Dean: What a difference a year makes!

[GOPFighter]

This is from the Washington Post almost exactly a year ago (Nov. 25, 2002, by Howard Kurtz)

------------------------------------------------
"No reporters trail Howard Dean as he ambles into the dimly lit, mahogany-paneled bar of the Ritz-Carlton here, where two dozen black professionals most of whom barely know his name have gathered to hear his presidential pitch. But the governor of Vermont is upbeat...

"Dean may be a long shot, an asterisk, an unknown who somehow visualizes himself in the Oval Office, but he understands the value of media attention. After all, the Georgia pol praising him to the small crowd knew nothing about the governor until he saw him sparring one Sunday morning with Tim Russert. "I've never seen anybody who could take Tim's questions and spin it and send it right back at him without Tim saying you didn't understand the question or accusing him of waffling," Vernon Jones, the chief executive of DeKalb County, tells the audience he helped assemble to introduce Dean to the African American community.

"In the car after the event, Dean explains his strategy for overtaking Al Gore, John Kerry, Dick Gephardt and the rest of the probable contenders by working his tail off in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Money is more important than media at this early stage, he says...

"Every four years, the press swoons, at least briefly, over a presidential candidate like Dean. A lonely figure who takes controversial stands, who isn't afraid to tell it like it is...Someone who, almost by definition, can't win.

"Dean rejects the comparison. "I'm going to be the John McCain of this race," he says. "...the straight-talker who catches fire and upsets the political establishment. To the extent that Dean has attracted favorable press notices, it's for bluntly calling for universal health insurance and rolling back the Bush tax cut while others in the party are hemming and hawing.

"One breakthrough came in June, when the New Republic's Jonathan Cohn penned a cover story on Dean -- "Invisible Man" -- that compared him to McCain in "his penchant for blunt honesty."

"Another threshold was crossed in July when veteran Washington Post reporter David Broder wrote a lengthy piece on Dean.

"Nine days later, Russert granted the governor a coveted platform on "Meet the Press." "Governor Dean had been to Iowa and New Hampshire more than most of the better-known Democratic candidates," Russert says. "He was addressing in a serious way very difficult issues. I called sources in Iowa and New Hampshire and said, 'Are you treating him as a serious presidential candidate?' And the answer came back, emphatically yes."

"The appearance produced a headline in the next day's Boston Globe: "Dean Says U.S. Tax Cut Should Be Repealed: Vermont Governor Says Money Could Finance Universal Health Care." More important, hundreds of people wrote to Dean, and Jones, the DeKalb County CEO, called and asked for a meeting.

"For the world at large, though, Dean remains a trivia question. When he gave a major speech in Washington 10 days ago, all he got was a seventh-paragraph mention in a wire story about Gore.

"Most people think he makes sausage," cracked Comedy Central's Jon Stewart. A Houston Chronicle piece was headlined "Governor on Quirky, Quixotic Quest for the Presidency."

------------------------------------------

I remember reading this article last year thinking how deluded he must be to think that someone like him (a physician, governor of a New England state, no national exposure, zero name-recognition) would ever have a chance to get the nomination. Silly me.

Finally, many of us disparege Howard Kurtz and Tim Russert. This was a good article by Kurtz and help Dean gain credibility in Washington. And as you can see from the article, it was Tim Russert who took Dean seriously and gave him a platform on "Meet the Press."

I write this to announce that I have finally settled on Dean as my choice for the Democratic Party's Presidential candidate.

GOPFighter

[madfloridian]

1. Dean is no longer the *, Bush is the * now.

:hi:

[Scott Lee]

2. Dean is the frontrunner because he's made all the right people mad

He's pissed off the DINOs.

He's pissed off the lazy centrists.

He's pissed off the rightwingers.

He's pissed off the media gurus who like things to run in a predictable fashion.

He's pissed off the fossilized Democratic Party Leadership.

He's pissed off the provincial bigots who want to dismiss the Southern vote.

And most importantly, he's so pissed off much of the electorate that, according to George Saletan, they can barely write his name on the check.

[Cha]

4. And Dean has managed the whole time

not to "piss" me off! In fact, quite the opposite! I can't believe how fortunate we are to have a candidate like Dean just when we need him so badly! And Props to Joe Trippi for learning from all his Presidential campaigns and being such an Great Manager:D

[lancdem]

5. I have a question

Whom did Joe Trippi work for before he joined Dean's campaign? I'm curious about his background.

[Cha]

14. I don't know too much about Trippi's history...

but I got that he was in "7 Presidential campaigns" from this video I saw yesterday of Joe Trippi in Boulder, Colorado talking about our campaign.

http://homepage.mac.com/megruber/Politics/iMovieTheater79.html

[pruner]

18. I know he worked for Ted Kennedy (when he ran against Carter)

Trippi was instrumental in helping Kennedy win the Texas primary… no small feat for a NorthEasterner running against a Southerner.

