Dean is known for his temper- for better or worse

[NewYorkerfromMass]

For better or worse Howard's got a reputation for having a quick temper. Someone suggested this is a myth, but the fact is it's all there, all over the place, all over the internet. Dean has a well documented and famous temper. Here are some examples:

"what I'm doing is breaking into the country club" (of Washington)- famously DUMB comment on the heels of his son's arrest for breaking into a country club http://politicalwire.com/archives/002298.html

Dean said in January when asked why his records would be closed for more than two presidential terms: ''We didn't want anything embarrassing appearing in the papers at a critical time in any future endeavor."... Papers Sealed- what is Howard hiding?

"Work on toning down the famous Dean temper..." from a Burlington Free Press editorial

"This is the stubborn Howard Dean, the one who every now and then turns red-faced with rage, his neck bulging against his frayed collar. This is the temperamental Howard Dean, the one who marched out of a news conference last year rather than face another question about his out-of-state travel during an exploratory run for president. This is the volatile Howard Dean, the one who attacked an Addison County farmer he'd never met earlier this month, then had to call him and apologize." Burlington Free Press- from a long article from 1998 campaign

Dr. Likable? - Editorial and posted responses

[dean4america]

1. wait a second

how is Dean's first comment you allude to indicative of a temper? That shows he speaks his mind. the second is maybe him mispeaking. neither correlate to having a bad temper.

dean may get portrayed as the angry candidate, but damnit, we're all angry, and that will play well in the primaries.

[RogueTrooper]

3. I think Dean's poll numbers in NH have given this poster a fright

and he has "gone negative" in repsonse.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

5. Bad judgement in his choice of words

It would normally be an acceptable coice of words but the circumstances indicated otherwise. It also indicates his singleminded focus on the campaign (a plus in any one's book) eclipsed any sensitivity to both his son's feelings and the poltical pitfall of unwittingly reminding everyone of the recent unfortunate incident.

[RogueTrooper]

8. Does this come for the Kerry campaign

or do you make this rubbish up on your own time. So, this post was really about using Paul to smear his father by association.

I think your campaign's desperation levels just went of the scales.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

20. RogueTrooper are you really in London?

Just curious because I hope you're coming back here to cast your vote.

And for the record I am not on anyone's campaign. I just think John Kerry is a great guy.

[DrFunkenstein]

2. Control Is Not His Strong Suit

Rivals hope his campaign will implode, and Dean said he knows one way that could happen.

"I do have a mouth on me," the former Vermont governor said.

"That is, I generally say what I think so I get in trouble," Dean said.

Could he hurt himself? "If I blew up in a debate or something like that, yes," Dean said. "But I haven't done that in 16 years of debates."

"I can get snippy," he said, "no doubt about it."

As aides pulled him inside, Dean was asked whether he was surprised that rival John Kerry did not criticize him in Thursday's debate.

"I wish he'd say to my face what he says behind my back," Dean said before disappearing behind the door, a grimace on his face.

Kerry had obviously gotten under his skin.

He has already had to apologize for at least two caustic comments leveled at foes. In March, he accused Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina of avoiding talking about his support of the Iraq war before an anti-war audience. In June, Dean described Sen. Bob Graham of Florida as "not one of the top-tier candidates," a remark he regretted.

Then there's his mouth.

Before leaving Arizona for California, Dean realized he had unintentionally created news with his crack about Kerry.

"I just wish he had given me a chance to respond to all that stuff -- the zero experience on foreign affairs, the NRA stuff, the tax cut stuff," Dean said.

"I would have liked to have responded to that in person," Dean said, relishing the thought of getting mouthy with Kerry.

http://www.heraldsun.com/nationworld/elections/16-388697.html

[demnan]

4. I think this is nit-picking

It shows that Dean was unfamiliar with the type of critcism he's bound to get on the center stage, and may have sounded off a bit more than he politically should have. However, if you noticed in the debate yesterday, he held his temper pretty well. I think he is improving on this negative type perception since the first debate where he wasn't very good. He just needed a little coaching on this point.

Do people who are leaders have a temper? Of course they have! They all do, and they are all forceful people.

[clar]

6. Feisty, stubborn?

Sure. And he does, from time to time, insert his foot in his mouth, but he's not going to lose control. More importantly, and I've pointed this out before, Dean has major teflon, a highly desirable quality in a candidate. Kerry, for instance, seems to be lacking in that department. As for likeablility, it's pretty clear that more voters, including independants, find him more likeable than most of the others in the field. I've noticed that Kerry supporters are increasingly grabbing at straws. BTW, as a Vermonter and active dem, I've had the opportunity to closely observe Dean for a number of years.

