Dean on the tonight show.......will strum for presidency...???

[bearfartinthewoods]

Did anyone see his appearance? I'm an early to bed type so i didn't but c-span just said he did a bit about playing the guitar for spare change.

i don't like this. our guy needs to restore dignity and respect to the office of the presidency in the eyes of the world and i don't think this is the way to do it.

when Al did that sketch on SNL, i knew he had given up on running for presidency. it just wasn't presidental behavior. there is a difference between cracking a few jokes and appearing in comedy sketches as a bit player. there has to be a line and i hope our guys find it soon.

[mandyky]

1. It was, and was meant to be funny

I think it went over well.

[bearfartinthewoods]

4. i assumed it was meant to be funny...that's not the point!

we have a walking joke in the wh now. that doesn't mean we need a comedian to oppose him. i understand that there is a need to show the big picture on the candidates personality. Kerry on his cycle yada yada but there has to be a line doesn't there? some point beyond which lies making oneself the joke? it's the concept of appearing in sketches that worries me. the presidency should have a level of dignity associated with it, especially on the world stage.

it is a small world. that leno appearance may well be viewed throughout the world. is this the image that will serve well in trying to restore respect and condfidence in the leadership of the US?

i know i know...any publicity is good publicity is a common saying. i do not agree with it. images are crafted for a reason and i don't think doing hookey sketches on leno is a good image for the next presidency to put out there. a few jokes to show a human side is good but there has to be some respect for a presidential image, especially considering the ground we need to make up re: credibility with our allies and enemies.

[9119495]

11. Yeah but

Presidents take poops, showers, probably have sex, sneeze, flatulate, and are not really that different from anyone else. Your argument seems to be that others in the world must view the president as above humanity. Would FDR have been considered weak after D-Day if someone saw him in a wheel chair? People will judge the president on his or her actions in office. Did any other nation think less of us in '93 because of Gennifer Flowers?

[bearfartinthewoods]

19. you bring up FDR

do you know what incredible efforts went into hiding his wheel chair?
no picture was taken which showed it. no articles were written. his desk was fitted with a front panel across the kneehole to hide the braces from foreign dignitaries. i think you picked the wrong prez to make your point.

i am hardly saying our next president must be above humanity. there is a vaste difference betwerrn humor and humanity and there are a miriad of ways a person can demonstrate humanity.

yes, presidents do poop, shower, probably (hopefully grin) have sex, sneeze, flatulate, but they really ARE different from anyone else.

they are the most powerful single person in the world and that's no laughing matter.

please, i'm not saying our candidates have to go around in sackclothe and ashes to prove their worth. i confirm the value of humor as part of the whole package but stick to the point that there is a line and i think refraining from sketch humor is a good place for that line to lie.

as to clinton and sex...we are talking about world leaders here and with the exception of fundalmentalist moslem states, most other countries don't share the American view of infidelity so i don't think that was ever an issue outside the US.

[eileen from OH]

2. I think there's a biiiiig difference

Between doing a brief bit with a guitar and one that featured sitting in a hot tub with "Joe Lieberman" with wine, etc.

Too many people who've only caught snatches of the Gov in debates etc., think he's stiff or "mad". That bit did him a world o good. Will do a lot to dismiss the angry meme.

eileen from OH

[9119495]

5. Right on

You are exactly right. The right-wingers and pundits have trashed him as always "mad" (as opposed to "passionate"). Even Jon Stewart has picked up on it--and it was hilarious. This guitar stuff will help dispell that myth. And a newsflash: all presidents, even the current one, were people before they became presidents. I like it when they connect with us.

[JNelson6563]

3. so you're commenting on it and didn't see it?

Why am I not surprised?

Check it out:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=444835&mesg_id=445155&page=

I thought it was hilarious. I don't see anything wrong with a presidential candidate being human. Perhaps we hold different views on that.

Julie

[bearfartinthewoods]

6. i can't stream.....

and i'm trying to make the point that it's the concept i object to.

the idea of humorizing the human side is valid and i can see why Dean, especially would seek to do that but there is more involved here than an campaign. sometimes i think people forget that the winner of the campaign will have to govern. is the image of a comedy sketch what we want in circulation when the next prez sits down with kim ill jong?

i'd just like to see a line drawn somewhere and no sketch humor seems to be a logical place to draw it.

[JNelson6563]

8. I strongly disagree

Someone who can participate in a little self-deprecating humor can't be all that bad. It shows a huge contrast between Jr. and Dean. Jr. can't even say fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Narcissistic psychopaths cannot relate to self-blame, even rhetorically.

Healthy and balanced people can poke a little fun at themselves.

I look forward to seeing the reaction at tonight's meet-up to this clip. I got $10 says they love it.

Julie

[bearfartinthewoods]

10. that may well be...that his supporters love it

and maybe it worked if you saw it. i didn't. i heard about it on C-SPAN like a couple millon other early birds so my reaction comes from that angle.

and i stand by my point that there has to be some point at which using the humor angle will effect the world's opinion. we cannot have our next prez perceived as a joke. we are already there. we need to present a capable image on the world 'stage'. Dean has no foreign affairs experience so i think this is especially important to him since he may be viewed as a light weight by foreign leaders.
he should be developing his foreign affairs gravitas as well as exposing his human side. it's all about balance.

[JNelson6563]

13. Oh, I dunno 'bout that

Seems to me Clinton wasn't Mr. Foreign Policy either and not only did other world leaders take him seriously, he was/is very highly regarded. Course Clinton didn't have his head up his ass like Jr. and wasn't an idealogue who wasincapable of chnging his mind so he had massive advantages over Chimpy. Dean has those same advantages.

