The Speech

I've seen the coverage of Howard Dean's concession speech yesterday, covered on CBS and NBC with the headline "Dean Scene," and with all the talking heads commenting on how awful it was. Now, IMHO, it was not a smart thing for Dean to do that on national television. It was probably worse for his campaign than the third place finish. I'll say it reminded me of a Homecoming pep rally when the old returning alumnus gets up there and tries to be cool, but seriously isn't. But first of all, it wasn't angry, it was just determination to move forward. He was laughing and smiling during it. And it strikes me as really unfair that if Kerry can ride on-stage on a Harley on a TV show, Dean can't get a bit wild at a campaign rally. Yes, it was overboard, but I have to question whether it's really worth all the attention it's getting.

The fact is, anger is Dean's press meme. Al Gore was seen as an exaggerator, and therefore every slight exaggeration of an achievement or joke or rumor thereof got to be big news. George W. Bush is seen as somewhat illiterate, and therefore every minor grammatical slip gets passed around and mocked by people who have probably seldom had to give a lecture much less keep up political levels of public speaking. Howard Dean is now seen as angry, and every time he fails to speak in a monotone, it will be news. He should have thought of that. But he didn't.

And I feel bad about that, because he was instead thinking of his supporters. And I for one want to make sure he doesn't lose this election on our account.

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