[Larkspur]

7. Anger is a required ingredient for Hope

St. Augustine said, "Hope has two beautiful daughters, anger and courage; anger at the way things are and the courage to change them."

On Dean's behalf, I'd add imagination or innovative thinking as a third daughter of Hope.

[Rose Siding]

12. St. Augustine

Boy howdy.

I just love that quote and I'm so happy you taught it to me. Thanks.

[Larkspur]

14. He's not my favorite saint, but he has the best definition of Hope

St. Augustine was a misogynist. He originally believed that women didn't have souls. After his mother, St. Monica, became a saint that shot his theory down the drain.

He later refined his theory to say that women could only achieve salvation by breeding babies.

I don't like St. Augustine, but I'll give him credit about Hope.

[DrFunkenstein]

16. My Favorite St. Augustine Quote

"Oh God, make me pure.
Please make me pure!
But not yet, not yet!"

PS - Isn't wrath one of the deadly sins?

[Larkspur]

22. Can't remember my Catholic catechism on this

I'm an agnostic now, but the anger that is a sin is the one the is uncontrolled and destructive of others. The anger of the ancient prophets towards the abuse of power by Israel's kings was a just anger and that is what St. Augustine was referring to when he wedded it to courage to make Hope.

[deutsey]

23. Yeah, and I think Jesus was pretty ticked off

when he chased the money-changers from the Temple.

[sandnsea]

26. Courage to do what's right for America

John Kerry is the one who will change things. The courage part is alot tougher to come by than the anger part.

[Larkspur]

28. What courage does Kerry have?

He caved into the herd mentality over the 2002 Iraq War resolution and for the tax cuts.

Kerry may have had military courage, but he's sorely lacking in political courage when this country needed him most last year.

[deutsey]

30. Not to mention the Patriot Act

That vote broke the back of my initial support for Kerry.

With his combat experience, I still give him a pass on the Iraq vote, although I was actively opposed to invading Iraq.

The tax cut vote and the Patriot Act vote are what pushed me out of Kerry's camp.

[sandnsea]

33. What tax cut vote?

Do you think Kerry voted for the final Bush tax cut bills?

And provisions in the Patriot Act have been floated for years, some of it Clinton proposed. People are just being naive if they think the Senate could have sat around for years bickering over a bill to address technology changes and other issues that are necessary in fighting terrorism. The Energy Bill has been bickered over for years and years, long before Bush even got into office. When a country is under attack, it's time to take action. That Ashcroft chose to stomp all over civil rights is his decision, he didn't have to do that. With sunset provisions in that Act, which Democrats fought for, there will be an opportunity to fix the law. This vote is such a nonissue, it's just a mindless hatred of Democrats that has never made any sense to me at all.

[sandnsea]

32. Nope, he voted his conscience

Knowing it would go against the core of the Democratic Party. That takes courage.

The only tax cuts Kerry supported are the tax cuts Democrats got into the package for working families, the ones he wants to keep. Kerry voted against the overall tax bill because it wasn't right for the country. I wish real Democrats would support the efforts made in their behalf.

[tsipple]

9. Feed the Goal, Not the Troll

Click here to stay focused and positive.

[buff2]

10. What about the idiot bu$h and HIS temper????

Everyone is so quick to jump on Dean.....or any other dem claiming they have a "temper",but haven't you ever seen dim son and his temper and impatience? Geesus....if the whore media didn't handle him like eggs,that bastard would have blown his top many,many times. This shit about Dean is shit....plain and simple. I think he handles himself very well. Bu$h is like a land mind,and everyone tip-toes around him to keep him from exploding and showing his TRUE side. :puke:

[deutsey]

11. Same was said about Clinton's "purple rages"

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/10/13/time/tapes.html

(TIME October 20) -- The scariest part about working for Bill Clinton used to be his "purple rages"--violent bursts of room-shaking anger that could drain the blood from the face of even the most confident aide. Back then, Clinton's emotional engagement in his presidency could be measured by the intensity of his hair-trigger temper.

Other references I found:

http://www.csbsju.edu/uspp/Election/mccain112899.htm

As Elizabeth Drew wrote in "On the Edge" (Simon and Schuster, 1994):

"Other Presidents had tempers. Eisenhower’s was famously bad. Clinton’s temper was much less intimidating than Lyndon Johnson’s. The real significance of Clinton’s temper was what it said about his deeper nature. There was a self-indulgence in Clinton’s tantrums, an immaturity, a part of him that never grew up and a part that felt free to chew out aides, who couldn’t argue back and weren’t likely to quit."

