Who was the condecending Dean campaign worker who...

[HFishbine]

Just getting back online after the weekend, so excuse me if this has been addressed but...

I was watching CSPAN's coverage of Dean's Sleepless Summer Tour. I'm not sure what city they were in, but the camera (and mics) where covering a Dean campaign staffer's attempt to get a cop to open a balcony for the crowd.

Whether the staffer was right or wrong, whether the cop was right or wrong in his reluctance to accomodate people on the balcony, what struck me most, to the point of being embarrassing, was the condescention of the staffer towrd the cop. He didn't lose his temper, but he talked down to the cop as if the cop was just intellectually incapable of understanding the situation.

The saddest point was when the staffer's phone rang, and you could tell from his responses ("Right now?" "And it's a live feed?) that someone was telling him he was on CSPAN, probably hoping he'd cool it. He didn't.

If I could find that cop, I'd beg him not to judge Dean or the rest of his supporters by that arrogant clod he had to deal with.

[dsc]

1. Just once I would like to see a post like

this with something resembling a link so I could judge it for myself.

[HFishbine]

6. Would have

if I could have found one. And you've seen plenty of links from me -- much more than "just once." Maybe CSPAN will run it again.

[bearfartinthewoods]

19. you haven't spent much time in politics have you?

the attitude you describe is pretty common.

[AP]

31. This is one of the reasons I think CSPAN loves to keep the cameras

running, and I know I'm always paying the closest attention to the moments after the speechs when people walk up and ask questions and candidates and staffers shift to a different mode. It's always very telling. I'm always looking for insight into personality and motivation t unguarded moments like that, however, I'd be surprised if any candidates (other than perhaps W) were so unsophisticated that they wouldn't realize the cameras still roll even when the speech is over (but even W might have made that W comment deliberately).

[dsc]

24. I didn't mean you

but the I saw on CSPAN . . . the site does archive its videos. I didn't mean to insult you or say you don't provide links but I do get tired of the I saw x on CSPAN with no way to know what is being discussed. As the other responder said this attitude happens in politics often. I want to see just how bad it was.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

2. He sounds just like

the majority of Dean supporters I've 'debated' here.

[newsguyatl]

8. and

he scores!

:eyes:

[devarsi]

11. Bushlit

The Dean supporters I've seen here are more often just henpecked by the Anti-Dean crowd.

[Cha]

13. He sounds like YOU!

[searchingforlight]

3. I understood that having the balcony open was part of the deal with

the school. I think he was just trying to get access to areas previously agreed upon.

I thought C-Span did a terrible job by covering that to begin with. It was BORING and it was all we saw of that stop. There were so many other interesting things they could have shown.

(I am not saying that his handling of the situation was a shining moment.)

[janx]

5. "I think he was just trying to get access to areas previously agreed upon"

That was my take on it too. And he was trying to move the crowd around.

[janx]

4. That wasn't a cop. It was a guy who worked at the university,

in communications or public safety.

And the staffer knew he was on CSPAN the whole time; if you had watched earlier, you would have seen him introducing the CSPAN camera person to other people. I mean CSPAN was filming him as he did all of this, for pete's sake.

The Dean campaign staffer was a guy who had worked on campaigns before and who worked in Gore's last campaign. He was trying to thin the crowd from one area since it was so packed in. The line of sight from the packed part was down to nothing.

I agree that he was very insistent, but that's his job. When he finally talked to the security officer's boss, she got his point and allowed him to bring 20 people up to the balconey.

[HFishbine]

7. Janx

You're take is in line with mine. (Although, I didn't know he was aware of being on CSPAN from the get-go).

It sounded like he was making a reasonable request, and the cop, or security guard, did come accross as a little obstinent. Still, the staffer did manage to make me feel a little embarrassed with his aire of superiority. Fortunately, it was extremely boring, and maybe not too many people saw it.

[Eloriel]

10. Much ado about absolutely nothing

Nor is your "take" on it likely to be universal. I, for example, was very impressed with his persistence while remaining cool, calm and collected, AND polite.

Sheesh.

What I can agree about with others is how boring the segment was. OTOH, it did show what staffers have to go through sometimes.

Eloriel

[janx]

15. I think that's exactly what it was trying to convey, Eloriel.

But it just went on for too long!

[janx]

14. Oh yeah, the guy knew he was on TV the whole time. That's

why he couldn't back down, I imagine. He didn't want to come across as ineffectual. But the whole thing was a waste of tape, I agree. It went on and on. I would have liked to have seen more footage of the huge crowd in New York, a shot of just how big it was.

[UTUSN]

34. Couldn't Back Down, Tape Went on Too Long

That's the problem. That's what the viewer VIEWS/sees.

[RichV]

9. Last name was Vogel, I believe

Rich? Or Jeff? Something like that. I watched that whole episode and wasn't all that bothered by what the original poster is addressing. The guy was trying to get the university staffer to open up the balcony as previously agreed because the crowd in the main plaza was well over capacity. Seemed reasonable to me. The public safety guy also seemed like he was trying to pass the buck on to the woman behind him before she just wandered off and didn't return. Probably just a lack of communication.

[janx]

16. That woman was his boss! It was really funny.

The campaign guy talked to her first, then she passed him on to the security guy, and then he finally asked the security guy who it was that made the ultimate decisions in cases like these. It turned out that it was the woman the whole time! So then he talked to her again and got the balconey opened--at least to 20 people.