[burr]

20. Did you mean L.B.J. in 1960???

Carter won the Texas primaries in both 1976 and 1980..

<http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/8088/Dem1980.html>

[pruner]

21. I guess I'm confused

I thought I had read that in a recent article about Trippi. I'm trying to find it but I can't even remember what magazine it was in.

:shrug:

[burr]

22. you are right on one major point..

for a primary opponent to win in California and New York, which did have the most delegates in 1980, is no easy accomplishment when running against the incumbent.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

23. Here's that excellent article on Trippi

and you were only partly confused. Trippi was a lower-level guy then, he was a staff member, and he helped Kennedy beat Carter in the most conservative part of Texas (Dallas-FW area). Kennedy was killed everywhere else in Texas, but Joe Trippi helped him win most of the Dallas-area delegates, which was considered a coup.

It's a great article, and it explains how smart this campaign has been in bringing people to the candidate rather than having to spend a lot of money to have to go track them down.

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?pt=uPrIwAEG7fHpGFSjMCq7tR%3D%3D

I heard Mike Ford from the campaign speak last weekend, and he talked about how amazing it is that Trippi -- a control freak -- has been able to turn the campaign over to the volunteers in such a big way. This is the best thing the campaign has done, in my opinion. People just organize and do things, rather than waiting for the campaign to tell them what to do.

[pruner]

27. thanks

that was the article I was referring to.

:)

[raysr]

35. Idiotic post pruner

[burr]

36. what is this...kick burr around fest???

what a fucker!

[KaraokeKarlton]

13. Joe Trippi and Howard Dean are a great match

If Trippi were working for one of the other candidates, I don't think their campaign would be just like Dean's and if Dean had someone other than Trippi, I don't think his campaign would look as it does. The thing with candidates and campaign managers is that their styles and personalities have to be in sync with each other for this kind of result to happen. Dean is great at choosing the right people for the job, who he can trust and who is the best person for what he wants to accomplish. He also won't be handled and have other people telling him what to say. Because Dean doesn't allow his staff to put words in his mouth or direct him in how to do HIS job, they can focus on doing what he hires them to do...and it makes a huge difference. It's really a campaign match made in heaven and trust is the key to it all.

[Cha]

15. I believe you are So Right about this!

The Best Match finally came together:7

[burr]

10. he has also inspired the right people to support him...

Democratic voters sick of no leadership from Daschle or other DINO's in Washington.

Voters who did not benefit from taxcuts, and are still suffering because of unemployment.

Voters who are uninsured and who have had high medical expenses, the same people who are tired of Democrats who shit on this issue every chance they get!

Voters who opposed the War, and are angry to see thousands of Americans will die in Iraq in addition to those who died in 9/11.

Voters who either choose not to vote, or showed their disgust at no leadership among Democrats by voting Republican in 2002..or Green in 2000.

Thousands of voters who have contributed small donations to Dean's campaign to defeat shrub's corporation-financed campaign, by yes...sending more of those checks to the Howard Dean campaign than to any other!

Voters who still believe in this country, and want someone to believe in them for a change...

[Duder]

3. Welcome aboard...

I always find it amusing to look at what was once perceived as his weaknesses:

Strengths and Weaknesses
+ Dean can point to substantial executive experience and a compelling record of accomplishments he garnered as a long-serving governor.
+ Governor's offices have proven to be an effective route to the White House; one need only look at our current president and his predecessor.
+ Straight-talking style.
+ Dean is able to devote full-time to the campaign, having completed his term as governor in January 2003.

- Hailing from a small state, Dean is not well know nationally and his fundraising ability is uncertain.
- Dean begins at a significant financial disadvantage to several of the candidates who were able to roll over funds from their 2002 re-election campaigns.

http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2004/dean.html

[Skwmom]

7. Straight talking style??

Surely you jest. Compelling record of accomplishments? Like health insurance where he made very, very, very, little progess in all the years he was governor (plus seems like he had a lot of help from FEDERAL programs passed by those cockroaches in Congress).

[Duder]

19. "All lies and jest.

Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." -- Paul Simon

Let me give you some straight talk regarding your man Clark. He hasn't made very little progress governing civilians because he has absolutely 0 experience governing civilians that he has had to answer to. I can understand the attraction to those of the video generation that might confuse collecting medals with actual governance but the reality is in running for election your boy is an amateur. This election is too important to place an amateur up against Rove, imo.

[dsc]

29. flat out false

That program was passed afterDean made most of the improvement he made.

[Skwmom]

6. Amazing what Republican money and media manipulations

can do. They can push a Rockefeller Republican (the real bushlite candidate) to the head of the Democratic pack. This is pure insanity.

[Cha]

8. The usual Boring Sourgrapes!

[GOPFighter]

9. Puh-lease!

Sticks and stones......

