Koppel redux: the rest of the story (per the Union Leader, at least)

[Mairead]

Ten ABC News staffers had gathered to prepare questions for yet another Presidential debate, and a consensus emerged that more queries about health care or Iraq would simply produce the same scripted sound bites that had bored viewers to tears in the previous debates. The solution, they decided, lay not in the black-bindered, color-coded briefing book they had produced but in the lopsided nature of the contest itself.

“Howard Dean is not just ahead, he is head and shoulders ahead, especially in New Hampshire, and the rest of these people seem to be largely floundering,” Koppel said after the meeting broke up. “They’re all being dominated by a formerly invisible governor from Vermont who must know something they don’t. Why is that?

“What is it about you,” he planned to ask the candidates, “that’s better?” That two-hour meeting virtually ensured that the nine-candidate face-off here Tuesday night would be not only about Dean but about Koppel, and the approach would prove highly controversial. But the Koppel team was convinced the other candidates would take the cue to confront Dean, and that, they hoped, could produce some televised fireworks.

http://newsdirectory.com/go/?f=&r=nh&u=www.theunionleader.com

[eileen_d]

1. Good Lord.

God forbid the candidates actually get their messages out to the public - that just wouldn't be "Must See TV!" :eyes:

[pistoff democrat]

2. Koppel was wrong and I'm sure that's not the first time!

BTW, Kucinich handled himself admirably anyway.

[Mountainman]

3. I agree and he may be the one to turn the media around

He spoke about it the next day and ABC yanked their reporter from his campaign.

[helleborient]

4. Not support of Koppel, but...

I do respect an attempt to do something different...even if it failed. Dennis Kucinich's comments about media failures were outstanding...and whether or not some here want to give credit, I'm sure they were heard in a number of halls of the journalism field. And they will be heard and discussed on college campuses where journalists are studying.

I think that is one problem with current media...much of the time they just parrot each other until it does all look the same. Often, it seems the "______ is perceived as ______" are actually parroting previous comments in the press....not comments from other government figures or, in what would be very interesting, comments from real everyday people. They just read each others stories and report them as the real news.

For those interested in this type of problem, Molly Ivins latest book "Bushwhacked" is a good read. In order to look at the problems with Bush, she did go out into the rest of the country and talk to real people. The book is very instructive and heartbreaking at the same time. When I saw Molly speak, a very telling comment was she continues to live in Texas because she believes Washington DC is the WORST place for a political reporter wanting to do analysis to be living and working.

[Larkspur]

5. From a job interview perspective, this is a valid question to ask

Dean has rising head and shoulders above the others. He did it through EFFORT, good judgement, calculated risk taking, ingenuity, listening to the Democratic base, who are as angry at the Dem leaders as we are at Bush, and inspiring that same angry Dem base with a campaign built on HOPE that together we can take our country back.

The other candidates should have to answer why they are not doing as well as Dean, who was considered the Darkest Horse last year but is now in the driver's seat. The other Establishment Dems started with more name recognition and money than Dean, but the 5 time elected Governor of Vermont bested them all in money and earned named recognition.

The other candidate's campaigns are foundering, they know it, and the public knows it.

[el_gato]

7. I would rather hear about real issues

pat act
iraq
loss of liberty in the U.S.
the economy
joblessness
cheney's secret energy plan
etc.

hello!

[Nadienne]

9. A year ago, I had heard of none of these candidates.

Who says Dean was the darkest Horse last year? What psychic can tell who will have the best chances a whole year in advance?

What inspires me to support Kucinich is his values. Dean's campaign might not be foundering; Kucinich's campaign certainly is not. The more people who hear about him, the more people who agree.

As for anyone else, I say support who you think represents YOU.

[Larkspur]

11. The American Prospect called Dean "The Darkest Horse" last year

Published on July 15, 2002

The Darkest Horse
Vermont Governor Howard Dean is a fiscal conservative who's for gay civil unions, against the Bush tax cuts and running for president as the health-care candidate.
http://www.prospect.org/print/V13/13/dreyfuss-r.html

What inspires me about Dean is his leadership ability to take a campaign that was an asterick in the polls last year to the frontrunner position. Even though he's from a wealthy family, he started his campaign with $157,000 and now has earned $25 million. Compared to John Kerry, who transferred over $2 million from his senate war chest, Dean is the investment banker this contributor wants to invest with. Dean's a fighter but a pragmatist and that is what this moderate liberal wants in my Dem Prez candidate. Howard Dean is to me what Joe Montana was to us Notre Dame football fans -- The Come-from-behind Kid.

Oh and in comparison to Kucinich, Dean, the son of wealth, is the harder of the two campaigners. Dean is the only Prez Candidate who followed SEIU President's advice on how to win the national SEIU endorsement. Kucinich can brag all he wants about being a champion of workers, but he failed to put forth the effort to campaign with SEIU's grassroots network. Kucinich is not of Presidential caliber and his campaign shows it.

[dweller]

6. Most telling statements in the article

“How did Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton and Carol Moseley Braun get into this thing?”
Koppel asked. “Nobody seems to know. Some candidates who are perceived as serious
are gasping for air, and what little oxygen there is on the stage will be taken up by
one-third of the people who do not have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the
nomination.”
and

Koppel then voiced his apparent disdain for Kucinich, Sharpton and Braun, asking
whether they would eventually “drop out” or continue a “vanity candidacy.”

Again, Kucinich punched back. “I want the American people to see where the media takes
politics in this country,” he declared to loud applause. Koppel had become one of the
debaters, and he had just taken a hard right to the jaw. The candidates, many of them,
were in open revolt against the moderator.


the only waster of oxygen there was Koppel, imo.

dp

[MuseRider]

8. Bored viewers to tears?

This is not supposed to be entertainment. We here at DU may enjoy it but the general public needs not be entertained. Maintaining democracy in this country is work and it should be.

[DFLforever]

10. Great point-

"Maintaining democracy in this country is work and it should be."

[Desertrose]

12. I remember when the media reported the news

...not created it.

ABC needs to grow up- they all do. Don't they honestly have a clue that this election is a big frikkin' deal for our country? I am sick of these so called commentators acting like divas and having to be the center of attention.

I wonder....has anyone explained to Koppel that the debates are not about "him"?

Good lord, where are the grownups??

GO DENNIS!!
:yourock:

:loveya:
DR

[Zomby Woof]

13. Koppel never grew up

He's Howdy Doody!

[LWolf]

14. LOL

I once said, when someone asked me, that I'd vote for Howdy Doody if he was opposing Bush.

I'll remember not to say that again.

[Desertrose]

15. OMFG...that is sooo funny

Talk about a major creep factor!!

Looks identical if Howdy jus' had a touch of grey at the temples!

ROFL!!!
tooooo funny!!!!


:loveya:

DesertMom