaign against Democrats orchestrated by the Nixon campaign.[123][90] Nixon was also reported to have ordered men to follow Muskie around and gather information. He tried to connect Muskie's acquaintance with singer Frank Sinatra to an abuse of office. Muskie often flew on Sinatra's private plane while traveling around California.[124][125] ....

**********UNQUOTE**********

[JI7]

9. no, it happened after he lost Iowa

[karynnj]

13. No. It happened after he got 18 percent in Iowa and Kerry got 38 percent

He was trying to rev up his supporters, who thought they were likely to win or at least come in second. Had there been no scream, the stories would have been Kerry's unexpected, by the national media, success and why Dean and Gephardt failed.

[beachbum bob]

14. 1000% the "dean scream" did as opposition to dean populism siezed the first opportunity and

they used raw audio and embellished what actually occurred...and dean's president run was done

[Baltimike]

16. Yep. They extracted his scream from a crowd of screamers and applied the broken record technique. n

[MountCleaners]

17. I'm not sure but the media went on and on about it

They made it sound like he was crazy, or lacking in restraint at least. I thought it was RIDICULOUS, considering how many candidates have been taken down for things as having a child from an affair, etc.....all he did was show some emotion.

It was a depressing reminder of America's dominant puritanical culture at work.

I had a great respect for Dr. Dean - he has NEVER minced words WRT the right and especially the far-right - he is succinct, clear and direct. I thought he'd make a GREAT President and still do. I just really responded to his clarity and reason. I always make time for him.

[Aristus]

20. It was part of the right's idiotic fixation on small stupid things used to discredit Democratic

candidates.

Dean screamed.

Hillary sent e-mails and gave paid speeches.

Kerry looked French.

And because the Republican electorate is small and stupid, they latched onto these things. Substantive issues require brain-power they don't possess.