Dean's Slide

[liberalmike27]

There is nothing more laughable than a bunch of pundits discussing why Dean's poll numbers have dropped. Here they are, the bunch responsible for a steady stream of negative attacks, intensified as the race came closer to fruition, almost never covering the good things he's done with his life, just constant negatives. And they sit up there, discussing what Dean did that caused his numbers to drop. I mean it nears the most disgusting behavior I've ever seen, and I really wonder how they can keep a straight face. I know the negative coverage is inspired by editors, and managers, and perhaps the journalists are sometimes more liberal, but can they possibly be so stupid that they don't actually know that their coverage is what caused Deans numbers to drop? Is it possible they don't understand that the whole idea behind all of Dean's negative attention was to destroy his numbers? I'm just amazed! Wow.

I guess more important, do you believe they are ignorant to the fact that they are responsible for destroying Dean's Iowa numbers?

[Melodybe]

1. i don't think that Dean is losing popularity in Iowa, i honestly think it

is hogwash. Dean supporters are a very dedicated bunch and they don't jump ship. Sure there might be a fairweather supporter here or there but, honestly we get called Koolaid drinkers for pete's sake. Do the pundints actually think we will switch candidates b/c of some bad polls? Ha, it will make us work twice as hard!

[candy331]

6. I don't believe Deans numbers

have slid. It is the media and their dirt that is sliding to fool people into not voting for the winner, that's all. Of course we shall see on Monday night but I am on the web more now than watching the news because it is designed for excitement not fact telling.

[mzmolly]

2. Nope they love it, makes em feel powerful. Look at this recent report

Study: Network News Criticizes Dean Most

LOS ANGELES - Howard Dean (news - web sites) received significantly more criticism on network newscasts than the other Democratic presidential contenders, who were the subjects of more favorable coverage, according to a study released Thursday.

More than three-quarters of the coverage of Dean's foes by the nightly news programs was favorable, while a majority of attention to Dean was negative, the Center for Media and Public Affairs found.

The study by the Washington-based media watchdog also found that network attention to the campaign was down by 62 percent compared to the last race involving an incumbent president, in 1996.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=716&e=5&u=/ap/20040116/ap_on_el_pr/tv_news_democrats

They love it. Dean wants to break up the media monopoly's and that's another reason they :scared: him.

[hellhathnofury]

3. They're just hyping a slide because our internals probably show us up.

Some of the latest polls are outright fishy or misleading.

[mbali]

4. Yep, the entire media establishment is picking on Dean

Dean's rise in the polls, of course, had nothing to do with favorable media coverage - that was all people driven. But now that his numbers are stalling, it's all the fault of the press.

Funny how the same journalists who slavishly and uncritically hung on his every word for the last year and are largely responsible for his front-runner status, suddenly decided to turn on him and orchestrated a concerted attack on him in the last week.

Do you think they had a meeting about this to coordinate their strategy or did they coordinate by email or maybe a secret code?

Jeez.

[Kahuna]

5. Remember. Dean insulted Iowans and their caucases.. Could that..

be the reasons that Iowans are reconsidering their support?

[Bread and Circus]

7. I wondered about that.

[mbali]

8. No, no, no, no - nothing is Dean's fault

He's the innocent victim of a vindictive press and jealous adversaries. He can't help it if the people in Iowa aren't smart enough to see through the trickery.

:-)

[auburnblu]

12. Just a little sarcasm there perhaps n/t

[okieinpain]

9. the reason why his numbers are dropping is because of the

constant negative drum beat from the "liberal" media. if it's not some repug calling him "mean" and "angry", there is some dem calling dean "mean" and "angry".

actually this is a good test run for bushco, just imagine how much negative news you can buy with 300 million, hell even "clark/dean/kerry/gephardt/liberman/sharpton/kunich/edwards" own mother would not vote for them. hell you could probably talk people into not liking jesus with 300 million talking for you.

[Toucano]

10. Now there's an idea!

...you could probably talk people into not liking jesus with 300 million talking for you.

:think:

[hellhathnofury]

13. I think I'll try.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mbali]

14. Yep - it's all one big conspiracy

Poor, poor Howard Dean. What a victim he is.

Too bad he wasn't clever enough to stop the press from forcing on him all of that wall-to-wall favorable press coverage he's gotten in the last year, since it was all just an elaborate set-up.

[HFishbine]

30. Reality Distortion

In an interview with a group of Iowa voters on Harball last night, one gentleman said he used to be for Dean but now he's for Kerry. He said he changed his mind when he found out that Dean voted for the war.

[Adjoran]

15. Maybe Dean could ask

Terry McAuliffe to make them stop?

The only time a frontrunner is treated nicely by his opponents is when he's got it pretty well clinched. That's politics.

