Dean To News Media: Get A Life

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/19/politics/main594091.shtml

At an event meant to mark the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a stern if not angry Howard Dean, told the media to “get a new life.”

With the start of the Iowa Caucus only hours away, the former Vermont governor arrived at the Iowa Historical Museum for the State of Iowa King remembrance.

Dean, who was not scheduled as one of the speakers, arrived with the national and local media waiting. The event had been posted on the media roster by his campaign.

After Dean’s bus pulled in at about 10:30 a.m., he circled the large building, just blocks from the golden-domed capital, as hordes of press and orange-capped Dean “storm troopers” followed in tow in the subfreezing weather.

"Photographers and camera crews followed, positioning themselves at the foot of the stage. A clearly perturbed Dean sat through the flashes, but soon walked up on stage and had a discussion with local organizers.

A while later he exited the auditorium, making a beeline to the front entrance and to his bus. Wedging through the media, he stopped at the front step before boarding the bus to answer a reporter's question about how he was feeling.

"You know why I wasn’t able to attend this event,” Dean said, “because you guys are behaving so badly you’ve got to get a new life.”

Upbraiding the media, Dean told the press: “I’m feeling great, we’re going to win but you guys got to behave yourselves out of respect for Dr. King.”

same article

…
Organizer Kimberly Baxter, administrator of the state's Commission on the Status of African-Americans, said Dean had alerted her that he planned to attend.

Baxter said her only concern was making sure there was enough room for Des Moines-area residents who wanted to attend the ceremony.
…
http://miva.dmregister.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?news/live/special/display.mv+direction=showstory&showrec=2
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=137657

Why did Dean's campaign tell the media to be there if he didn't want them there?

.. it was simply on his schedule. Regardless of who the candidate is in this story, it shows how fucked up the media is.. and how people, who have their own agendas, taint and stretch stories. Dean did not come to speak.. did not expect to speak. You can tell by his words to the press. He wanted to attend the event, to observe Martin Luther Kings' memory.. but they disrupted things. I would guess, that Dean's conversation with the organizers was an apology and the offer to leave.. so that the event could proceed. He's being hosed by the media, just as Al Gore was. It's just sad.

:wtf:

Umm, where do you EXPECT the media would be on the day of the Iowa caucuses, except following the major candidates around?

Dean fucked up, plain and simple. He obviously thought he was speaking, but he wasn't. That's fuck-up number one. If he wasn't speaking, he shouldn't have posted the appearance on his official schedule or he at least should have said that it was a closed-media event. That's fuck-up number two. If he couldn't do that, the LEAST he could have done was to warn the local community organizers. That's fuck-up number three.

There was a serious breakdown here, and you would be better off admitting that and learning from the mistakes, rather than trying to defend them in vain.

DTH

This was a plain and simple screw up by the Dean campaign. Dean's implosion continues. I hope Dean doesn't implode to a white dwarf then go super nova. Dean's got to maintain his cool.

D.
Your speculations are wrong on all accounts. I'll be glad when this thing is over, so that you and other friends can go back to being normal.

Updates

Dean leaves King ceremony
Posted at 13:03 on 01/19/2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Presidential candidate Howard Dean's attempt Monday to attend a ceremony honoring the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. left many in the audience unhappy and complaining that the former Vermont governor was trying to overshadow the event.

The Iowa Commission on the Status of African-Americans hosted the 15th annual event, held at the Iowa Historical Building in Des Moines.

"That's not for him," said Seville Lee, 26 of Des Moines. "This was nothing but a conniving way for him to sneak in and take up a vote from the African-American community."

Dean, who is in third place in the Des Moines Register's Iowa Poll, arrived at the historical building at around 10:30 a.m. Monday with a swarm of national and international media in tow.

He quickly left.

"Gov. Dean attempted to attend the memorial to pay his respects to the late civil rights leader," said campaign spokeswoman Sarah Leonard in a prepared statement.

