I Have a Huge Amount of Respect for Voters
“They're going to do whatever they do and I'm going to accept their verdict because that's how democracy works. And then the day after New Hampshire, we're going to go to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and New Mexico.”
On Howard Dean’s big “Comeback Night” this is the line I thought we needed most to hear again.
It came near the end of the Diane Sawyer interview. I think it defines what went wrong, and what still may be wrong with Dean Nation.
Persuasion is seduction. You’re trying to sell to cynical customers. I think many people failed to take “yes” for an answer in Iowa, and some may be failing today to take “no” for an answer in New Hampshire.
If you’re working on the campaign this weekend, you’re a salesman. The best say the product sells itself. Howard Dean proved again last night he is his own best salesman. You need to trust that, but also trust your customers as well. Don’t argue. Smile. Listen. As in Dean’s “Top 10” list last night, switch to decaf.
Even with his big Iowa bump, John Kerry didn’t get far ahead of us. Now we’ve gotten a bump. On Tuesday, I think, Howard Dean will be the Comeback Kid.
But as we work toward that moment, and the moments to come a week later, you’ve got to have faith that the voters will see what we’re selling, compare it to what else is on the Democratic shelf, and make the right choice. And if they don’t, we also have to respect that choice.
On Howard Dean’s big “Comeback Night” this is the line I thought we needed most to hear again.
It came near the end of the Diane Sawyer interview. I think it defines what went wrong, and what still may be wrong with Dean Nation.
Persuasion is seduction. You’re trying to sell to cynical customers. I think many people failed to take “yes” for an answer in Iowa, and some may be failing today to take “no” for an answer in New Hampshire.
If you’re working on the campaign this weekend, you’re a salesman. The best say the product sells itself. Howard Dean proved again last night he is his own best salesman. You need to trust that, but also trust your customers as well. Don’t argue. Smile. Listen. As in Dean’s “Top 10” list last night, switch to decaf.
Even with his big Iowa bump, John Kerry didn’t get far ahead of us. Now we’ve gotten a bump. On Tuesday, I think, Howard Dean will be the Comeback Kid.
But as we work toward that moment, and the moments to come a week later, you’ve got to have faith that the voters will see what we’re selling, compare it to what else is on the Democratic shelf, and make the right choice. And if they don’t, we also have to respect that choice.
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