(This site is addressing McCain's temper).

http://cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/01/19/time/tumulty.html

How will future editions assess his eight years in office? He is already so sensitive to the question and what it implies, aides say, that the mere sight of the word legacy in print is enough to trigger an eruption of the famous Clinton temper.

[molly]

15. Were they private or public outbursts?

big difference.

[deutsey]

17. Actually, I remember commentators snickering about

Clinton yelling at Chelsea in public during his first inauguration, displaying his "famous temper".

I thought it was silly then (there were plenty of things I felt Clinton deserved criticism about, and this wasn't one of them); same goes for Dean here.

[w4rma]

13. Don't Kerry supporters have *anything* good to say about their candidate?

"Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, ..." - Kerry

[DrFunkenstein]

18. We Do, But You Only Respond To Dean Threads

Wow! What a mindblower!

[NewYorkerfromMass]

19. Of course I do! and let me throw one out there re: tempers:

McCain also recalled a Senate hearing on POW-MIAs where a man accused him of being a ``Manchurian Candidate'' manipulated by his Viet Cong captors. ``I was about to lose my temper,'' McCain recalled. ``I felt (Kerry's) hand on my shoulder, and he said, `John, don't dignify it with a response.' He had a cool head.' ''

http://pub49.ezboard.com/fvetbenefitsfrm29.showMessage?topicID=235.topic

[molly]

24. Kerry is even and mature and uses his brain before his mouth

that is a good thing for a president!

[NewYorkerfromMass]

27. I feel Kerry occupies a plane so far above the others in this regard

that clearly I lose all objectivity! :crazy: But seriously, I want this man to be OUR President! His depth and breadth of vision are AWESOME!

[babzilla]

21. hey, you left out the part about "ropy veins"

Howard Dean was angry. Ropy veins popped out of his neck, blood rushed to his cheeks, and his eyes, normally blue-gray, flashed black.

"The only hope Democrats have to beat this president," he said, his left fist punching the air, "is to behave like Democrats and stand up for what we believe!"

"YEAH!" the crowd cheered, standing and applauding.

"Can we afford tax cuts," Dean continued, "when we have the largest deficit in the history of the country?"

"NO!" the crowd shouted back.

http://www.cmonitor.com/stories/news/politics2003/post_dean_2003.shtml



edit to bold that it was his left fist punching the air of course, funny.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

25. USA Today: "Broad smile and unflappable tone"

From USA Today on Dean's "anger"

This was a debate without an obvious winner. But the often-combative Dean may have gained the most by displaying a newfound ability to deflect criticism with a broad smile and unflappable tone.

[Vikingking66]

29. good, I'm feeling fiesty n/t

[kang]

31. Question about Dean and debate yesterday

Hi all, I like most of Dean's positions, but I've got ask about one thing: Does anybody else notice that Dean sort of makes this snarling face when he's being attacked by Kerry (I think by a few others too)? I'm not sure he knew the camera was on him (although you'd probably have to assume this just to be safe), but it looked like he was really legitimately pissed.

I didn't catch the whole thing, but somebody told me that the camera cut to him while somebody was attacking him (alot of that going on by the way) and he was sort of muttering under his breath and the words weren't necessarily PG. I think he's exaggerating, but what's the Dean people take on this? Does it really bother him that people are attacking him? I mean, it only means his campaign's doing well and that Kerry and some of the others are feeling they need to turn up the heat in order to survive.

Just wondering and wanted to talk shop a little.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

34. He's only human.

Example:

"kang, you're an asshole!"*

How's your face doing right now?


See?


*I obviously am only trying to make a point here. I don't think you're an asshole. A complete misrepresentation of who you are is likely to get a rise out of the most even-tempered individual. Part of doing well while campaigning is not taking any shit.

:hi:

[KaraokeKarlton]

35. I wouldn't call it a "temper", really

But he's definitely a scrapper who will NOT tolerate any shit. He's a very "matter of fact" type of person who doesn't have much tolerance for nonsense. If he thinks someone is being ridiculous he's tell them so and sometimes he's perhaps a bit too blunt. He is by no means a "loose cannon", though.

[stickdog]

36. He's tough as nails. He speaks his mind and doesn't take any crap.

This is why the NATIONAL SECURITY bogeyman is a load of crap. Dean is not McGovern, Mondale or Dukakis. Dean's one tough mother fuc (shut yo' mouth) and the American public will feel plenty secure when they give him a landslide victory in the general election.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

37. Belligerence is hardly an appropriate presidential trait

in fact if anything it is a disqualifier. And compared to Bob Graham, John Kerry, and Wesley Clark, Howard Dean's national security experience is pretty close to zero.