"Playing 'whack-a-mole'" (Repugs admit media brought down Dean)

[robcon]

Even the right wing seems to admit that the media killed the Dean primary campaign. The Washington Times article shows a three part attempt to nominate kerry instead of Dean...

Playing 'whack-a-mole'

"...There was basically a three-pronged attack to the media destruction of the Dean campaign. First, there were generic "Howard Dean is dropping and John Kerry is rising in the Iowa polls" stories. These became popular in December 2003, when Mr. Dean was up nearly 30 percent and Mr. Kerry was, by all accounts, "dead in the water." Each story then created a self-fulfilling prophecy. Next, and most damaging, was the salvo fired by NBC News on Jan. 8, 2004, just 11 days before the Iowa Caucus. It was on that night that NBC aired the "unearthed" clips of Mr. Dean from a Canadian news show titled "The Editors." From 1996 until 2002, Mr. Dean had made some 90 appearances on a program that also aired regularly on PBS stations here in the United States.

Just by coincidence, of course, NBC happened to show a clip of Mr. Dean criticizing the Iowa caucuses four years earlier. In part, Mr. Dean said, "If you look at the caucuses system, they are dominated by the special interests in both parties." Not shocking, but NBC knew full well that by airing that particular comment just days before the Iowa Caucus, they were going to affect the race. And affect it they did. To be expected, Mr. Kerry, Richard Gephardt and John Edwards all went after Mr. Dean hammer-and-tong for his "insult" to the good voters of Iowa. Next, the talking heads in the Iowa media played "whack-a-mole" with Mr. Dean. So much so that just a few days later, the 11-point lead Mr. Dean had enjoyed over Mr. Kerry had become a one-point Kerry lead.

The third prong in the media onslaught against Mr. Dean was the most memorable, and, by far, the most destructive. It was the tape of Mr. Dean's understandably dazed "I have a scream" speech on Iowa caucus night. With the critical New Hampshire primary just one week away — in a state that in late 2003, neighboring Sen. Kerry had been only polling in the single digits — the national and local media decided to finish off Mr. Dean's campaign. They did so by playing Mr. Dean's "I have a scream" remarks more than 600 times during that one-week span in New Hampshire. Mr. Dean was done, and the voters of New Hampshire settled on the recently exhumed Mr. Kerry..."

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20050123-100614-1880r.htm

[imenja]

1. The Nation had an article on this general issue

several months back, sometime in the summer. The author (Eric Alterman perhaps?) discussed conversations he had with other journalists who expressed their glee at bringing Dean down.

[KurtNYC]

12. Found this

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040112&s=alterman

Washington Goes to War (with Howard Dean)

In its self-appointed role as semiofficial punditocracy politburo, the Washington Post editorial board issued what ABC News's The Note properly termed "a button-popping, eye-bugging anti-Dean editorial" that it undoubtedly hoped would serve as Dean's political death sentence. Expressing editorial shock and awe over Dean's unarguably accurate observation that Saddam Hussein's capture left the United States no safer than before, Post editors termed the candidate's views to be "not just unfounded but ludicrous" and complained of his "departure from the Democratic mainstream...

[imenja]

23. I think this was the one--media delights in bringing Dean down

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040308&s=greider

Dean's Rough Ride
by William Greider The Nation, Feb. 19, 2004


comment | Posted February 19, 2004

Dean's Rough Ride
by William Greider

Print this article
E-mail this article
Write to the editors
Take Action Now!

"In forty years of observing presidential contests, I cannot remember another major candidate brutalized so intensely by the media, with the possible exception of George Wallace. Howard Dean contributed some fatal errors of his own, to be sure, but he also brought fresh air and new ideas, a crisp call to revitalize the Democratic Party and at least the outlines of deeper political and economic reforms. The reporters, as surrogate agents for Washington's insider sensibilities, blew him off. Dean's big mistake was in not recognizing, up front, that the media are very much part of the existing order and were bound to be hostile to his provocative kind of politics. To be heard, clearly and accurately, he would have had to find another channel.

For the record, reporters and editors deny that this occurred. Privately, they chortle over their accomplishment. At the Washington airport I ran into a bunch of them, including some old friends from long-ago campaigns, on their way to the next contest after Iowa. So, I remarked, you guys saved the Republic from the doctor. Yes, they assented with giggly pleasure, Dean was finished--though one newsmagazine correspondent confided the coverage would become more balanced once they went after Senator Kerry. Only Paul Begala of CNN demurred. "I don't know what you're talking about," Begala said, blank-faced. Nobody here but us gunslingers. "

[Goldeneye]

2. Well this should reignite some intereseting flame wars.

I like Dean and Kerry (and most of the candidates for the 2003 primary for that matter), and I have to say this makes me feel extremely gross. I hate the corporate media.:nuke:

[Guns Aximbo]

3. The media is Biased

and you'll NEVER hear this reported in detail.

[BlueEyedSon]

4. Well.... DUH! They feared Dean. He would not have had the easily

exploitable vulnerabilities that Kerry had during the election (war flip-flop & SBVFT).

The RW picked the Dem they knew they could destroy later, via media smears.

[Eurobabe]

5. I take exception to the snarky last line of this editorial

Dean doesn't NEED the party to "throw him a bone," -- screw that -- Dean is the best person for the job, and he will get the position on his own merits, not as some consolation prize. 'Nuff said.

[AndyTiedye]

6. And They'll Do It Again Next Time

They'll just re-run all the same stuff they ran last year
if Dean looks like a threat.

For Kerry, they'll trot out the Swift Boat liars again.

They'll trash any Democrat who looks like a threat.

[roenyc]

8. do you think it helps that our candidates tear the hell

out of each other during the primary are salivating when a candidate as qualified as dean is thrown off the ticket by like this.

sometimes i wonder if anyone cares whats best for the party. guess it was thought kerry was best.

like you said though they would have done the same to dean. i could hear it now. "what is he gonna do fight the terrir ist with antibiotics?"

[ladjf]

10. The Republicans would be very pleased to see Kerry nominated

in 2008. Look for media cooperation with that possibility.

[jswordy]

7. That's a smokescreen. What killed Dean's campaign...

...was that he and Trippi let it be taken over by the so-called Far Left. They both saw how much money the Far Lefties would donate by Internet, that group having been out in the cold politically so long, and cozied up to them for their cash.

But they got a little too close to the Left for comfort when it came to the rank and file Dems, and that allowed the "too liberal" label to stick when Kerry trotted it out pre-Iowa (Kerry's slogan then, while pasting on the too liberal label, was: "Date Dean but Marry Kerry.")

At the same time, the DLC/DNC-supported candidacy of Wes Clark took some of the anti-war wind out of Dean's sails, and a last ditch scrabble by Gephardt to bring down Dean, win Iowa and stay in the race diverted Dean campaign attention and funds. Then Trippi's ill advised "pep up the troops" speech turned into "The Scream." It was all over after that, and that is really the only place the media coverage could be said to have unfairly negatively impacted Dean.

Ironically, Dean's record is a moderate one, not a "too liberal" one. Yet these same forces are again at play in his run for the DNC chair, where a "stop Dean" movement is now so visible that the media is reporting on it using those very words. Once again, Dean is being painted as too liberal for the party, when nothing could be farther from the truth.

What he really is, is too much of a change agent for the entrenched party pols. It will be interesting to see what happens, whether Bill and Hillary win (again) and continue to dominate the party's direction, or Howard wins and the party takes a new direction.

[ladjf]

11. Philosophically, Dean was an outsider to the the established

Demo Party leadership. He was a threat to both them and the Pubs. No established politicos wanted him. Are you kidding? Why would they. It was much safer to run Kerry against Bush. They were frat brothers from the "Skull and Bones". What a scam! The S&K couldn't lose. They must have had lots of fun with that.

The coup is over. The only question is, is there a way to carry out
a successful counter coup?

[blm]

18. Philosophically, Dean is a centrist. He believes in centrism still, he

just has a greater awareness of the left and has embraced some of its passion and some of its language.

I think this will serve him well to unite the party as DNC chair. It's just a matter of the media and some of his supporters telling the truth about Dean AND about other Democrats....Dean is NOT too liberal, and is NOT against centrism, and does NOT plan some sort of tsunami against the centrists, especially since he happens to be one.

It's the fairy tales spun about Dean that are his greatest obstacle. Other Dems are reacting to those media perceptions when they doubt Dean.

[Southsideirish]

17. The "Hill and Bill" path leads nowhere. Howard is the salvation

of the moribund and cowardly Democratic Party.

Typically, its "inside the bloated and isolated Beltway" leaders are too selfish and myopic to accept that fact.

[michaelwb]

26. All I need to know

All I need to know is that "Hill & Bill" camp get along with Bush and can socialize comfortably with them - but that fear and hate Dean.

That alone puts me in the Dean camp.

[Demeter]

21. There Is No Far Left Left!

The Far Left is a boogey man of the 60's: robbing banks and blowing up things for revolution's sake. Anyone who has a handle on Reality is called Far Left these days, if only because he's not running with the Denial of Reality pack. Spare us the Big Lie of the GOP!

[robcon]

9. I think the "Kerry is electable, Dean is not" meme came up.

The media decided that Dean had to go.

[AndyTiedye]

16. Dean Threatened To Break Up the Big Media Corps

They don't take too kindly to that sort of thing.

[wabeewoman]

24. That's what I remember

it was a big saying here on DU-Anybody but bush became Only Kerry can beat bush. I don't think it would have turned out different but I would have enjoyed the fire from Dean. He has a way to turn a phase and even the repugs go, oh, yeah.... Dean didn't 'play the game' and he was obviously a threat to those in power. We almost had our revolution and what a different world it would be.

[blm]

13. This is more horseshit to divide the left AGAIN. The media tried to knock

off Kerry first and THEN Dean when they figured Kerry was dead in the water. Not ONE media pundit said Kerry would win...not ONE.

What made the difference in Iowa was Kerry's coalition of veterans and firefighters and his constant accessibility. He answered every question asked of him at every town hall. He never stopped.

The numbers on the ground NEVER matched what the media was reporting. Kerry workers said they always had more support on the ground than the media was reporting.

So, WHY was the media over-reporting Dean's numbers and under-reporting Kerry's? To keep the left divided and wasting ammo on each other.

You would think that more of you would recognize that the Moonie Times exists for only ONE reason. To enable the BFEE's fascist goals. It's part of their regular exercise program to keep stirring up shit on the left. They read Dem forums and distill what's believed there and manipulate it into articles like the one posted.

They also use this to try to paint the media as in control of the Democratic powerstructure to distract from and cover for the fact that most of the media is under direct GOP control.

[Gman]

14. Sounds like the WaTimes is purposely trying to drive a wedge

into the Democratic Party with this story. "Even the right wing seems to admit that the media killed the Dean primary campaign.", while the right wing goes, "heh, heh, heh!".

[TomClash]

15. Don't blame the Media - Here's a Flash -

The internet is a wonderful thing but, as creative as he is, Joe Trippi forgot the most basic rule of politics: all politics is local. The Dean campaign on the ground in Iowa was a bunch of high school and college kids who didn't know politics - they didn't even get their young friends to the caucuses. Kerry had Kennedy and Vilsack people - he had people who know how to run a campaign on the ground. Same thing in NH - Kerry had Shaheen and Kennedy people - Dean had three dogs and a whistle.

It was a lot like those armchair Generals and intellectuals who ride the TV circuit talking about tactics and strategy. Those things don't do much good if your Division doesn't show up for the battle.

[underpants]

19. Sorry not buyingit-US News & World Report did the definite article on Iowa

Can't find a link but here is a recap:

The only people, at the end, who didn't know Kerry was going to win Iowa or weren't willing to say it out loud was the press. Both camps knew it.

