The Pundits Speak

[windansea]

Note: original poster does not agree with all of these opinions...some of these pundits are pubs...some are just media whores

MICKEY KAUS: "The Kerry victory in Iowa reminds me, not unsurprisingly, of Gary Hart's come-from-behind victory in New Hampshire in 1984."

Andrew Sullivan: "The Iowa voters - not exactly centrists - picked Kerry and Edwards to be the anti-Dean candidate, and the shrillness of the Dean-Clark message (the shrillness that so appealed to Paul Krugman) was just as soundly rejected."

Jeff Greenfield: (on Edwards) "This guy makes a speech that's a coherent argument, not a collection of sound bites."

Jonah Goldberg: "Dean reminds me of the Hulk in that interim stage just before Bruce Banner turns green and starts to rip his clothes."

Jeff Jarvis: "Did blogging hurt Dean? . . . Did it become so loud inside that room that it became hard to hear the noise outside, where the voters were?"

Josh Marshall: "Stunning. Actually, stunning doesn't really do it justice."

Ed Cone: "Another Internet bubble popped."

Matt Welch: "Boy, That Dean's a Crazy Sonofabitch Ain't He? But not necessarily in a bad way! …. I kind of like the idea of a crazy man running for president, but my tastes have long been unsound." He has a link to audio of Dean's speech, too. I think that speech may have done for Dean what a similar speech ("How long, Lord, how long?") did for Frank Clement. Then again, attention spans are shorter, these days -- and Matt Welches are more common.

Will Saletan: "Dean's answer to every gaffe or unpleasant revelation was to trot out another endorsement from the establishment. But he was right: The establishment proved impotent, and tonight it was thrown aside."

Daniel Drezner: "Howard Dean is not going away anytime soon -- he's still got the money and the national organization. I'm sure the press is thrilled by this fact."

James Lileks: "This was not a rejection of the Dean message. This was a rejection of the messenger."

Kevin Drum: "Basically, this means that Dean, Clark, Kerry, and Edwards remain serious candidates, which in turn means that we're in for a stemwinder of a primary season."

Matthew Yglesias: "I'm watching Wes Clark on television right now explaining that he has no regrets about skipping the Iowa caucus. In light of tonight's results, that's a bit hard to believe."

David Frum: "Have the Democrats gone sane? Yesterday Iowa Democrats administered a brutal drubbing to Howard Dean and the far left of the Democratic party generally, opting instead for the two most sensible candidates on the ballot."

Roger Simon: "The voters of Iowa clearly chose the only two candidates--Kerry and Edwards--who seem to have the ability to compete seriously for the Presidency in November."

Robert Tagorda: "If the three candidates shared the same message, and Dean came out last, what does that say about his image? Basically, the public dislikes the messenger."

[KoKo]

1. Whoohoo! David Frum endorses Kerry and Edwards and the rest except

two, (whom I'm not familiar with) think Dean crashed and burned. Says these bloggers and Pundits didn't really watch Dean's speech. They dislike him from the beginning...and so just copied each other's blogs.

Fun and games on the internet! :D

[windansea]

2. wankers n/t

[HFishbine]

3. Sullivan

Thinks that Iowa voters rejected the Clark message? Where do I apply to be a pundit?

[lancdem]

4. And he lumped Clark and Dean together

I'm not sure I've ever seen THAT before.

[incapsulated]

9. I know, that leapt out at me, too

Dean and Clark, joined at the hip! The things you learn watchin' tv!

[windansea]

6. heh heh

amazing isn't it? "the shrill message" and this guy is semi famous??

[Jerseycoa]

5. I like this one

"Did it become so loud inside that room that it became hard to hear the noise outside, where the voters were?"

Words to the wise.

[Skwmom]

7. I can't believe these people actually get paid for what they do.e/o/m

[eileen_d]

8. No kidding!

What is the difference between these people and the average barstool warmer in Anytown, USA?

(My answer: several thousand dollars and about 12 oz of hairspray)

My favorite comment was "Did blogging hurt Dean" -- what a stupid question. LOL

[windansea]

10. half these guys are just bloggers

and wanna be pundits

[Bucky]

11. Wow, Lileks nailed it.

I read Lileks's whole blog on the matter. Dean could have won. He had 'em and then he lost 'em by how he reacted to the attacks from Kerry and Gep. He didn't crumple, but he sure was an easy target for them. And this is just lightweight stuff compared to how Rove would go after Dean. If he can't bounce back now, he's not the one we want.

[JI7]

12. bush is still an asshole

many of these people are bush supporters. they need to attack others to cover up for the failure that gwbush is as a human being.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

13. Nice synopsis and editing

fun reading, My fave:
"This was not a rejection of the Dean message. This was a rejection of the messenger."

[windansea]

14. yes..probably the most salient quote

of them all

[NewYorkerfromMass]

15. Uh huh. a lot of folks probably think:

Yeah, sure, whatever. Get a grip and act more like a President. Like John Kerry or John Edwards.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

16. "Have the Democrats gone sane?"

another good one.