The media is the same. It's the way they work. These reporters are stuck with the campaign for the next several months. Long weeks away from home, staying in hotels, eating bad food, and running after a candidate. They want the race to be interesting so they aren't bored shitless by April, so they always try to take the frontrunner down a peg or two to give the others a chance to prolong the contest. It's not a nefarious plot, either, it's the nature of the beast.

And there is reason behind it, too. A guy who leaps to the front of the pack gets a lot more attention than an also-ran. There are more reporters following Dean than were with Moseley-Braun. They can't all report the same boring stuff or their editors will demote them to covering Lieberman for punishment, so they have to dig up something interesting on the frontrunner, or goad him into a mistake. It's been true of every contested primary in the modern era.

[mbali]

17. So it's NOT a vast media conspiracy to get Dr. Dean?

[bigtree]

16. what do you think the effect is for the other candidates

when the bulk of their storyline is how can they stop Gov. Dean. It's not like all they did was talk about the governor. But that's what was featured.

Gov. Dean's polling lead was mostly a reflection of the media coronation attempt. More equal focus on the candidates with their records and positions getting airplay (finally!) is bound to tighten the race. Also, there is still 15% polling undecided. That vote normally tends to fall away from the front runner.

[mbali]

18. Dean Dean Dean Dean

It had to be very frustrating for the other candidates to have all of the coverage framed around Dean. Reminds me of a scene in "Beaches" in which Bette Midler is going on and on about herself and then says, "Well, enough about me. Let's talk about you. What do YOU think of me?"

That's what the press coverage has been like. Practically every interview with the non-Dean candidates seemed to go like this: "Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean. Oh, well, enough about Dean. Let's talk about you. What do YOU think of Dean?"

[Leilani]

23. What is truly ironic

is that an awful ot of people were assuming this thing was a done deal.

Not one vote has been cast.

The only polls that count are those at the end of the vote, & no one has voted. So much of the support in the polls is people who really haven't focused yet, or the support is soft.

This thing may change 10 more times. But the voters will decide.

[WillyT]

19. Dean's Slide... Dem's Slide... Country's Slide... Weeeeeeeeeee !!!

:shrug:

Out of the 400,000 enthusiastic participants in the Dean campaign, how many ya figure are gonna walk away in disgust???

I'm not, but then again...

How close was the 2000 election, and just what can we afford to toss away this time???

:shrug:

[Dookus]

20. well...

the implication of that argument is that we're making a mistake if any candidate other than Dean wins.

But if another candidate actually WINS the primaries, how is that wrong? How are we hurting the party? We're nominating the person we want.

Dean isn't owed the nomination.

[bigtree]

22. I mean that it looks like this thing is just now starting

unless you actually believe that Gov. Dean really is 20 or so points ahead of his rivals. :eyes:

[mbali]

21. We can say that about any group who doesn't get everything they want

For example, whenever I've seen it suggested here that African Americans aren't happy with a particular candidate, the response has been something along the lines of "they really won't have much choice, will they?" Why is it that the party can't afford to risk alienating Dean supporters but disgusted black voters are treated with a shrug and a suggestion to just get over it?

[Melodybe]

25. Actually we are running at about 576,000, yay Dean!

[Kahuna]

27. 576k? A lot of people have long ago abandoned Dean for other..

candidates. A great deal of them for Clark. They are still included in that number. I guarantee you, that number is inflated.

[adadem]

35. I wonder that, too

I asked to be removed from the list when I switched camps and I'm still getting bombarded - not email anymore - snail mail.

[Walt Starr]

41. Could you please provide a source to support your assertion

Thank You

[Kahuna]

28. If more people want Dean he will win. If they don't he will lose.

That's how elections work.

[GalleryGod]

37. MOST if not all.

And-of course-they'll take their ball with them.:argh:

[Adjoran]

24. Wait a minute

Some people act as if Dean had the nomination, and it has been stripped away.

I've never seen Dean higher than about 30% in national polls of Democrats. It takes 50% + 1 of delegates to win the nomination, and we aren't even to the first of the public selection events yet.

You either have enough delegates to win, or you aren't the nominee. That's the way the system works. There aren't any bonus points or automatic nominations for bringing new people into the party, unless you bring enough in to win outright. If you don't, you can't fairly claim that anything is being taken from you unfairly.

When I select a candidate, I will hope he wins, because I've anguished greatly over who is the best chance to beat Bush. But if he doesn't, I will still vote for, and do as much else as I can for, the nominee.

Because I'm a Democrat.

IMHO, those who say, "It's my guy or the highway" aren't Democrats. Democrats get behind a candidate because they think he is best for the country AND the party. It's not about the candidate, it's about America.

[Kahuna]

26. Well! Al Gore said he had it. Dean said he had it. He said..

the other candidates should stop attacking him because afterall, somebody's gotta win this thing. Tom Harkin says Dean is the second coming of Truman. Until the audience laughed at Dean saying "in his sixth or seventh term" at the Iowa debate, Dean was prepared to announce a "kitchen cabinet."

