Carter's Good Word for Dean

[wtmusic]

"On the eve of the Iowa caucuses yesterday, Howard Dean took a long pilgrimage to the picturesque hometown of Jimmy Carter, where he worshiped with the former president and later received Carter's warm praise for opposing the Iraq war, but no endorsement.

Dean then returned to Iowa for three back-to-back rallies accompanied by a surprise guest: his wife and fellow-physician Judy Dean, who had been missing from the campaign trail up to now.

The Carter meeting and Judy Dean's appearance served to answer questions voters have raised about Dean's religious commitment and his wife, who had previously declined to leave her medical practice in Vermont to assist in the campaign."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usdean193632062jan19,0,6245579.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines

[Cuban_Liberal]

1. It was a good day for Dr. Dean.

He needed a few, after the gang-thumping he took last week. :)

[mmm]

2. Plains Georgia is a wonderful town...

looks like a postcard. Jimmy can often be found eating breakfast at one of the town's two cafes, or riding his bicycle down the
main street. He is a good man. He is, in every sense of the word,
a man of the people.

[Jerseycoa]

3. No better man than Jimmy Carter nt

[Feanorcurufinwe]

4. Invitation? What Invitation?

The decision to go to Plains wasn’t even a close call, Dean later suggested. “When the former President of the United States asks you to go to church with him on a Sunday before the caucuses, I think you probably take that up.” But that was before a series of polls started showing he was in a much tougher fight in Iowa than previously thought. He now might wish he had spent that time talking to Iowans. The latest Des Moines Register poll has him running third in a four-way race, although all four — Dean, John Kerry, Dick Gephardt and John Edwards — are so closely bunched that the polling margin is statistically insignificant.

The summons from Plains? Carter doesn’t remember it quite that way. “I didn’t invite him, but I’m glad he came,” the former President told reporters shortly before he conducted one of his frequent Sunday School classes at Maranatha Baptist Church. “He called me on the phone and said he’d like to come worship with me. … He called and asked me if it would be all right.”
http://www.time.com/time/election2004/article/0,18471,579006,00.html

Looks like Dean's clumsy attempt to make it look like Carter endorsed him on the eve of the caucuses has backfired.

[cthrumatrix]

5. why bash the "words of encouragement from Carter"...he has shared

that he will help anyone...after all...that is the point

[Feanorcurufinwe]

6. Dean's clumsy, desperate attempt to generate momentum blew up in his face.

That's all I'm pointing out.

Yes, Jimmy Carter, is a good man and a good Democrat who has encouraging words for all the candidates. He stands in stark contrast to Dean with his manipulative, disingenuous ways.

[cthrumatrix]

7. save it....he shared his comments...no need to throw stones

[Padraig18]

9. Give it a freakin' rest already!

The incredible amounts of energy some folks feel compelled to put into pissing on an incredibly positive moment is mind-boggling!

[Feanorcurufinwe]

10. Dean tried to use Carter and it backfired. Who's lying? Carter or Dean?

I'm not the one who started this thread. I was perfectly happy to 'give it a rest'. lol

[Padraig18]

11. Prove the lie.

Carter never said it was a lie; why would you presume to do so?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

12. That's hilarious.

As if I'm going to run around in a circle trying to prove the obvious to someone who doesn't want to see it.

Dean says one thing; Carter says something that contradicts it. One of them is telling the truth; the other one isn't. It's not necessary for Carter to label it, lol.

[Cuban_Liberal]

17. it's not that clear cut, Feanorcurufinwe

The binary thinking on this matter is rather comical. It's entirely possible that Dean asked to come down and that Carter INVITED him to come on a certain day, although I believe that the actual 'invitation' was to go to church with the Carter's.

My question is this: If President Carter not only doesn't think it's a big deal, but goes on to heap rather lavish praise on Dr. Dean, why should anyone else care? Ask yourself that, and get back to me, OK? :)

[Feanorcurufinwe]

18. Look, you can spin it however you want, the facts are available

for all of us to interpret. I don't need to spin it, or explain why it means something different than what it appears.

“I didn’t invite him, but I’m glad he came,” the former President told reporters shortly before he conducted one of his frequent Sunday School classes at Maranatha Baptist Church. “He called me on the phone and said he’d like to come worship with me. … He called and asked me if it would be all right.” As for the timing, Carter’s son Chip later told reporters that the former President had also offered Dean dates in February and March. It was Dean — not Carter — who picked the day before the caucuses. Dean may not even be the only Democratic candidate who gets to boast a church date with the former President. Carter said retired General Wesley Clark has also asked for an opportunity to visit him in Plains and worship with him, and that he expects to be able to arrange one.

Though the event’s main value was as a media spectacle, reporters were kept out of the church, except for a brief photo opportunity, and could hear most of the service only from an overflow room. (As a result, none of them actually got to hear Carter’s brief introduction of Dean in the church; the former President was not wearing a microphone at the time.) And the subsequent public appearance by the two on the Main Street of Plains — all eight minutes and 25 seconds of it — fell well short of even a hint at an endorsement by Carter. He praised Dean for his outspokenness against the Iraq War, which Carter also opposed, and the two of them noted that Dean had gotten his start in politics by working in Carter’s 1980 campaign in Vermont. What neither one noted, however, was that this was the race that Carter lost.
http://www.time.com/time/election2004/article/0,18471,579006,00.html

[Cuban_Liberal]

21. It's such an incredible non-issue.

I'm just taken aback at the amount of energy being put forth about this, and the level of outright hatred clearly behind it. It's just mind-boggling, over something that's not a big deal! :wow:

[MercutioATC]

14. Relax, Padraig...not worth it...

Arguing nuances never is...let's let the next few primaries (and weeks of fundraising) speak.

There are always people who can view an event differently, even if they see the same thing as you.

This one (this post, not poster, lest I be misinterpreted) isn't worth your effort.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

15. It's never worth the effort to try to convince people that black is white

Agreed.

[MercutioATC]

20. Ahhh, my meaning gets twisted again...

:eyes:

[funky_bug]

13. I couldn't agree more

Sounds like sour grapes from those who didn't get such lauded words of praise.

As a Clark supporter, it makes me sad to see this.

[dfong63]

16. eat your heart out - Carter gave his blessing to Dean, not Kerry

[Feanorcurufinwe]

19. LOL why didn't Carter endorse Dean?

Yeah, they went to church together, so Carter 'gave Dean his blessing'. But instead of endorsing him, Carter went out of his way to tell reporters that he didn't invite him.

[Cuban_Liberal]

22. Is there so little difference between the candidate you support...

and Dr. Dean, that this becomes a major bone of contention? Dear God, I hope not... :eyes:

[Snivi Yllom]

8. Carter Rocks

Although I wish it was a true endorsement.
It will come.