[Arugula Latte]

32. Matt Vogel

campaign staffer for Dean

[Cha]

12. Poppy cock and fiddle faddle and Rot!

[UTUSN]

17. Saw It. Name Matt VOGEL. I'm a KERRY Supporter. We're All DEMS.

or, beyond KERRY, a Dem. I didn't like what I saw and have been biting my tongue since last night (as difficult to believe as that is).

Without focusing solely on DEAN, I will say that it is difficult to critize LOYAL staffers/supporters. A certain amount of hubris has been part of several of our Dems--------the original CLINTONites who were arrogant towards the military, some of President GORE's staffers who are now with the KERRY campaign, and this fellow who came across as insufferably anal retentive.

Besides that wingnuts ACTUALLY ARE out of touch with the real needs of real people, the attitudes (lack of life experience) cited above give fuel to the wingnuts to use against us with the "elite" canard.

Alrighty, then, asbestos please.

[Nazgul35]

23. actually, he was a former Gore worker...

and the whole point of the request was because it was an extremely hot day and the crowed was packed into line of site spots and would never move to the areas that the campus cop said needed to be filled...

Since most repugs sit in absolute comfort in airconditioned venues...it was nice to see a staffer actually looking out for the people who came to see Gov. Dean...more than were expected...

I also thought it was kinda boring...it went on for a very long time...probably one of the longest segments in the entire 1.5 hours?...Surprised no one is critising the good doctor for looking at that poor flight attendent's feet....my god! These are the people who need us...these are the people who we are fighting for....

If you are a selfish person...do us all a favor and register repug...that's the party you really belong in....

[UTUSN]

35. No, the whole point

was that a staffer wanted to impose 100 slots and looked like a fool SETTLING for 20 and considered it a victory, while whoever watched it on C-Span (as referenced by this thread) saw it anal retentive.'\

He wasn't looking out for "the people". He was scoring effectiveness-POINTS. And he ...aw, why bother.

[Nazgul35]

36. yeah...you're right...

wez to iggerrent to undatand....

:dunce:

cause no one could think it being anal retentive to think that that whole segment mattered at all....

or could they? I'm too stupid to know.....errrrrrrrr

:bounce:

[RetroLounge]

18. More cry-baby anti-Dean blather

you guys are geting really boring...

You've gone from "Dean is too Liberal" to His Staff is "condecending" to a university rent-a-cop who couldn't understand a simple request to thin the crowd.

I saw it on TV, the staffer was persistant, and was doing his job, as the woman boss should have been, instead of passing responsibility to an underling. The balcony was an agreed-upon overflow area. What part didn't you understand?

Sheesh, get a new line already...

[UTUSN]

33. DEAN Is Not "Liberal"

I'm gonna answer each post.

[Cocoa]

20. he was lecturing the security guy about sight lines

I'm sure Vogel knows what he's talking about, but it didn't seem to cross his mind that maybe the guard did too. Did it occur to him that the guard works at that school every day, maybe he knows the plaza's sight lines better than Vogel, who probably never saw that plaza before?

Totally condescending, imo. If I were to guess, I'd guess he's seen his parents push the help around, and I'd bet he's an asshole to waitpersons.

[RetroLounge]

21. Well that would be your guess

one with nothing to back it up...

I'm not only gonna bash your candidate, I'm gonna bash his staff too, and maybe his cat next...

Desperation...

[w4rma]

22. My gosh. You're criticizing staffers and volunteers on tiny little stuff.

Nitpicking. Do you want people to avoid getting involved in politics? I find this attitude towards fellow activist Democrats insulting and condencending.

Btw, that goes for the staffers and volunteers of any good Democratic candidate.

[stickdog]

25. OK, you convinced me.

I'm now voting for Bush because of your second hand account of a Dean staffer.

If a single staffer even just arguably talks down to a single security guard, even if that staffer is in the right, I can't possibly support that staffer's candidate.

[Jim Sagle]

26. This thread ain't nuthin' but shit.

[Cocoa]

27. people who think this is about Dean are mistaken

it was about that guy that was caught on C-Span acting like a jerk.

Jerks are all over the place. People like that are as likely to be in Gephardt's campaign, who I support, or in any republican's campaign.

It says nothing about Dean, really.

I also disagree with the people that said this was boring. I found it totally fascinating. Maybe because I've been in that guard's shoes, and you don't get this stuff shown on TV too much. :-)

[janx]

28. Well it was funny is some parts, primarily because the security

guy didn't say anything. He just stood there without speaking for minutes on end. The campaign guy wouldn't STOP talking. And then it turned out that he had wasted his time, because he was talking to the wrong person. But it got boring after awhile.

[stickdog]

29. Doesn't this belong in the Lounge, then? (NT)

[tokenlib]

30. Why did C-Span waste over ten minutes covering...

....such a "discussion?" It was the most unimportant, uninteresting part of the entire 90 minutes. It was also annoying. It troubles me that C-Span found it "interesting." They must have had better stuff on the cutting floor.

[UTUSN]

37. Funny that C-Span Callers

1) Libs criticized that C-Span was wingnut.

2) Wingnuts claimed that C-Span was "FAIR & BALANCED - *JUT LIKE FOX*"


JUST LIKE FAUX

the idiot wingut killed himself without even KNOWING. So cool.