One thing you can certainly say about the guy is he's a fighter.
Gosh, I guess. He told a screaming supporter to sit down and shut up. Very charming trailside manner, Doc.
I'm confused about his status though and I'm not sure the media is painting us a clear picture of his situation.
I'm confused about all the candidate's status as the nomination process seems to breed this 'say 'yes' to anything positve and 'no' to anything negative' and then retract it later if circumstances dictate it. Letterman had his stage hand 'interview' Dean in a way that, aside from being funny, certainly highlighted this. I couldn't find a transcript but remember it went some where along these lines.
Biff:: 'Are you for jobs or against jobs?'
Dean: 'For.'
Biff: 'Are you for the elderly or against them?'
Dean: 'For.'
I have to admit being very taken with his sort of outsider status...
Umm, I have to admit to this as well. However, if being an outsider was the only thing he had going, I don't suppose he'd be generating so much press. The thing I'm blown away by is the organization and cash generation. This always seems to be the second thing the press brings up with him - but this seems the most distinguishing thing he's shown so far and so much more than the other dems. The fact that he's an outsider seems to prove people are sick of the status quo on both sides of the ticket - he certainly seems to be running on that at least. But how far?
I'm not convinced that being an outsider is going to be especially helpful in beating Bush. For me, all you have to do to win my vote is not be Bush and not have a mind like a steel sponge. I would imagine other voters will be harder to sway. None of the dems have shown how they're going to do that swaying yet.
Kerry does seem the best 'out-of-the-box' candidate. If Dean wins the nomination then it will assert that whoever has the most dough gets the nod. A principle which, when applied to the Presidential election, means four more years of Bush.
At the tv station I work at, the candidates are filling our (ok, my bosses) pockets with ad money for the NH primary. The John Edwards ad I mentioned has him in front of his childhood home - one of those 'little,pink houses' mellencamp wrote about. It's sort of unintentionally funny. I didn't know if they were playing in your area or not. Lieberman has an ad where he considers himself appealing to McCain voters. Another guy from another party who didn't win his primary. Interesting strategy. The rest, including Dean, swipe at each other while misrepresenting the facts. Read more here, if you wish -
p.s. - Colts or Pats? Someone's winning streak's going to end tomorrow either way.
