Buck up, Dean folks. Kerry was declared "finished" for months

[jpgray]

See how the popular conceptions of the race can shift? How ironic does a toon like this look now?



The pundits know ZERO, they are paid to fill up time with worthless horse race prognostications and ill-informed assumptions as to "what voters want". They will comment on clothes, negativity and form personality caricatures because it's what they're paid to do. Wolf Blitzer, Judy Woodruff and Paula Zahn like Bush, and they want him elected. That's just CNN--this is true for about 90% of cable news coverage.

There were pundits in newspapers who, from start to finish, for twenty months, worked on the "phony Gore". There were columnists who injected that concept into virtually EVERY article they did on the campaign--the WP's Ceci Connolly, for example.

The media bias is something we just have to deal with. Dean made a HUGE mistake in giving the media a gift-wrapped video that gives credence to all their assertions about "the angry candidate". It would be like Kerry hosting a caviar brunch with NH bluebloods to kick off his primary campaign, or Edwards shaking a baby rattle during a speech.

But Kerry came back from being a "go-nowhere campaign-firing Brahmin with $200 hair" to winning Iowa, and Dean can make a similar comeback.

[niceypoo]

1. Clinton .....

placed fourth in the Iowa primary in 92'

[Beaker]

3. Clinton was never polling way ahead of the pack before Iowa either-

so comparing Dean's performance to his isn't really fair.

[funky_bug]

4. I thought it was 3rd

I had heard (and believe I saw while researching the caucus) that Dean placed 3rd in Iowa. If so, I'd say an IA 3rd is a pretty good omen!

[Beaker]

2. the BIG and IMPORTANT difference-

Dean was doing well before any voters actually had their say.

now is when it starts to really count.

[molly]

5. You are correct - Clinton was way down BEFORE

the Iowa caucus - he was in single digits the beginning of January - his numbers didn't fall - they rose.

[Monte Carlo]

6. I heard "Kerry's lackluster campaign is finished" for months, and...

... we know now how all of that summed up to a big, fat nothing. I guess it shows that...

All you need is heart
Miles and miles and miles of heart
When they say that
You'll never win
Thats when the grin
Should start