[PassingFair]

31. Hey, I saw that debate...

and you and others who characterize Dean's comic set-up and his being "laughed at" must have a very rudimentary sense of humor. He was responding to another candidate's statement that anyone who tells you when the budget will be balanced is talking trash.
Dean says something like, By the way, I'll balance the budget in the 6th or 7th year of my term. At first, the audience didn't get it, then they began chuckling, and Dean said "What?" Classic comic set-up.

P.S. I'm preparing to announce my Kitchen Cabinets will be Harvest Gold.

[Kahuna]

44. Yeah. Sher babe.

x(

[robbedvoter]

32. yeah, where is that kitchen, anyway?

Media war on Dean? Hmmm. Let's see.
HD says OBL should be presumed innocent - AP publishes (on the net). Furor ensues, HD goes to AP, "clears it up" and AP RETRACTS THE STORY Never existed. Only one Daily News reporter catches it and chronicles the odissey:
http://Blog.forclark.com/story/2003/12/27/205235/36
So, again, gaffe after gaffe after gaffe - ignored by the media as Clark is raked daily over the first day of campaign "flip -flop" (i.e - inability to talk in sound bytes). Yeah. Poor HD was surely mistreated by the media.
I was at a press conference Clark had in Harlem. First FIVE questions were about HD. "I am not a specialist in HD, let me tell you about bush". Time after time after time. poor HD! never stood a chance...:nopity:

[Hep]

29. We know that the media are clowns

Why anyone lets their words get to them is beyond me.

[robbedvoter]

34. I agree with you 100% on this. Problem is, HD kinda believed it.

Neocons were writing: "Democrats attack Dean" Missing the glee and the desire to demean the dems in those headlines, HD will just repeat it: "Democrats attack me"
Of course then it begged the question: WTF ARE YOU?
The entire "non-transferrable" boo-boo (much responsible for the slide) -both of them - was due to HD believing the press. Huge mistake BTW. The media loaned him some teflon - he thought he owned it.

[9119495]

33. Check this out!!

A friend of mine told me about an analysis of Dean's coverage. Other candidates were getting approximately 79% positive coverage while Dean has been getting only 49% positive coverage. I'm searching for the link right now and I'll repost when I find it.

[mmonk]

36. The truth may be hard to sort out

until Monday. Drama plays into TV ratings.

[Orangepeel]

38. What's happening to Dean will happen to any candidate in the lead

and it will happen to our candidate, whoever that should be, in the general election.

If Dean can survive this onslaught and still finishes first or second in Iowa and first in NH, then it's a good sign he'll be able to survive the onslaught that will come at him in the general election.

If he doesn't, and someone else is the nominee, I sure hope they'll be able to withstand it when it happens to them (and it will happen to them).

[Snivi Yllom]

39. the media LOVES

building and destroying candidates. Media Whore Kingmakers have God complexes.

[joefree1]

40. Same technique for Clinton, read this 1992 article

>>Ominous Polls:
A look at the Gallup polls over the past few months show why Democrats are becoming increasingly nervous about putting Clinton at the head of their ticket.
In a head-to-head match up on March 20, Bush led by only 52-43 percent and Clinton was indeed within striking range. But as the weekly disclosures took their toll during the ensuing primaries, Clinton's margin fell to 54-38 percent on March 29 and then fell further to 54-34 by the beginning of April.
Edit ...
"The negatives are forming on Bill Clinton like a political stalactite, drop by drop," said veteran Democratic consultant David Sawyer. "Each drip leaves a residue that builds on his negative image."
Edit ...
Quayle campaign committee, "We're following the Napoleonic maxim: Never interfere with the enemy when they are in the process of destroying themselves."<<
http://www.worldandi.com/public/1992/june/cr6.cfm

"If you have no enemies, it is a sign fortune has forgot you."
- Thomas Fuller (1608 - 1661)

[candy331]

42. Joefree1 thank you, thank you,

for posting this article. If anyone doesn't think the media is controlling what goes on in this race and what is going in America needs to get their heads examined. I am new on the political scene and a first time voter but what excuse is it for people who have been keeping up with politics for a many years to be suckered in by what the media is doing now? This among many other articles like it should be required reading because the media counts on the public to have a short term memory.

[Logansquare]

43. Yes, remember that Clinton didn't exactly have either the nomination

or the general election sewn up in '92. He had to fight negative publicity and downright smears, and charges that an unknown governor from a small state wouldn't have a shot at the presidency.

[laruemtt]

45. to the "pundits"

the election process is a "show" they put on with music, giggles, little witty sayings (they think). the hell with the truth. wish we could muzzle them and have a real "news" channel. where's the liberal station we're supposed to be getting? msnbc and cnn should be called Entertainment Today/Tonight as that is the level of what they "report." uggghhhhh.