"Unfortunately, Gov. Dean was met by a crush of reporters who were so disruptive that, out of respect for those attending, the Governor spoke to representatives of sponsoring organizations and explained that he felt it was best to leave rather than allow the media to disrupt their event."

Organizer Kimberly Baxter, administrator of the state's Commission on the Status of African-Americans, said Dean had alerted her that he planned to attend.

Nothing personal, obviously. But no apologies, either.

DTH

thats your call, but don't lie or make shit up.
BTW I notice you never say anything about the positive aspects of your candidate.
I know you're a centrist but in the last month or so you come off really shrill and angry. Clark has a lot of good attributes, but I prefer others. I won't slam him , may the popular choice win.

At some point the primaries are going to be over and we will need a unified party to have any chance of beating Bush.This kind of shit needs to stop....especially with older and wiser folks like yourself.

I'm speculating based on the facts available, and revising as more facts come to light. And I hear speculation is still allowed here.

I'm sorry you found it necessary to personalize this; I certainly don't.

BTW I notice you never say anything about the positive aspects of your candidate.

You are absolutely, 100% wrong. If you want, I will be happy to rattle off a string of about a dozen threads I've started in the last couple of weeks that were all very pro-Clark. I'm actually quite well-known for doing exactly that, in Clark circles.

I know you're a centrist but in the last month or so you come off really shrill and angry.

Actually, I consider myself to be a liberal, not a centrist. And as for shrill and angry, I won't respond to that personal attack, except to say that IMO, Howard Dean deserves every bit of it. Ye shall reap what ye sow.

DTH

won't fight with....you're one of them.
I'll talk with you after the primaries.
Good luck to Gen Clark.

Take care.

Shrill and Angry DTH

Let's see, whose ass is he going to kick? Don't get me wrong, I like General Clark, but he can get pretty testy too, and it's only human. :think: :crazy: :)

Point 1: Posting an event on one's schedule doesn't imply speaking at it. Point 2: "A closed media event" as if Dean controls the press. Point 3: See post 18 below for your third contrived point.

So explain to me where the serious breakdown was? Talk about defending in vain.

“Dean came here and he was hoping that his henchmen would get the job done," said 26-year-old Seville Lee, who heads a mentoring program for at-risk youth in Des Moines. "He thought he was going to speak."

“I’m offended that Dean would even try and do this,” said Lee, who organized a children’s play that day in honor of King. “He wasn’t scheduled to speak.

"If he wanted to come he could go sit down like everyone else.”

DTH

Who were these people quoted that assumed that the thought that? Were they organizers? No. The organizer said that Dean told her he was coming. Not speaking. You're barking up the wrong tree trying to assail Dean over this media fuck up.

You know, one of those folks who put on the event?

"who heads a mentoring program for at-risk youth in Des Moines"

"Lee, who organized a children’s play that day in honor of King"

:shrug:

DTH

Because he heads a program for at-risk youth? Nope. Not an organizer of the event. Dean talked to the real organizers and explained why he was leaving. Nice conjecture, though.

... is among the milder things I'd have to say to the news media.

note the "Storm Troopers" referenced to the Dean volunteers in the Perfect Storm hats. That's deliberate. And here the RNC goes squawkking about the Moveon.org ads, while a major network reporter - and not even Faux makes this snide Nazi reference.

I think CBS ought to be emailed for that reference by this reporter. Even if the story is true, that is uncalled for.

It seems like every story I read about him contains some silly attack or paints him (unfairly) as irate.

Storm Trooper comment. Told them this Nazi reference was not called for and not clever even with the campaign calling this "The Perfect Storm", especially in light of the recent Moveon.org issue the Republicans were howling about.

IMHO no matter which Dem you support, we need to hold their feet to the fire when they do this kind of thing. It will be your candidate next. We know they'd never call Bush or Repub volunteers Storm Troopers though they more richly deserve the title.

The others will be so easy to peg.

So 4 more years for * and counting.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

and he never backed down. It sure didn't hurt him to speak his mind. :boring: :dem:

And generally treats like like professionals rather than show concern for their personal lives.

