Newsweek: The Dean Dilemma

The Dean Dilemma

By Howard Fineman
Newsweek

Jan. 12 issue - The murmurs of doubt are faint, barely audible above the background hum of the Internet cosmos, but they are worth listening to at the moment, for the doubters don't seem to be "trolls"—provocateurs in digital disguise—and they express concerns about their favorite son, Dr. Howard Dean, in the bosom of his own blogosphere.

"Dammit, tell him to get his mouth under control!" says "WVMicko" on a forum conducted by Dean's official Web site. "He's been all over the map on a lot of things, and the way he shoots off his mouth is a big reason why." A poster to the site named "Lancaster" frets that his wife is put off by Dean's confrontational personality. "Her initial reaction to Dean? 'That guy scares me.' Now, I'm not a full-fledged Deanie, but I'm strongly leaning that way... but she's still not convinced that Dean is the right guy for the job." A writer named "irmaly" also views Dean's personality as a vulnerability. "I am a strong Dean supporter," irmaly declares, "but I think the campaign is missing this most important point—the need to focus strongly on getting up over the perception of 'mean, angry Dean.' Dean is portrayed as a man who, rather than share a beer in a local hangout, will fight you for yours. I realize this isn't true, but Bush and Company knows perception is everything, and they have already had some success at seriously hurting Dean on this perception. I don't know how you get up over this, but you have to, or we will lose."

Like the meteoric Internet start-up he in many ways resembles, Dr. Howard Dean is poised to merge with—or conduct a hostile takeover of—an "old media" conglomerate, the Democratic Party. For now, the country doctor and former Vermont governor remains the odds-on favorite to win its presidential nomination in a voting process that, technically, began last week when the Michigan party began accepting e-mail requests for e-mail ballots. The first events in the physical territory of politics take place later this month: the Iowa caucuses on the 19th, the New Hampshire primary on the 27th. Of the nine candidates in the race, Dean has raised the most money, claims to have the most cash on hand and has the lead in all the national polls and in those early-voting states, too.

Yet no one since Jimmy Carter has risen to front-runnerhood in quite the way Dean has: as a largely invisible outsider catapulted to a commanding position without so much as a nod from the Beltway political kingmakers. Dean's blunt, combative persona—and his opposition to George W. Bush's war in Iraq—allowed him to rocket to the top via the Internet. But, on the center stage of traditional politics, he's a controversial figure, launching attacks but airily refusing (especially now that he's ahead in the polls) to answer charges of his rivals; given to fights for their own sake, not-so-subtle adjustments of positions, sloppy statements and seemingly self-inflicted wounds. Thus far, the resulting dust-ups haven't hurt him. In fact, they may have done the opposite, inspiring team spirit among Deanies and branding him vividly as the kind of anti-establishment, hell-for-leather, shin-kicker who grass-roots Democrats want to lead them into mortal combat against the presidential imperium.

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thanks for posting. He brings up the un-Dean scenario, makes me wonder if the campaigns are working on this behind the scenes?

that Dean's popularity might be connected to a strong dislike of the current republican policies and the democratic party's seeming inability, maybe even unwillingness, to mount an effective opposition? That a lot of people really do object to what is happening to our country? And that a lot of people do not like Bush and what he has done? That maybe it is the democratic party and not the voters, who need to change their way of thinking?

current pug policies. That does not mean we want to replace a lightweight with another lightweight.

that's why I will not be voting for Kerry in the primaries.

a highly nuanced, compromising, Bush-enabling analysis?

that should be obvious to anyone.

bush-lite, Democrats will stay home in droves. Dean likes to accuse others of being bush-lite, but he comes closer to that description than most of the others.

I did not make this statement to start a flame war. The truth is, Dean is adopting bush's strategies and morphing into bush-lite before our eyes. It is very unpleasant. It makes me, a life-long Dem wonder how I can vote for someone who reminds me so much of bush.

The #1 reason I cannot support Dean is that he reminds me of Bush. They share many of the attributed that I despise in Bush. I have personally fought against Bush for reasons beyond his being a republican. So it is only natural for Dems to dislike a man so much like him. Honestly how can I complain about Bush's worst qualities, when Dean possesses them. I'll either have to embrace hypocrisy in the GE or stop complaining about Bush. Now that is a quagmire.

So I'm firmly in the ADBDAL category. (Anybody Democrat But Dean And Lieberman)

Nice post. Welcome to DU.

I find this funny. This guy says his wife is afraid of Dean? I signed up to post on the forum last night and I read the posts by the people Fineman quotes. I am suprised he didn't quote the joker who went to the section asking women what issues they have and proceeded to tell us in detail what his wife thought and felt. (amazingly she is not a feminist and thinks pretty much like he does, go figure!)Actually it could be the same guy. This is who Fineman chooses to quote, some man speaking for his wife?

On balance this is not such a bad article. I am just giggling here about what is a quotable source.

she shares the opinion that he's too much of a hot head and the matter of him not being able to admit when he's made a mistake that makes him too much like bush for her tastes.

to dismiss and belittle any and all criticism of Dean as if it's irrelevant, stupid or off-base.

The bottom line is that there are many people out here who feel this way. Rather than reject this criticism out of hand - the way many Dean supporters seem to do - you should take heed of it. It's not going to go away, regardless how much you ignore it. And if it's not dealt with soon, it will rear up to bite your guy when it counts most.

this article. As if there was ever any doubt about "Slimeman/Fineman."

The article attacks Dean without giving facts to back up his criticisms about Dean's Vermont Policies or what he views as Dean's ties to Big Business and efforts to conceal some financial scandal about selling shares in a bank. Wouldn't it be great it "Slimeman" would focus on Bush/Cheny and the rest of his buddies in the WH?