The problems with the Dean campaign were:
Trippi was so beholden to the internet that any whim posted on the Dean boards was actually paid attention to. Sure it sounds great but that is no way to run a campaign. Also the Dean volunteers didn't fit in very well with the Iowans but more importantly they were given quotas to meet weekly. A 1 is a lock for Dean....a 5 is a lock for someone else-it was the writer's opinion (and sources inside the Dean campaign) that the volunteers either counted 2's and 3's (middle undecided) as 1's or they fill out false cards to meet the quota. In the end Dean was spending money like an Arab teenager including boxes and boxes of cell phones that were never used.

The Kerry campaign was in deep trouble but John mortgaged his part of their house and they brought in an "Iowa expert" --Whorley? Whirley? something like that. One of the experts key decisions was to get a helicopter for Kerry, it not only made travel time decrease it reminded people of Vietnam and anything that reminded people of Vietnam worked for Kerry in Iowa.

Also they got the support of an Italian American guy (name?) who basically was the political boss of the sizeable Italian-American committe in Des Moines (news to me). This individual had teams of guys who would go door to door on election day and collect votes (Iowans can vote absentee for any reason). When Gore needed 2,000 more votes in 2000 they called this guy and they went out and "found" the votes needed. Prior to 2000 Iowa changed their rules and required all absentee ballots to be notarized so all of his guys became notaries. Usually this group of voters didn't take part in the caucuses because they took to long. This guy said his people would go to caucuses if they were kept under an hour-they were.

Again the only people who didn't know Kerry was going to win was the press or at least they didn't admit it possibly because they wouldn't have a competition, a product to sell.

[blm]

20. And so WHY is the Moonie Times pushing this other view NOW?

To feed a persecution complex that they know exists among some of Dean's supporters and stir them up against the party and especially KERRY, who BushInc wants HAMSTRUNG and out of the way.

Thankfully, most of Dean's real supporters aren't susceptible to that line of BS. Too many GOP operatives have already tried that here at DU.

[Born Free]

25. "And so WHY is the Moonie Times pushing this other view NOW?"

"To feed a persecution complex that they know exists among some of Dean's supporters and stir them up against the party and especially KERRY, who BushInc wants HAMSTRUNG and out of the way."


This statement is incorrect, Kerry is not the answer, the DLC and he were a major part of the problem and the GOP would LOVE to have him run again. The democratic party has failed it's membership, and all the BS trying to paint them as a party that is willing to stand up for America will not change that. Far too many times democrats and fellow Americans hoped, prayed and begged the elected democrats to stand up for America and time after time they hid from the fight. If the democratic party can not stand up to the media and the right wing talking heads in America , how can they be trusted to stand up against a group of people that would rather see us dead.... They fear Dean because he stood firm and was willing to take on the right wing corporate controlled media, it was the rank and file that failed to stand behind him, they hid from the fight , just as the elected democrats hide every day from the fight to take back America. Calling Dean supporters "lefties" and stirring up fears they will change America to an even worse place to live is part of the right wing message, and many uninformed Americans buy into the propaganda.

[blm]

27. Try reading it again. They want Kerry out of the way COMPLETELY.

They want him to have NO following to support his work against Bush in the Senate for the next 4 years. They are USING the leftover persecuted feelings of some of Dean's supporters to do that.

We already KNOW they had GOP operatives here posing as Dean ssupporters throughout the election. Most of them outed themselves.

Now that Kerry is keeping after Bush through the Senate and Dean is working towards heading the DNC, the GOP stirs up this spin on the primary to agitate and increase dissension. THAT'S WHAT THEY DO. They've been pulling this crap for 4 decades. You either wise up to their tactics or continue to be manipulated by them.

[Larkspur]

22. You forgot that ex-Sen Torricelli of senate ethics violations fame and one

of Kerry's national fundraising chairs contributed $50K form his old senate war chest to a 527 group that created ads morphing Dean into Osama. The Media did help with bringing down Dean, but aides form the Kerry, Clark, and Gephardt camps also ran their own malicious war against Dean's campaign.

[blm]

28. Kerry had zero to do with it, and was the only campaign to condemn the ad.

And Gephardt didn't appreciate Dean's campaign saying he was no different than Bush. I'd say that was pretty malicious against Gep.

If Dean was sabotaged and cheated during the primary, he would have said so. He wasn't. He lost a hard fought primary campaign.