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You are here: Home / Dean on the Mind

Dean on the Mind

by John Cole|  September 20, 20035:33 pm| 12 Comments

This post is in: Democratic Stupidity

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I am no Dean supporter, and I agree that Dean has a problem with gaffe’s, but this criticism from John Kerry is laughable:

Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts today sharply criticized one of the other leading Democrats running for president, Howard Dean, asserting that some of his recent pronouncements show that his “bubble’s bursting a bit.”

Referring to statements by Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, on the Middle East, the Hamas guerrillas and other issues, Mr. Kerry said, “You can’t make 15 gaffes a week and be president.”

Tell that to the rest of your field.

In the WCBS interview, Mr. Kerry implied that many of Dr. Dean’s views would cost him his standing in the polls. “Dean’s been imploding,” he said.

Asked what he meant, Mr. Kerry said Dr. Dean had asserted that the United States should not take sides in the Middle East conflict and that suicide bombers from Hamas were “soldiers.”

Mr. Kerry called those positions “dead wrong.”

“It just catches up,” Mr. Kerry said. “Someone’s going to write it. People will see it. And you know, the poll numbers are going to show it.”

And poll numbers are why Sen. Kerry has vowed to have either no discernable position or every possible position on every issue imagineable. I never thought the day would come that I would pseudo-respect Dick Gephardt, but this field of candidates is doing an admirable job of persuading me he is not a bad man.

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Reader Interactions

12Comments

  1. 1.

    the talking dog

    September 21, 2003 at 10:42 am

    Its a zero sum game; Kerry and Dean are vying for pretty much the same slice of the Democratic base– what Karl would call “the Ph.D. set”. Of the now 6 guys with a shot (Clark, who instantly leads with a 14% approval rating 72 hours after he announced!, Dean, Kerry, Gephardt, Edwards and Lieberman– and I don’t understand Lieberman’s presence at all), it seems clear that Dean and Kerry are most worried about each other (and about Clark, of course, though they have to be careful about him, and let surrogates try to score some jabs).

    I wouldn’t worry about this– I suspect at the end of the game it will be NEITHER Kerry nor Dean as the Democratic nominee (in short– the Democrats WANT TO WIN, so it won’t be Gephardt or Lieberman either).

  2. 2.

    Moe Lane

    September 21, 2003 at 12:36 pm

    “and I don’t understand Lieberman’s presence at all”

    Name recognition coupled with a disinclination to apologize for his early pro-Iraq war views, I’m guessing.

    Not that it’ll get him the nomination, more’s the pity.

  3. 3.

    Emperor Misha I

    September 21, 2003 at 1:24 pm

    Oh, come on, John.

    It’s horribly funny to watch the Donk Dwarf Cage Match

  4. 4.

    Kimmitt

    September 21, 2003 at 1:56 pm

    One of the true joys associated with watching Gov. Dean win will be to go to the Rottweiler and watch the little fascists tear their hair out because the President will not share their ideals of arbitrary detention, poverty for the majority of American citizens, fiscal irresponsibility, and foreign policy based on petulance.

    This world truly does offer a number of pleasures to those careful to appreciate them.

  5. 5.

    Robin Roberts

    September 21, 2003 at 5:22 pm

    Arbitrary detention is a Democrat ideal, Kimmitt. Learn some history.

  6. 6.

    Marc

    September 21, 2003 at 8:01 pm

    John,

    I wonder what you think of Dick Gephardt’s attack website for Dean? http://www.deanfacts.com

    Gephardt has really gone down the black hole of negative politics in my opinion. Not to mention that the site consists of out-of-context quotes (with no links to the sources for a reader who actually wants to find out the context) and twisting of the facts that I would only expect of Limbaugh.

    Most of the candidates have run positive campaigns and those candidates are the only ones who retain my respect. This includes CMB, Graham, Dean, and Edwards (with the exception of one slip up a couple weeks ago).

    I don’t know what I’ll have to do if I’m forced to vote for a Lieberman, Kerry, or Gephardt.

  7. 7.

    HH

    September 21, 2003 at 11:34 pm

    Dean has peaked… but the audio of Kerry saying “Dean Dean Dean” is funny.

  8. 8.

    Kimmitt

    September 22, 2003 at 1:20 am

    Arbitrary detention is a Democrat ideal, Kimmitt. Learn some history.

    Way to obfuscate the issue with a fifty-year-old historical reference. “A Democratic President did it during WWII, so we must not be doing it now!” Or something.

  9. 9.

    Emperor Misha I

    September 22, 2003 at 8:26 am

    How ’bout “we didn’t remove Saddam 12 years ago when we should have, so it’s immoral and wrong to do so now”, Kimmitt?

    Did somebody say that irony was dead? Seems to be alive and well.

  10. 10.

    Eric Lindholm

    September 22, 2003 at 8:56 am

    On the Chris Matthews show, Howard Fineman (Newsweek) said (paraphrasing), that Kerry wishes his campaign was “imploding” like Dean’s. Heh-heh.

  11. 11.

    Robin Roberts

    September 22, 2003 at 11:06 am

    Actually not merely WWII. FDR’s racist detentions during WWII are well known – although Kimmitt likes to pretend their insignificance. But Woodrow Wilson’s administration saw real suppression of dissent through criminal prosecution of political opponents. We could also cite the Truman administration’s actions during the Korean War – albeit a lesser example.

    In a historical sense, President Bush’s administration is among the most “liberal” wartime administration with respect to civil liberties. A concept too sophisticated for the partisan hydrophobics.

  12. 12.

    Kimmitt

    September 22, 2003 at 3:03 pm

    Wait, you’ve replaced a 50-year-old example with a 90-year old example. I submit that both Parties have changed since 1917; for example, neither of them currently oppose female suffrage.

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