Reply #17: I'll try as a non-Dean supporter to tread lightly here.... [View All]

[vi5]

But in the interest of attempted civil debate, here are where my issues came in.

I think Dean is a moderate and has a moderate record. But when he started using the "democratic wing of the democratic party" line, that to me was just as much of a code for "liberal" as anything could possibly be. I'm sorry but if you use Paul Wellstone's line to identify yourself, that means you are trying to say you are liberal. Which is fine. I am a liberal too. However, you can't complain when the media and other Democrats then paint you as liberal.

Also, I noticed and made mention of my concerne way before the media took hold of Dean, that he seemed to me to be very angry and focusing in on that anger. The response from most of the Dean supporters wasn't "He's not angry!!" it was "Of course he's angry! He has a right to be angry. We are all angry". Again, that's great but then when other democrats and the media describe him as angry, you can't complain about it when it was this anger that you were touting in a positive way previously.

I have no doubt that the media has an impact and that it can in fact magnify things. But we know this. We all know this and therefore need to keep ourselves aware of it.

So while the media plays their part, to make it out like they just pulled this stuff out of thin air with no basis in fact is more than a bit disingenuous stuff and seeing people who less than a year ago were touting the very things that they are now complaining about the media focusing on gets very little sympathy from me.