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Dean's Yells, Where's Judy?, Go Edwards, and Duh!
First-off, lets talk about Dean's now-infamous yell in his Iowa concession speech (if you didn't catch this, Dean concluded his speech after the Iowa caucus with a rapid, rumbling, and excited yell). The media is all over this--how its ruined him in the polls , how people think he's crazy, etc (read Howard Kurtz' media roundup for more info). C'mon. The guy was excited, tired, and trying to rally his tired troops with a lively speech. I'd suggest critiquing his positions on the issues instead of his guttural noises.
Second, have you caught any of this blathering questioning Dean's fitness for the presidency because his wife isn't around enough? Article after article appeared before and after Iowa about Judith Steinberg Dean--who is she, why doesn't she wear makeup?, where's her jewelry?, why doesn't she campaign 24/7 with Howard?, how can she be that busy?, what does it all mean?, etc, etc. The woman is a doctor with a high school teenager at home. Whats she supposed to do? Spouses can have different interests and responsibilties, and its refreshing to see a man seeking the white house that is comfortable enough with equality that he doesn't need his wife cheerleading behind him like a prop.
There are definitely some truths to Dean's claims of media bias over the last few weeks. Howard and Judith talked on ABC Primetime Thursday after the debate tonight to try and smooth out some of these issues. I caught a bit of this, and Judy Dean comes across as a regular, intelligent woman that supports her spouse, and has her own life. When asked what she would do with all the media scrutiny of her hair and clothes that would occur in the white house, she said it just really wasn't that important, and that Howard's actions would overshadow her unfancy hair. Let's hope her high expectations of the media are accurate. I'm not so sure.
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I correctly predicted John Edwards' 2nd place Iowa finish last week, and I like him more every time I see him speak.
First, he gave some very clear answers on the gun issue. He wants to extend the Brady assault weapons ban when it expires next year, close the gunshow loophole, and wants to require trigger locks. He clearly stated his support of the 2nd ammendment, but wants to keep guns out of the hands of convicted criminals. Frankly, it was refreshing for a candidate to come out so clear on a divisive issue (more on this later due to congress passing new NRA-backed gun laws today).
Second, is that he's clearly the most telegenic of the democratic candidates. I don't care much about looks, but being afraid everyone else does care, I pay attention to this.
Kerry, on the other hand, isn't that great on TV, but did fine overall. No big plus or minus for him in tonight's performance.
Dean was a bit apologetic and calm, did a good job, and I'd predict a boost in the polls for him.
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Finally, why don't Dean and Kucinich realize the obvious best response to anyone who questions their postitions against the Iraq war resolution? What they have to remind everyone of is that all the US needed to do was wait a few more *weeks* before the 'shock and awe.' France, Germany, the U.N. and others only wanted a bit more time to continue the ongoing weapons inspections. At that point nothing had been found and all signs led them to believe there was nothing to find. Had Bush waited, he either would have had a broad, international, U.N.-led coalition in Iraq that shared the financial and death burdens of war, or we would have been satisfied that sanctions, etc., had been effective and war would have been avoided. In that case, we'd now have an additional 500 Americans, 10000 Iraqis, continued international support, and an extra 150+ billion dollars.
Posted on January 22, 2004 09:44 PM