"It's all over, Kerry won...

[Redneck Socialist]

pack it up, primaries over. Nothing to see here move along."

That's the spin I'm hearing this morning. "Dean goes down in flames! What did Dean do wrong? What is he going to change?"

Blah, blah, blah. What crap.

What is your take on the media spin this morning?

[WilliamPitt]

1. I keep hearing the Talking Heads

"...same as it ever was...same as it ever was..."

New Hampshire is wide open. Turn off the TV.

[quaker bill]

6. Agreed

NH is wide open. Dean did nothing wrong. He was hammered from all sides. However, there can be no doubt, Kerry and Edwards did some things right.

[tigereye]

2. remember Clinton didn't do so well in Iowa the first time

either. It ain't over til it's over.

[zbdent]

14. Just remember, although it's not really the same process - Bush lost NH

and yet, after attacking McCain, he went on to win his nomination.

I know that a caucus is not a primary, but the issue in a caucus is issues, right?

Bush winning the Presidency is still in question.

Especially when you consider that the "liberal media" was pushing the idea of "What if Bush wins the popular vote but not the electoral vote?"

[styersc]

25. But Clinton had not been the front runner when he got hias clock cleaned

in Iowa.

The primary system is about winnowing down to the best candidate. The speech Kerry gave last night was the best I've heard out of him and I expect to hear alot more.

Kerry has the momentum and the candidacy is his to lose.

I hope that Dean supporters will remember Dean standing on the stage and asking for a pledge from all of the candidates to support the candidate.

[KittyWampus]

3. Kerry Will Get Pumped By The Media

And it will ultimately be the Kiss of Death.

Although the GOP and the Media don't realise that their tactics are backfiring.

Kerry is being out manuevered as is Edwards.

[PATRICK]

4. As dumb as they have ever been

Even given a Democratic landslide you can't make a silk purse out of their lead ears or wisdom from their brass mouths. The party has its own fish to fry to get back on track. If the media can't manage it's own raison d'etre without dissolving into sophomoric pretensions we''ll have to find other means of reaching people's clouded minds.

[jonnyblitz]

5. It's the spin with a some here at DU also.

well, not so much that kerry one and it's over..but that Dean is gone and out of here.

[Mz Pip]

7. Laughable

The polls, the pundits and the media were so far off in NH, I don't give them any credibility predicting what will happen next. None.

Their MO is not news, it's entertainment. Whatever their agenda was coming into this election season, they seem to have failed. Good.

MzPip
:dem:

[K8-EEE]

8. Dean's Speech Killed Him

I don't think coming in 3rd was anywhere near as damaging as that nutty speech. For that I don't blame anybody in the Dean camp except for Dean. And this is coming from somebody who actually gave Dean $100! Which might not seem like a lot of money for most people but it's as much as I've given anybody, ever. So I had no hositility toward Dean going in but man he did himself in, that was my thought seeing that speech last night, before I heard any commmentary on it at all.

[Hoosier Democrat]

12. That Speech was TOO WEIRD!

I'm another Dean Donor who watched that speech and thought "Get this man OFF the Mt. Dew NOW!!" I hate to say it, but I thought he looked raving last night. Check out Drudge's website fro some very less-than-flattering photos that will probably show up in some ads very soon.

[GainesT1958]

15. I was prepared to remind everybody...

That Dr. Dean was still the "front-runner" in New Hampshire and in several other places...

Then, I thought about his "scene" last night.

My wife, an ancestral Wisconsin liberal Dem. who lived in Chicago for 17 years (should tell ya plenty about HER political leanings!) came into the den asking, "Who is that man yelling?" I had the displeasure (even being for a rival of his, Gen. Clark, it was still a displeasure) of telling her, "It's Howard Dean...can you believe him?"

"No," she said, "he sounds like he's lost it".

"Apparently", I responded, "he has...in more ways than one!"

Now, I don't blame the Doctor for saying he was "just having a little fun with all those dedicated young people who came to Iowa to work hard for me"; really, I don't. But let's face it, folks...that sort of fun was best had at a "youth rally" DURING a campaign, not for what ammounted to a concession speech after you've just polled 14 points behind John Edwards and 20 points shy of John Kerry---and the first time many voters have seen you at any kind of speech situation. My wife had to pick up her jaw off of the carpet and put it back into place, and so did I with mine.

One word does come to mind, especially for the uninitiated:

Scary.

As WILL stated above, this is now a wide-open race, to be decided after---possibly WELL after--the Feb. 3 states. The "Final Four" supporters; those of Kerry, Dean, Clark, and Edwards, had better brace themselves--OURselves--for that fact, and all the hard knocks and inevitable mud-slinging that goes with it. If it's not a marathon now, it's at least more like the 1500 meters!

:kick:

B-)

[soleft]

17. I seriously did not sleep well last night because of it

I woke up to Howard Stern playing the speech over and over again with acid rock playing in the background.

I don't know what's going to happen. If Dean can somehow overcome this then I'll be the happiest dem around. But I'm not going to be in denial and say that speech was disturbing.

[Tom Rinaldo]

19. I'll try to be low key

I am afraid you are right. I'm old enough to remember the way the front running Ed Muskie campaign simply collapsed after he seemingly cried on camera while talking about attacks on his family. There is absolutely nothing fair about it. The problem for Dean will be two fold. First, after coming in a distant third in Iowa, people will be asking why he did not do better to begin with. Then along comes this video clip of a revved up Dean shouting, and some people will put those two together and see it as proof of the charge that already was out there, that "Dean is too angry" to win the Presidency. This will not help Dean pick up support, it will cause more leakage at a time when he has to reestablish momentum.

I am not wishing this prediction on Dean. I will never argue anywhere that that frozen video moment proves anything negative about Dean's ability to win or be a great President. I know that clip was just a snippet from one speech. I know Dean was trying to fire up his troops, which is one of the things you have to do after a set back. And I know that Dean, like all of the guys running, was well past the point of total exhaustion last night.

I am dropping all further personal commentary on this. I said this here once, that's enough. I do not want Dean's campaign, or anyone's for that matter, to turn on a fifteen second piece of footage where he did NOT say a single word that is objectionable to anyone.

[Ridley Park 704]

21. Why was he so happy?

I was floored the way he came out like he just became President-elect. I mean, he wasn't even second place. I expected a glum Dean to enter the room and walk to the podium and make a half hearted speech.

I fear his enemies will play this up, calling him a loose cannon who can't be trusted.

I know things can change no matter what Iowa says, but it just looked incongruous. As if the Eagles did cartwheels after losing to Carolina.

[Warren Stuart]

9. My take - this is good for Edwards

This kind of reminds me of car or Bicycle races, where you don't want to be the front runner, but instead want to be in a close second and draft the leader, then overtake him when he gets tired.

First Dean was the front runner, then the slime machine got into gear and Howard got knocked a peg or two. Now Kerry is the front runner, we can only guess when the slime machine goes into action, it will be soon.

So who is left? Edwards.

Edwards won't be slimed as easily as Kerry or Dean, when it is his turn to walk point, he will do so gracefully and will deflect the slime back onto Bush.

President Edwards - Get used to it.

[JohnLocke]

23. kick

[Hoosier Democrat]

10. As A Dean Supporter

I can't say what actually went wrong last night. One source from the Dean campaign was quoted on CNN last night as saying that the "Duel to the Death" with Gephardt turned into a murder/suicide. I have to agree.

As to declaring Kerry the de facto nominee, I think that's being a bit presumptuous. Kerry will get a bounce from Iowa, but New Hampshire is now a four-man race. I see it as crucial for Dean to win New Hampshire to stay viable, likewise for Kerry. Clark can afford a decent second-place showing before heading South. Edwards can place as low as third (provided the numbers are good).

As for Lieberman, I think we can quote David Spade on SNL "Buh-Bye!"

[eleny]

11. The media can't handle that the Dems have such a deep bench

Nuts to the media and their confused state of mind. We can make up our own minds.. I'm a Clark supporter but I say "Go Howard, Go!" I like his passion. For me, it overshadows the "reading" of the SOTU speech. I hear * is practicing like mad. What a joke. After Dean's passion, the shrub will look like a... a... a shrub!

[deminflorida]

13. The media knows that their chances for Dean are slim to none

now, unless he runs on the Tarzan Political Party ticket against Bush, and the Democratic Party desolves. They want the next best thing for Bush now which is a "Rich, New England Liberal".

A Southern Four Star General or what is starting to look like an honest Clinton from North Carolina is scaring the shit out of them.

They put their chances at 33% of getting what they want. Look for big-time coverage of Kerry over the next three weeks.

[neverforget]

16. It's only the beginning, not the end.

[diamond14]

18. Please unify behind Kerry....we welcome all Deanies to the winning

ticket.....Kerry...you'll love it here....there are thousands of Kerry supporters...young, old, all colors and races, enthusiastic, upbeat, cheerful, great Americans to work with, people who care about communities and about changing America to make it better...we work hard and have fun doing it....it's just not as regimented, there are no orange hats and color-coded armbands here...


it's time to stop the bickering and STAND UP strong for the winner...



the caucuses were not even close...Dean was beat fair and square....38% for Kerry, only 18% for Dean in one of the largest turnouts ever..... 2 to 1 victory for Kerry...

Please join us and unite behind Kerry, so we can WIN the White House...we need YOUR help....

http://www.JohnKerry.com

[Hoosier Democrat]

20. This Dean supporter will NOT back Kerry

Sorry, thanks for the invite. I have had problems with John Kerry since his announcement and his win in Iowa didn't change my mind. (No, not sour grapes, just a personal assessment of the Senator.)


If Dean tanks in New Hampshire and I'm forced to go elsewhere, I think I'll go Clark.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. Now way. Not now, not ever.

Kerry sold us out with his vote for war. If he should manage to get the nomination I'll be voting Green without a backward glance.

[styersc]

26. I knew when Dean raised his hand and asked the candidates to pledge

to support the candidate, whoever it was, that it was all a publicity stunt.

Good thing that Dean went insane on TV in Iowa and not as the candidate during the general election. That could have set the party back a decade.

Kerry's going to make a great, liberal, president.

[robbedvoter]

24. Same as "Can HD ve stopped?"- BS!

Only in the former BS people like Al Gore bought in, and many of you guys and it was very disturbing.
We are very far from the fat lady singing - and the pundits are showing their red a* again coronating nominees. Wrong again.
The trick here is to watch your game and not pay attention. Like Ulyses with the sirens.