CBS news. It figures

REPORTER, n. A writer who guesses his way to the truth and dispels it with a tempest of words.

"More dear than all my bosom knows, O thou
Whose 'lips are sealed' and will not disavow!"
So sang the blithe reporter-man as grew
Beneath his hand the leg-long "interview."

Barson Maith


Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

He needs to stand up on any so called "gaff" and not apologize. It makes him look weak. If he feels like he needs to give a broader picture, he needs to do it in the same tone he made the statements in:: aggressively!

How many times have we all felt powerless and enraged because of a media that consistently ignores the real problems facing us, and substitutes the necessary information Americans need, with distracting, sensationalistic stories like Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson, Mike Tyson, and whos the latest sports figure that has been in the spotlight? Name escapes me now, primarily because I dont watch the news as much.

Whats interesting to me in looking at this, is how racist the slant is. And Im a white female.

Its sad. And its wrong. It paints pictures that narrows our view and skews reality.

So regardless if you support Howard Dean for president or not, his message should ring loud and clear to all of us.

That the media indeed should get a life and start covering issues that apply, educate and inform Americans and not a junk food diet of empty stories that scapegoat individuals and have no redeeming quality whatsoever.

The "storm troopers" reference is so awful that it needed a response, and I never write emails to the press. I'm just shocked.

He DID tell them.. according to the DM register.

http://miva.dmregister.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?news/live/special/display.mv+direction=showstory&showrec=2



Organizer Kimberly Baxter, administrator of the state's Commission on the Status of African-Americans, said Dean had alerted her that he planned to attend.

Baxter said her only concern was making sure there was enough room for Des Moines-area residents who wanted to attend the ceremony.


So.. he DID tell the Organizers 8)

Maybe still three, if he told them he was coming but didn't warn them about the crush of media.

I love these paragraphs from that article even more than the original article, however:

<...>

"That's not for him," said Seville Lee, 26 of Des Moines. "This was nothing but a conniving way for him to sneak in and take up a vote from the African-American community."

<...>

Unlike most Dean events, there were no accommodations for the media. It took Dean about five minutes to find an unlocked door at the Historical Building — the front door.

<...>

When a Dean aide announced that the former Vermont governor was leaving, the audience applauded.

<...>

DTH

1) WHo are you to say what the audience was thinking when they applauded Howard Dean? Did they applaud because he was leaving? Did they appluad because they like him and applaud just as people applaud an injured football player that leaves the field. Who are YOU to assume what that means? You're just trying to perpetrate the notion that African Americans dislike Dean.

2) Why is it that Clark supporters are so quick to mount attacks on Dean.. constantly on this board. There are few exceptions, but when I read a really mean post, it's got a lovely photo of Wesley Clark alongside. It really does so little for your candidate. Why are guys so angry? You're embarrassing yourselves and your candidate. Chill out. You're not winning the hearts and minds of anyone here by doing that.

This was another media attempt to paint Dean as angry and gaffe-prone.. because it's the fucking flavor-of-the-week of the unimagantive, pack mentality press hordes. They all want the scoop.. even if they have to make it up. Did they talk to anyone that supports Dean, or knew he was coming? No.. that was the DesMoines Register that managed to do that.

1) You're right, that's one possible interpretation. I know quite a bit about upset and impatient public crowds, however. That sounds like "good that you finally got the hell out already" applause, more than your version, especially when they'd already had to wait for longer than they thought.

You're just trying to perpetrate the notion that African Americans dislike Dean.

Not at all; I'm merely aghast, and simultaneously pleased, since I think Dean would be a disaster for the party and accordingly anything that decreases his chances of winning our party's nomination is a good thing in my book.

2) Dean has lots of detractors here, from every camp. Dean also has lots of supporters who constantly post negative stuff about Clark. It's all a big wash, a big clusterfuck, really, but I have the intellectual honesty to admit that fact.

Regarding the Des Moines Register, I actually think that story was more negative than the CBS one, but for the stupid "storm trooper" remark that CBS made.

