Mark Shield "gets it" about Howard Dean!

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/07/07/column.shields.opinion.dean/

snip

Make no mistake about it. It is not the medium -- radio, TV or the Internet -- which enlists and converts voters to a cause. It is the message -- what the candidate stands for and communicates -- that touches and moves voters.

At a time when a large chunk of the Democratic Party membership was strongly opposed to President George W. Bush and his advocacy of a pre-emptive U.S. war against Iraq, the leadership of the Democratic Party -- especially "first-tier" presidential candidates Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and John Edwards of North Carolina, along with Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri -- stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Republican president. Howard Dean spoke to -- and for -- the millions of Democrats who were against that war.

That is message! Now, when the most recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll asks, "All in all, do you think the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over or not?" and a growing 42 percent of Americans answer, "No," it is understandable why, to more than a few Democrats, Dean looks to be wise, as well as brave.

snip

His early success at fund raising is no guarantee that Howard Dean will be a serious candidate in New Hampshire next January. But Dean used no tricks nor gimmicks to collect those contributions. His opponents better understand: It was his message.

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Very good article. Worth reading, IMO.

Eloriel

that is how I see it too. I don't think it means you're soft on defense because you opposed a unethical war. I think it showed statesmanship.

It WAS good.
a lot of beltway politicians have the idea that there is a winning formula. There is no winning formula...every election is different and the mood of the electorate is NOT set in stone it changes from election to election.

It is the message, and also the messanger that is making Dean so successful right now. He gives me hope that one day this country will be rid of bush* and his cabal. Per the Doctor "I want my country back!" And so do I.

unlike margaret the chipmunk and the rest, he actually has a spine

nt

favorite pundits,,,if not my most favorite..

Good!,,,MArk got some major Digs in there on bush, too!!

And Mark definetly "gets it" regarding Dean and "the Message"!!

:kick:
DEAN'04
:dem:

People that attribute Dean's success thus far to voodoo internet mysticism are missing the point.

...he is indeed one of the best pundits. His appearance on the Friday "Newshour" was usually one of the best things on during the week when it came to political talk (not so good now that Gigot has left...he and Gigot had a pretty good chemistry which is a bit lacking w. Brooks).

But he is right. Internet organizing is just a tool The message is whats motivating folks, and that he came out early with it, too.

I do think this Iraq war and Bushes foreign policy could be a big issue in the campaign.

It is rare - RARE - to have a Democrat so voluptuously praised on the pages of CNN. Give this fellow, and his editors, and cnn in general - a big thank-you for publishing this. If we're nice, maybe they'll run more like it. Maybe they'll say it on the *gasp* TV.

And thanks for the link, Merlin!

Eloriel

Him and Donahue might have to carpool to the unemployment office otherwise

And if you remember, he pulled no punches with the questions he asked Dean at the Children's Forum. Shields seems to respect what Dean is about (even without the free doughnuts!).

Thanks for posting this, Eloriel.

:bounce:

:bounce::kick::bounce:

But for one thing, which is that I think Shields is himself making a (slight) misperception/oversimplification in the same vein, by reducing Dean's support, his "message", to "I was against the Iraq war".

I think the real message that's getting Dean support is more basic: "Bush is wrong." Not misguided, not innocently mistaken, not in need of a tweak here and there -- the things he wants to do are bad, not just being done badly. It's really such a simple statement, practically the heart of being a Democrat (one would think) -- and yet so few of the contenders out there (at least the early batch with the big money behind them) seem capable of articulating it with gusto.

Oh, well. With any luck, we'll get to stand around on the eve of Dean's election, and watch the Republicans glaring at Dean while they try and decode his "trick". :-)