It's a nasty, bitchy, meanspirted little rant from "Slimeman" even reading e-mails off the Dean website which were probably written by Repug plants or plants from other campaigns.

This quote of Slimeman's is particularly revealing, as he appears to be "pushing" Clark:

"In any case, Clark has the potential to be Trippi's—and Dean's—worst nightmare, and a comeuppance of a sort as well: a second, fast-closing Web-based outsider who can, in ways Dean cannot, appeal to insiders while at the same time "plugging that hole" Dean has on defense and foreign policy.

"don't seem to be "trolls"—provocateurs in digital disguise"

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3869799/

The political professionals who handle Clark are learning that sometimes the best thing to do with the candidate is to let him be himself. After all, Clark's mantra is "I'm a leader, not a politician." If he lacks a seasoned candidate's carefully honed skill to say nothing well and to avoid controversial answers, then so much the better. Not long ago, a Fox News anchor pointedly asked if Clark was putting down U.S. troops by suggesting that Iraq was a "sideshow" to the more vital war on terrorism. Clark angrily lit into the newscaster for "playing politics with the men and women in uniform." Aghast, Clark's media adviser, Chris Lehane, took him aside and warned him that a national politician could not afford to fly off the handle that way, that the general's diatribe had been "too hot" for TV. Then the Clark campaign noted a sudden spike in campaign contributions. Voters apparently liked his righteous outburst...

There's no way to tell.

Doesn't Rove want Dean?

Isn't Rove protecting Dean?

So why is Rove's mouthpiece tearing Dean down before a single vote has been cast?

damn

Seems pretty accurate and truthful and correct.

What exactly do you find truthful and correct?

Dean's teflon isn't so thick now.

Don't worry, stickdog, you still have Frank Luntz's support for Dean. Once he turns on Dean THEN you'll know the teflon is gone.

The sensationalism in the media never ceases to amaze.

All the sudden some guy's wife from some guy's blog has some MAJOR pull.

Would you love it if Newsweek ran a cover like that about our nominee 2 weeks before the General Election?

of what the write on the internet. They don't call it the "world wide web" for nuttin.'

A lot of Dean supporters were put out that the issue was postponed. I imagine they will be even more put out since it's been issued.

not exactly what you want on newstands right before people start voting

I too have posted a blurb by Fineman, complete with quotes, on Clark. In that light Clark supporters informed me it was from Fineman, it was worthless. heh heh

Julie

party. The damage is done and corporate media is now free to fire at will. I'm sure many of the media whores will wait till Howard Brush Dean III is the nominee before turning on him.

those who voted for it are the ones who created this wedge issue.

Let us place blame squarely where it belongs.

Julie

:thumbsup:

What primaries have you been watching?

Hint for the future: If you plan to post, have SOME idea of the subject matter.

If Fineman recieved permission from the people who made the comments, then perhaps he would know for sure.

I question the practice of journalists using blog or forum entries without permission from the person who posted it. Is every comment considered on the record? Could a journalists use our quotes from DU without permission?

If journalists can indeed do this, then I recommend all the campaign websites post a notice to their posters that what they say can indeed be used, twisted, and distorted to fit whatever image a journalist is attempting to create.

The blogworld has quite a few commentaries about the hack job being done on Dean by the mainstream press. Remember the "Gore Lies" perpetrators? Well, they're back.

First, apparently WVMicko of the Fineman article is not a troll, but a longtime avid Dean supporter and he is ticked off. He sounds off at the Dean blog.

Blogger Needlenose comments on a supposed news article on the Iowa debate by AP writer Calvin Woodward, which opens with this quote: "For a brief time in their debate Sunday, Democrats seemed to be hewing to a New Year's resolution to stick more carefully to the facts on taxes, the budget and more. But old habits die hard."

As the blog points out: "To repeat, that's the lead paragraph of a news article. From the Associated Press, the most mainstream source of news in the United States -- where, apparently, it's now accepted newsroom policy to "objectively" label all Democrats as liars.

And what constitutes a lie, in the view of the AP? Why, even true statements, if they're uttered by a Democratic presidential candidate like Howard Dean:

'He said 60% of Americans got a tax cut of $304 from Bush -- revising a statement in an earlier debate that 60% saved $325. Those cuts appear to be in the ballpark when it comes to the poorest 60% of Americans -- many of whom pay little federal income tax to begin with.' "

The author then goes on to claim that the middle class actually did get substantially higher tax cuts, but only if you pick specific groups of middle class folks, obviously not including the bottom 60%, begging the question of exactly who qualifies as middle class, or what the definition of "is" is.


And dKos takes on AP writer Nedra Pickler, who also wrote about the Iowa debate, but decided to make a few edits in her candidate quotes:

Writes Pickler: "In a feisty, first debate of the election year, Howard Dean drew fire from fellow Democrats on Sunday over trade, terror, taxes and more, then calmly dismissed his rivals as "co-opted by the agenda of George Bush."
"I opposed the Iraq war when everyone else up here was for it," said the former Vermont governor, invoking the issue that helped fuel his 2003 transformation from asterisk in the polls to front-runner."

But in the transcript of the actual debate, Dean didn't misrepresent the positions of his fellow anti-Iraq war candidates. In fact, he specifically credited them: "DEAN: The proper role of the federal government in education is not to pass bills like No Child Left Behind. I have two big policy differences with almost everybody up here. I opposed the Iraq war; with the exception of Dennis and Carol, everybody else supported it."


We have to be ever vigilant DUers. Just because we are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get us. The press has and will continue to distort the words and ideas of our candidates because they by and large all whore for the Republicans. Let us not also become their mouthpieces in some misguided sense of loyalty to a specific candidate. Let us be very circumspect and cautious about what the press says, especially the likes of Howard Fineman!!