Has Dean learned his lesson?

Howard Dean's fatal system error

If Howard Dean were an Internet company, would he be the smash success of eBay, or the now-defunct Pets.com? The momentum Dean established over the summer and fall bore a striking resemblance to the straight-up curve of the dot-com boom. But, post-Iowa, that curve is pointing in a different direction, and now the question is, as was the case with so many of those dot-coms, was there every really a good product beneath the hype? Or is Dean really just buzz, nothing more than a pet food-selling sock puppet who, buoyed by his campaign's Internet savvy, momentarily came to seem like a really good idea?

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Today, those comments smack of late-1990s hubris. Not only did Dean lose by a huge margin in Iowa, but he lost in all of the demographics that his campaign had previously said he would sweep. According to the entrance polls, young people preferred John Kerry over Dean. First-time caucusers -- people Dean's campaign had been holding up as a kind of secret weapon -- chose Kerry and Edwards. And even the people who said they used the Internet for learning about the election chose Kerry.

What happened? Did the Internet fizzle on Howard Dean? "I think Dean happened to Howard Dean," says Michael Cornfield, the research director of George Washington University's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet. The problem, as with those high-flying dot-coms, was the product. "Howard Dean did it to himself."

<snip>

On Dean's blog on Tuesday, supporters didn't seem to be leaving Dean -- but many were clearly disappointed, and they offered many ideas for the candidate. The most popular one seemed to be "Be positive!" as one poster wrote repeatedly. Howard Dean should lose the anger and start talking about his record, many advised. "We all learned lessons in Iowa," says Jeff Jarvis. "Howard Dean learned the biggest one -- stop being an asshole."
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/01/21/dean_internet/index.html

Sorry, Jeff, but the evidence so far shows that Dean is going to continue to be himself.

Too much information can be a bad thing.

When? Is speaking the truth being an asshole?

How about rallying your troops, is this being an asshole?

How about telling a heckler that they have had their say and now you would have yours? Ha if it had been Bush they would have dragged that guy kicking and screaming from the room...

Fizzle? He is still leading National polls, but there are plenty of these assholes who will say anything to make sure Dean doesn't get the nomination so they can have Bush destroy our country for another 4 years.

Star Spangled Banner solos.

That was painful to watch and worse to hear..

AAAArrrgggghhhhh

It made him look immature and it did not make the party look good either.

But, our candidate does not "act".

If you don't like the "act", support someone else.
But, you already have so....good vibes to ya!

What we really need is someone who can be pinned with trying to start WW3. Yeah, that's the ticket.

just not give a fuck what pundits think. I am not hurt by this and don't really think this is valuable input. It all comes from prowar people anyway. It is all sour grapes.

Some things never change!!

and let those who oppose him shake in their boots.

Dean's affect on people both for and against him is practically unprecedented. His supporters can't stop working for him and his detractors can't get him out of their minds. Obsession might not be healthy in either case, but it's far more entertaining to me when people who absolutely DESPISE him can't stop talking about him.

represents change and for months they've KNOWN he has a pocket of pink slips for 'em. Read their commentaries for last year.

Dean '04...Representing Those outside the establishment Dem/Repub parties

Inspiring and empowering the individual to take a role in our party.

then why is Kerry, constantly with his finger in the wind, co-opting Dean's buzz to get any traction?

After all, Kerry didn't change anything at all---except maybe a little botux, and it worked for him. He is the same old, same old. Talk about being positive---all he did was carp on about Dean--and nothing else....oh except Viet Nam. The rest of the country may be on a testosterone high, but I lived through Viet Nam, and it is nothing to brag about. Kerry protested the war at the time, when it was the "popular" sentiment, but now he uses it to show himself as strong on security soldier boy. He makes me sick.

is that Kerry still doesn't know what Dean's campaign is about. All he can do is mimic like the magpie that he is.

Last I checked the Bob Dole of the democratic party had to mortgage his house to stay alive.

All Howard Dean did was set a record for contributions every quarter.

That Salon smug fest could have been written by another notorious attendee of Al Franken's Kerry salon lunch.

It fails to account for the most powerful message of the campaign:
the PEOPLE have put their money up because the disappointment in EVERYONE in DC, including democrats has become too much to bear.

If special interests succeed in snookering the public once again, it will be a very frigid day in January indeed, as we watch the hearse roll by with America as its cargo.