Dean Meltdown

[shanek]

This one picture alone will cost him the nomination.

Not as bad as this one will:

 

[Nasarius]

Bush's approval ratings are currently hovering at slightly over 50%, depending on who you ask. I think he'll win, unfortunately, because all the Democrats kinda suck...but no way will it be the sure thing that rik seems to think.
My psychic powers also tell me that Bush will at least lose New York, so he won't get the biggest chunk of electoral votes that 9/11 might have won him.

 

[Ignatius]

Howdy, Mr. Zilla!

But there's one great difference; Bush v Gore was pre-9/11. Here's the post-9/11 reality:

You definately have a point there. Bush seems as invincible as his father was in '92 after a sucessful war gave him overwhelming popular support numbers.

Like I said before, Bush needs to make a very big mistake between now and November for the Dems to have a real shot. If Bush was really beatable, do you think Hillary would sit back and let herself get 4 years older? The Dem candidates now are cannon fodder. A forlorn hope going into the breach without a prayer.
-z

1. I hear the Hillary candidacy brought up by Republicans much more often than I do by any Democrats.

2. It is a loooong time until November. The people that are paying attention now are a small minority. I don't think that it will take a complete meltdown by Bush to lose. This adminstration is exceptional at damage control anyway. A good campaign and strong debates by a Dem candidate could go a long way. Also, think of how many scandals, natural disasters and important world events have happened in the past 10 months. The guy that does a better job appealing to people and talking about these events will probably be the winner, but we don't even know what these events will be yet. Plus, there might be an inherent advantage to the challenger in these situations. The president actually has to respond to these events and try and make a difference (which is not always possible). The challenger can sit back and critique without being responsible for doing anything.

3. There is a good chance that you are right. Bush is strong, Rove is brilliant and you have a lot of powerful forces on your side (right-wing think tanks, large corporate interests, a growing conservative media), but I look at it this way; If I'm stuck in the water five miles from shore knowing that, at best, I can only swim about one mile...I'll still swim because what the hell else am I going to do out there?
[I would smile here but I'm trying to limit my use of those things]

[edited because I can't spell and for some reason my mispellings only bother me after I hit "POST".

 

[aerocontrols]

You definately have a point there. Bush seems as invincible as his father was in '92 after a sucessful war gave him overwhelming popular support numbers.

And now all the Democrats need is for Ross Perot to enter the race and lop off about 19% of the vote.

 

[zakur]

Drudge has got an audio clip of the meltdown:

http://www.drudgereport.com/dean.mp3

 

[Ignatius]

And now all the Democrats need is for Ross Perot to enter the race and lop off about 19% of the vote.

Ha! Right you are (maybe I should give Ross a call and see if he is busy). There could be some other X-factor, though. For the life of me, I can't think of what that might be. Especially one that would siphon off that many votes. That was the point of my later post, though. We don't know what other factors are going to come into play in the next ten months

 

[Kodiak]

The Dems in 04...

Well, Gephardt is out and Lieberman won't be far behind.

Dean took a blow in Iowa, but his tyrades will be meaningless to Dems if he takes New Hampshire (GOPers will use his rants to no end if Dean wins the nomination, though...).

Edwards, Kerry, and Clark = a Gore-clone, a wealthy elitist, and a moderate liberal with military and foreign affairs expertise....

Unlike the dems, who consider Bush the antichrist, it doesn't really matter to me which or even if a democrat was to win the White House in 2004, which I think is more possible than Rikzilla indicates. That said, if I had to pick a Dem, my first choice would be Lieberman (the closest to the right) and my second choice would be Clark (for his qualifications).

 

[Kodiak]

And now all the Democrats need is for Ross Perot to enter the race and lop off about 19% of the vote.

Don't forget about Buchanan in 2000...

 

[Hexxenhammer]

Don't forget about Buchanan in 2000...

Buchanan stole at least one democratic vote. My father-in-law. He's a staunch catholic and voted buchanan because he was the only "true" anti-abortion candidate.

 

[VicDaring]

Originally posted by Kodiak

(GOPers will use his rants to no end if Dean wins the nomination, though...).

Interesting thought.

So who looked more goofy? Dean having some fun cheering up a crowd in Iowa, or Bush playing dressup on the flightdeck of an aircraft carrier?

 

[hgc]

Interesting thought.

So who looked more goofy? Dean having some fun cheering up a crowd in Iowa, or Bush playing dressup on the flightdeck of an aircraft carrier?

Normally you'd have to give it to the raving lunatic, but this picture of Bush (version 2.0, in uniform and w/ enhanced crotch) with Teletubbies is pretty silly.

 

[Ignatius]

Interesting thought.

So who looked more goofy? Dean having some fun cheering up a crowd in Iowa, or Bush playing dressup on the flightdeck of an aircraft carrier?

VicDaring,

That is pretty unfair. Kodiak seemed to be commenting on something that is likely to happen, not necessarily advocating it. What you are doing is, IMO, every bit as wrong as when Republicans hear a criticism of Bush and respond by saying, "Yeah, well Bill Clinton...blah...blah...blah."