I reckon I could spend the day pointing out positives to you to no avail so, on that note, have a good day.

Julie

[bearfartinthewoods]

14. that last part isn't true

today we are opponents. my first choice is Edwards but i'm a realist. in nine months i may well be standing at your side. it's ABB butthat still doesn't mean that i can't have opinions on how he can improve himself and how the concept of campainging in general effect the presidency.

btw...Clinton playing the sax was ground breaking. what ground will be broken next? i keep remembering the reaction to Paul Tsongas when he sought to counter the 'wimp' image by appearing in his speedos.

[Catch22Dem]

7. Remember the mantra

Al Gore is too stiff. Dean's appearance on the Tonight Show was great! It was very professional and very good for him. There was a VERY brief discussion about fundraising when Leno played a clip of how Dean raises money. Cut to Dean on the street playing guitar next to an open guitar case with change in it. The crowd went wild! It was great for Dean.

[demnan]

9. Dean strikes me as a bit of a klutz and he's also got

a self-depreciatory sense of humor. I like those things about him. I like to think he's human. If I wanted someone who looked "Presidential" I'd be for Kerry.

[edzontar]

12. Clinton played the sax on TV...

And it didn't hurt him at all.

Can we all get a life?

[OneBlueSky]

15. sorry, but I thought that whole interview was really weak . . .

Dean needs to project a strong, macho alternative to Bush, and he didn't do it . . . that whole story about his suit was ridiculous, and he just seemed to come across as someone without presidential stature . . . the guitar case gag didn't help any . . . Leno seemed consider him something of a lightweight oddity, which I'm afraid is how he came across . . . jmho, of course . . .

[Jim Sagle]

16. Jyho indeed. And you're welcome to it.

:boring:

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

17. Presidents just can't be funny

Dammit, they need to be serious, not really people but machines.

Man, oh man, lighten up! The bit was hysterical, and let's people connect in a more personal way to Dean (or any candidate doing a bit like that...Clark will be on Leno tonight, and I HOPE he shows he has a personality beyond the deer-in-the-headlights look he has).

Dean scored last night.

[bearfartinthewoods]

20. where did i say presidents have to be a machine?

i guess the auto respond has switch on. <sigh>

[JaneQPublic]

18. The bit lasted all of 5 seconds

Dean wasn't mugging for the camera or dressed in any weird getup. He was simply standing there, in his usual trousers and rolled-up shirt sleaves, quietly strumming a guitar as someone walked up and dropped cash in his guitar case. If you blinked, you missed it.

Big friggin' deal.

Like Dean, Bob Dole was sometimes labeled a "meany" during his `96 campaign. Then afterwards, he began revealing he had a sense of humor and everyone said, "Why didn't he show us this during the campaign?"

Having said that, I wouldn't think it wise for Dr. Dean to go so far as Dole and do commercials for Viagra.

[bearfartinthewoods]

22. i'm clicking alert on you

there has to be something in the rules about re-implanting the image of bob and liddy getting sweaty back into my brain....aaaaarrrgh!

maybe there is a rule about cruel and unusual punishment? :grin:

i'm glad we can agree that there is a line and hope the PTB's are seriously considering where that line should be drawn.

hint: stay outta the sketches. remember where that slippery slope leads.

edit to change libby to liddy....

[JaneQPublic]

25. LOL!!!!

Thanks for the yuks! I guess you're not such a bad guy after all.

See, how taking part in a little levity can win people over?

Seriously, though, you're opinion isn't totally lost on me. I vote we just agree to disagree.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

21. Dean played a guitar?

this is bad why?

[LiberalTexan]

23. Because some of us are anal

We don't want to connect with regular Americans. Dean's comments about washing his $125 suit from JCPenney's put him down on our level, too. Now maybe folks will pay attention when they hear his name or see an article on him, the debates, his fundraising abilities, etc.

How it can be a bad thing to connect with the American public, I'll never know.

I'm tired as HELL of being TOLD what to do in this country by the fascists who run it. How about a normal person to lead us??

Howard Dean hit a home run with Republican Leno last night.

[bearfartinthewoods]

26. and to think i dismissed the idea that DUers only read the title

before responding to the thread.

[farmbo]

24. It's called "satire" folks...It was a bit about Dean's fundraising...

Leno led in with a comment about Dean's fundraising success,and --surprise, suprise-- Leno just so happened to have some film of Dean doing fundraising in CA...cut to film... Dean's playing the guitar as a busker, taking collections in the hardshell case with a handmade sign: "Will strum for votes" (or some such)...Rob Reiner strolls by... pulls out a buck...throws it in the case...shrugs to the camera...bit over.

All in good taste...and good fun.

Sorry, no gaff here. Ironically, those who have their undies in a snit over this are probably the same folks who pile on Dean about being too "stuffy" in debates and commercials.

[Bandit]

27. " there has to be a line and i hope our guys find it soon."

You mean like Bush*. Of course there is NO line or Bush* would not be sitting in the Whitehouse. American people no longer have any traditional guidelines. We have sunk to the lowest levels imaginable. Ah-nold can become Governor. What does that tell you about America? It is all about being liked now not about ability. When Republicans ralley around someone like Bush* we know we are doomed to third nation status. Supposedly Republicans represent the upper class and Democrats represent the rabble. I am beginning to see the reversal of that.

[Room101]

28. Hello- Who watches the Jay leno show? It was Great.

It is not the same audience of a Bill Moyes or Charlie rose, it is late night TV. The goal of the show is to make people laugh, most of the people who watch it are members of the Bewildered herd as Walter Lippman would have said.

The Bewildered herd responds to personality and likeability, not reason. How could this have gone over your head? You do know you were watching Jay Leno not Bill Moyes
:shrug: