Stick a fork in 'im. He's done. (Dean, that is)

[Kal Belgarion]

With tonight's sound defeat of Howard Dean, the nomination can no longer be his. The guy needs to realize that, even though he's raised the most money of any of the candidates, even though he has one the most solid grassroots campaigns the country has ever seen, even though he has climbed from single digits to the front-runner position in a matter of months, and even though he's received the endorsements of many, many top democrats, including President Al Gore, he's done because he finished third in Iowa. </tongue-in-cheek-sarcasm>

The pundits need to realize that this is *Iowa*! Iowa sends .5 of a delegate to the convention; It isn't necessarily the exact representation of the feelings of the entire party, nation-wide. The pundits are writing him off as "yesterday's news", "a man the public has deemed 'too angry' and 'un-electable'". It's only Iowa, people! The only person to come in first in Iowa and then go on to the nomination in the past several decades has been Dubya.

If Howard Dean stumbles in the national polls, and if he loses in NH and on Super Tuesday...*then* the anti-Dean forces can claim victory.

He may have tripped over a hurdle, but it's still possible, even likely, that he'll win the race.

(Edit: Changed title slightly)

[creativelcro]

1. Obviously..

[poskonig]

2. I wouldn't count Dean out.

Dean still has a ton of money and organization. Additionally, NH is in his backyard.

[GainesT1958]

3. KALBELGARION--long time no see!

Hey, bud, it's GainesT from AlGore04--how's it going? :hi:

B-)

[Kal Belgarion]

18. Howdy!

Going fine. Hope you're well, too. Small world, isn't it? :)

[Paragon]

4. Eyes rolling all over DU

Here's mine: :eyes:

[jpgray]

10. Read the thread, friend.

I agree with the poster, Dean is not in any way done.

[Paragon]

14. D'oh.

Sorry, all the ridiculousness about Dean in here tonight has made my trigger finger itchy.

[jpgray]

15. No problem--it's a tense night. (nt)

[Kathleen04]

5. Hey..

isn't that what people said about John Kerry?

I'm not ready to discount Dean.

[Endangered Specie]

6. Wrong my friend...

1992 Iowa Democrats (results are percentages)
Tom Harkin: 76.4
Uncommitted: 11.9
Paul Tsongas: 4.1
Bill Clinton: 2.8                
Bob Kerrey: 2.4
Jerry Brown: 1.6

[Sterling]

7. 2 words

Bill CLinton

[Cuban_Liberal]

8. Dean is still in the thick of it.

I'm not going to kid myself about that fact, and anyone who does is a fool.

[Melinda]

9. Kinda like Clinton in 1992? He lost both Iowa and NH. :-)

Did you stick a fork in Clinton too?

[ACPS65]

23. Clinton did not spend 2 years campaigning in Iowa.

Didn't campaign at all.

[hellhathnofury]

11. Eyes

:eyes:

Don't you think it's sad your defining the other candidates as anti-Dean forces?

[aquanut]

12. Rumors of Dean's death are greatly exaggerated

I'm not a Deanie but I think anyone who thinks Dean, his money, and his organization are gonna pack up and go home now are talking trash.

[calimary]

28. You are correct, aquanut - and welcome to DU, by the way!

Dean suffered a blow tonight, but it's WAY too early to say that blow was fatal. WAY too early. He will likely lose some momentum, though. And if it leads to a non-stellar finish in New Hampshire, THEN we might well have a political obit to write, or to start writing. What mainly happened tonight is that Kerry and Edwards got a major transfusion, which will make them much stronger contenders now. This has put them both on the map.

ALSO: Let's not forget, Wesley Clark has yet to weigh in. New Hampshire will tell MUCH more of the story than Iowa. Dean is down. He's not out. And the Wesley Factor hasn't even gotten in yet.

[jpgray]

13. People, please read more than the title before you respond

I agree that Dean is not out of it yet by far. NH and other primaries will decide Dean's position in the weeks to come.

[jpgray]

24. SERIOUSLY, READ BEYOND THE TITLE FOR TWO SECONDS (nt)

[Frances]

16. Stick a fork in anyone who says this about any Dem

I come to DU because I am a Dem & I don't like negative subject lines about any Dem candidate

[onecitizen]

17. Man in my mood I was ready.............

to jump ugly on you! Glad I read the whole post!}(

[Stuckinthebush]

19. OK...I've been out of touch for the past five days

When I left for Orlando and Mickeyland, Dean was in a dead heat with Gep. What the hell happened? I'm stunned.

Will somebody recap the events of the past five days for me so I can understand what the hell happened?

Oh...Mickey says Hi.

[mvd]

20. If Dean loses New Hampshire,

I will worry. The Iowa results really surprised me, but Dean's very good at rallying his supporters. And he certainly has money.

[KittyWampus]

21. Seems Like A Niave Opinion

[Adjoran]

22. Dean's not done

but he now needs a strong win in NH to regain some momentum, or he is in trouble.

Comparison to Clinton are wishful thinking. Clinton didn't compete in Iowa because Harkin was running as a favorite son. His second in NH was hailed as a victory because of the Flowers scandal that broke just before the primary. But Clinton never needed a win in NH, he was from the south and that was his power base.

Dean, OTOH, is from New England and hasn't spent much time or money in the south. Kerry doubled his total in Iowa, and Edwards nearly did, too. NH is as critical to Dean as SC was to Bush in 2000 primaries.

[Eurobabe]

25. ouch...

but i agree. the voters have had their say. let the games begin. congrats to kerry and edwards.

[mot78]

26. Don't count Dean out at all

The law of election 2004 physics states that the opposite of the conventional wisdom will always occur.

[deakonblues2k]

27. Ahhh...Dean is done

Yes, its true that many others have lost Iowa and come back to win the nomination...and many the presidency. But lets be a little honest here.

1. All of these men want the nomination. They will fight hard to get it.
2. Dean has a fantastic grass roots movement. But he needs foundation
3. The foundation as an angry man from a small state is not gonna help.
4. The majority of votes want W out...Not to 'send a message'.
5. Dean is many times his own worst enemy. He plays to the media, then tells them to go away. They say "Where is your wife?" And at first he says she's working...then he trots her out for a photo op. Dean made his bones by managing the media...now they are managing him.
6. His story is yesterday's news. Once you've made it to the mountaintop from the valley, the media wants to see you slide back to where you came from. Case in point all the "stunning upsets" from Kerry and Edwards. They now have the story that will get all the ink.

Just something to think about.