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First let me say this: I thought the speech he gave last night was a very good speech. I mean here's the bottom line: he got his ass handed to him, and he was letting his supporters know that he is in for the long-haul. Nothing wrong with that. He was dead no matter what he did: if he wasn't firey enough, the press would have said that he seemed defeated. They would have noticed "a real change in his demeanor." They would have said that this was his first step in the New Hampshire primary--the not-so-angry Dean. He was just trying to pump up his supporters by letting them know that he wasn't defeated (we can argue about HOW he went about it--but not about WHAT he was doing). Even my wife, who is really not very political, though has a visceral hatred for chimpy (even more than my "rationale," principled, and well-founded hatred), got very angry this morning when she saw what the newscasts were doing with his speech. She doesn't follow the political machination at all and still saw all of the criticism as fraudulent.
O.K., now his two problems: 1) The media has buried him. He IS a joke. For this reason alone, he's done. Fair or unfair (and I think it's incredibly UNFAIR), he's written the epilogue to the "crazy/angry" narrative. The only thing he should "have known better" about is that the whore press loves it, freakin' LOVES it, when a moment fits into and encapsulates an ongoing narrative. It proves them correct and sagacious. I like Dean, but he's now the press's punching bag. They get to openly disrespect him--not question him but disrespect him. He's done.
2) I thought Dean would make it farther, though I doubted he could win the nomination (though always thought it was a possibility). In fact, I thought he had a better chance in the general than he did in the primaries. He's a states' rights guys, wants to balance the budget, and was honing in on an education message. On these three things, he was going to go at Bush and paint Bush as a bureaucrat. I thought Dean deserved, for the excitement and electricity he has brought to the campaign, to get the nod for VP. Plus, he's got CASH and the ability to raise more. But all of this has changed. His "joke" status makes him not worth the $40+ million he brings to the table. He won't be asked to run as VP, which was a VERY real possibility before.
Now, all of this being said, he may be able to turn things around. He may be able to use these so-called detriments to his advantage. But, I'm sorry to say, I doubt it. It's not the Iowa loss that makes this true; it's the fact that the media and the repubs. (God I hope the dems. don't take the cheap shots) can now disrespect him at will. The Al Gore and earth tones/invented the internet/love canal was nothing compared to what they can do here. You can see a real gleam in their eyes as they laugh and chuckle at the "absurdity" of his speech last night. The fact that Dean was on ESPN on a number of occassions isn't good.
So I have two suggestions for Dean: 1) you aren't going to be asked to be VP, and you've got $40+ million. So what to do with it? Please don't use it to trash your opponents if you know you're out of it. You can do two things: use the money to trash the media or to go after Bush. Swing wildly at chimpy. Not only that, be in communication with the other candidate(s) and ask him/them what sort of message you can put out there that will work well with their message. Coordinate the attacks. Let them run on their platform and you attack Bush.
I'll be very surprised if Dean comes back. If he wins N.H., I will be amazed. He may actually finish 3rd. 3rd.
Note to all Dean supporters: I'm not trashing Dean. I like him a lot. My wife, who can only go on her gut reaction, likes Dean a lot. The others seem too scripted for her taste. This is my simple analysis of the position he's in. The media will try to bury him. It's a hard hole to dig oneself out of. And it isn't cyclical; they want him gone so they can move to their next story. Please mark this post; if Dean wins the nomination, I want you to pull it up, show it to everyone, and I will apologize profusely to you. You can send me the apology you want me to write to my message box. I will write whatever you tell me to write.
Finally, because I loathe the media so much, and I'd love to see them eat crow, I can say this: Go Dean!!!!! Yahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
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