:eyes:

[UrbScotty]

11. He took a state from red ink to black ink.

Bush has done the opposite.

[AP]

24. Was there a governor between 92-00 who didn't???

?

[RevolutionStartsNow]

12. Tee-hee

I love the stubbornness of this argument.

[KaraokeKarlton]

16. Do you even know what a Rockefeller Republican is?

It's a Democrat by today's standard because they were liberal Republicans. The only difference between liberal Democrats and Rockefeller Republicans is that RRs believe in a balanced budget along with being socially liberal. I have to ask what is so bad about that? Bill Clinton was just as much a RR as Dean is. I guess you hate Clinton too, then. Ironically, most of Vermont's liberals must be RRs too because after they saw how much Dean accomplished from balancing the budget they are mostly fiscally responsible now, too.

Why don't you just come out and say that the real reason you can't stand Dean is because he's whooping your chosen candidate's butt? Everyone knows that's the case, so you should at least be honest about it.

[Skwmom]

26. I dislike Dean because he is a hypocritical, lying, phony,

mean-spirited,arrogant,smarmy politician who only cares about his own thirst for power. I'm sure I've left a lot out but I think that pretty well sums it up.

If Kerry, Kucinich, Gephardt, or any one of the other candidates were in the lead I wouldn't feel this overwhelming desire to throw up.

[Rose Siding]

30. And they say *Dean's* too angry

:scared:

[AP]

31. They also say he polarizes Democrats. Hmm.

[Rose Siding]

32. They also say

they haven't seen such enthusiasm or excitement in a campaign since RFK.

[AP]

33. And once those people all realize they've been had next November

it will probably drive even more away from the Democratic party forever.

They'll blame the party before they admit they supported a candidate who was so easy for Republicans to defeat.

[KaraokeKarlton]

40. Excuse me, but that is quite enough

I have not "been had", thank you very much. I support the candidate I believe in and who I KNOW will trounce Bush.

If Dean would be so easy to beat then the rest of the Democratic candidates are going to be even EASIER to beat because they can't even beat Dean when they join forces together to try to bring him down. What does that say about them? It says they are ineffective and can't win.

While the others are spending all their time worrying about Dean instead of running their own campaigns, Dean is already running a general election and taking his message to every state he can get to instead of just the ones he knows will go Democratic. He's forcing Bush to go on the defensive and will keep him on the defensive.

[Scott Lee]

43. ...they will have wished they supported Dean more

[KaraokeKarlton]

39. Dean isn't anything at all as you are claiming

and I would know because he was my governor for over a decade. He's not a hypocrite, doesn't lie, isn't phony, isn't mean-spirited, isn't arrogant or smarmy. The candidate you just described is John Kerry, and to a lesser extent, Gephardt.

[Scott Lee]

42. You forgot "big poopy mean old farty stupidhead"!

Am I forgetting anything else?

Oh, here's your air sickness bag.

[mitchum]

38. Uh, maybe Dean isn't the poster's "chosen candidate" because he is...

a Rockefeller Republican? However, it is nice to see you finally admit that is indeed what the good doctor is...

[KaraokeKarlton]

41. Actually, he's not a Rockefeller Republican

But he isn't a flaming liberal, either. He's hard to label. He's about in the middle on most things, very liberal on civil and human rights issues and a tad right on money matters. He's great with money, and responsible. Even though he will sometimes make cuts, he also has a real knack for making programs cost effective so there is no loss of services and is usually an expansion even if he does make cuts. He works very hard to be effective and he's common sense. He's much more socially liberal on some things than RRs were. The best way to describe Howard Dean's politics is to compare them with how a doctor practices medicine. He looks at the symptoms, gathers all the facts, does any test/studies necessary, looks at all the possible treatment options as well as the potential outcomes, risks, cost and benefits and chooses the best course of action based on all that information. He's able to do this quite quickly and methodically, too. Honestly, we could do a hell of a lot worse than Howard Dean. He is VERY good at solving problems, and Lord knows we've got a lot that need to be solved. You can count on Dean to use his medical training to come up with a well thought out plan to solve them, too.

[killbotfactory]

17. Dean will be serving heaping portions of crow at the inaguration

All the Dean bashers will be invited.

[slinkerwink]

25. welcome to the Dean campaign!

The fire that Dean's got in him is what will help him win the White House!!!

[whirlygigspin]

28. don't you know Dean is a Rove plant

designed to sink the dems and break their winning streak!

Don't be fooled by the people power nonsence, Dean is just out
for power and to make his friends rich by cornering the maple syrup market.

snarf

[slinkerwink]

37. omg!!!

and I LOVE maple syrup....hmmmm, won't have to buy any more maple syrup from Vermont.....</sarcasm>

[Larkspur]

34. Welcome to the Greatest Grassroots Movement in History, GOPFighter!

Go to a Meetup this Wednesday. You'll get connected with the Dean community.