 

[Kodiak]

Interesting thought.

So who looked more goofy? Dean having some fun cheering up a crowd in Iowa, or Bush playing dressup on the flightdeck of an aircraft carrier?

Depends on one's opinion, perspective and bias. It is telling though how you describe and characterize each event:

Dean= "having some fun cheering"
Bush= "playing dressup"


Infact, Bush, because he sat in the cockpit, was required to wear that getup.

Did the fact that it was a staged photo-op make any difference? For me, no - that is the way of politics.

I'll tell you what, though. He looked a hell of alot better than Dukhakis (sp?) did in the turrent of that M-1 tank!!

 

[VicDaring]

That is pretty unfair. Kodiak seemed to be commenting on something that is likely to happen, not necessarily advocating it. What you are doing is, IMO, every bit as wrong as when Republicans hear a criticism of Bush and respond by saying, "Yeah, well Bill Clinton...blah...blah...blah."

I think it's a little different, at the very least.

Bush is still in office. If, as Kodiak suggests, that tape becomes a part of the general election campaign, then one could argue that I'm simply suggesting a counter-strategy.

Seriously though, it is a little different when I suggest to a right winger that W. may have exaggerated about WMD & Nukes in Iraq and the response is, "Well, Clinton lied under oath!!!!!!"

I'll tell you what, though. He looked a hell of alot better than Dukhakis (sp?) did in the turrent of that M-1 tank!!

No question about that.

 

[Kodiak]

I couldn't resist!

 

[Ignatius]

I think it's a little different, at the very least.

Bush is still in office. If, as Kodiak suggests, that tape becomes a part of the general election campaign, then one could argue that I'm simply suggesting a counter-strategy.

IF you were stating this as a possible counter-strategy then fair enough. I thought it was coming from left field, but no great harm either way I suppose.

Seriously though, it is a little different when I suggest to a right winger that W. may have exaggerated about WMD & Nukes in Iraq and the response is, "Well, Clinton lied under oath!!!!!!"

So you think it is worse for someone to mislead the country into war than it is for them to lie about Executive Hummers?

ENEMY COMBATANT!

 

[Suddenly]

I'll tell you what, though. He looked a hell of alot better than Dukhakis (sp?) did in the turrent of that M-1 tank!!

That's kind of the rub isn't it?

Americans will elect a lot of things, obvious sex addicts, old B movie actors with less than a clear grasp of the present, ex-cokehead frat-boys, peanut farmers, and crooked used car salesmen (or was Hunter just kidding about Nixon?), but they won't elect a dork.

Bush may have been in context foolish in that he was somewhat wasteful of resources with his photo op, but he didn't look obviously stupid. Big difference.

Dean's rant made the 6 P.M. "Sportscenter" last night, causing ESPN to list their top ten podium related moments. Even Jim Mora's "Playoffs?" and famed "Diddly poo" meltdowns seem more presidential than Dean channelling Hulk Hogan.

Dean did kind of remind me of that "rap" by that poor Florida Marlins player after the world series though, both seemed to have that geographical conquest vibe.... I wonder if Dean can outdance Mark Madsen?

I just hope that the good people of New Hampshire have the sense to drive a stake through this unelectable vampire who will suck the blood out of the party if not immediately stopped. Not that Dean is a bad guy, it's just that he's not good at this, and earnest honesty is nice and all, but moral victories are for suckers.

Then again I've been in court all day so I may be a little harsh about the world. Being awash in absurdity while someone's life is in the balance does that to me, but that is another story...

 

[NoZed Avenger]

I just hope that the good people of New Hampshire have the sense to drive a stake through this unelectable vampire who will suck the blood out of the party if not immediately stopped.

Don't mince words -- what do you really think?

Then again I've been in court all day so I may be a little harsh about the world.

I am hoping for your swift acquittal.

N/A

Sorry - couldn't resist. As another attorney, I know that I should have, but I couldn't -- so sue me.


No, wait.

 

[Frank Newgent]

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Primetime/US/howard_judy_dean_transcript_040122-1.html

I believe we ought to balance the budget and until we can show how to balance the budget, we can't promise people tax cuts. The biggest difference between me and everybody else in this race, including President Bush, who is in some ways acting like the most liberal Democrat you could have because of the borrow and spend, borrow and spend, spend, spend, spend, charge it (Inaudible) credit card the Administration. And but those (Inaudible) everybody else is running, they'll promise you tax cuts, they'll promise you health care, they'll promise you education, they'll promise you help with your college. Now, everybody knows that that's not true and you can't do it. I think the reason 50 percent of the people don't vote in this country is because they know darn well not only is there not much difference between a Republican and a Democrat, but everybody in Washington says one thing at election time and goes back and do something … does something else. The reason I was so successful in (Inaudible) is because I didn't mind giving people bad news. And when they … they'll respect you a lot more as a political leader if you give them bad news straight to their face.

What a nut.