DTH

Before any of you get your panties in a knot, remember, anything made public can and would be challenged by the organizers, if this was not the case. I can't believe so many fell for another media ambush against a Democratic candidate. I wonder why so many supporters of other candidates (one in particular) are so willing to jump into bed with the supposed media we all railed against 6 months ago. And.. the fact that Dean had enough class to not further disrupt the event, says volumes. DOn't be so sure they clapped because HE was leaving.. how about the MEDIA leaving? Ever consider that????

This was posted on Dean's Blog:

DFA Press release on the MLK event in Iowa:

"For Immediate Release: January 19, 2004

STATEMENT FROM DEAN FOR AMERICA CAMPAIGN MANAGER JOE TRIPPI ON TODAY'S MLK EVENT IN DES MOINES, IOWA

Des Moines -- "The Iowa Commission on the Status of African Americans today sponored a memorial to honor the late Martin Luther King Jr. at the State Historical Building. Governor Dean attempted to attend the memorial to pay his respects to the late civil rights leader. Unfortunately, Governor Dean was met by a crush of reporters who were so disruptive that, out of respect for those attending, the Governor spoke to representatives of sponsoring organizations and explained that he felt it was best to leave rather than allow the media to disrupt their event.""

Posted by J from VJ at January 19, 2004 04:59 PM

I just wonder if those who attack everything about Dean will be able to get on board when he wins and support him against the worst president in US history? Or will you all be spoil sports and hang back? This mean spirtness on the part of some Democrates is really disturbing. Really. Bob

Based on both anecdotal and polling evidence printed nationally, Dean is the least desirable candidates among supporters of other candidates, and has the highest negative-to-positive differential nationwide among all Democrats running.

Ye shall reap what ye sow.

DTH

Thanks. That's the best laugh I've had all day!

edit: sp

You certainly don't have to believe it; but it's not coming out of thin air.

I am talking of the recent CNN/USAT poll that showed Dean's negatives, and the recent WaPo article titled, "Dean, Party of One."

DTH

Baxter knew Dean was coming.

Dean was invited, and he showed up.

This Seville Lee person who is quoted was part of the presentation, but does not appear to be a person in authority, and IMHO is talkin out his/her ass. The quote is a baseless slam, and CBS should be ashamed.

On the other hand, Dean's people made an error in not scoping out the scene in a more sensitive way.

Hmm.... I wonder what they would have said if Dean *didn't* show up for the event.

"Dean can't expect to get our votes if he doesn't attend our functions."

The whole thing sounds like a snafu, but it's a tempest in a teapot. This kind of thing happens, and the media certainly didn't help.

What a shame that some DUers are taking delight in this. It's a damn same.

“storm troopers” ,and Bush gets a free ride ...

Today, in the weekly roundup, a NY Times editor revealed that they DID mislead people in some article, use some really cheap shots, and use infamatory headlines against Dean. Well duh!!!

Bush gets a free ride is that the media trolls assigned to his 2000 campaign really liked their job. Lots of free booze (near beer for Shrub), backslapping galore and plenty of cutesy nicknames for the hacks. If Dean wants reporters off his back, all he needs to do is give 'em names like "Big Fella" and pour big tumblers of Bourbon.

Couldn't we cut him some slack if he donated his sleeves-rolled shirt to auction off for a worthy cause?

It sounds like what Bush did in Atlanta last week. He was an uninvited guest, and he paid for it in the media. I hate when someone on our side does this kind of thing. Call ahead, ask. That's the right thing to do.

that's so fair (/sarcasm)

BTW, if you read most of the posts above, you'd know that he did set it up before the event and was not an "uninvited" guest.

Only a couple of media outlets - mostly print - reported the protesters. Some downplayed the protesters. And didn't ABC and at least one other not air the audio of the protesters in the background? And the Atlanta police probably at the order of Rove and the Secret Service shielded * from seeing the protesters.

I'm just surprised that * actually had to drive past them and that they weren't herded in to 1st amendment zones several blocks away. But then at the MLK memorial that might've smacked of the bull police tactics from the 60's. Minus only the fire hoses and the dogs.