Am I the only person who was disappointed by the Dean speech?

[saracat]

He is usually passionate and articulate. He seemed to be flat , and wooden. There was no enthusiasm and he even lost his place as he read! What was up with that? He has known he had to give this speech for a while!

[pdxmike]

1. We'll see on 2/17

When Dean debates Perle here in PDX. Man, I can't wait!!

[paineinthearse]

2. I didn't see it so can't comment, but

I do have one question. What did he have to say about the stolen election and election law reform?

[saracat]

5. I just reread the speech. Nothing. He said nothing

about election reform or a stolen election.

[fooj]

11. I think he took to the podium again after his initial speech. I heard

him say that his first piece of business as the DNC Chair was to address the voting irregularities in Ohio. He went on to say more but I can't remember his exact wording. He sure does seem to evoke alot of emotion from the other side. That can only be a good thing!

[xxqqqzme]

17. he addressed it later

I was particularly imprssed w/ the mini press conference. When he refused 2 answer the 'blind quote' (some say) question and said why, I was applauding him. He re-phrased the abortion question and re-framed it as a woman's health issue. He brushed aside the question about Iraq saying, 'my views have been well covered' and that it is an issue that the democratic congressional leadership will address; he doesn't vote - they do....he is refusing 2 let the MSM define him. They R going 2 have 2 ask him issue/policy questions. He is re-educating the MSM. Howard was great. I feel better about the Democratic party now than I have in a long time. Now if only the CA Dem party would get up and fight.

[paineinthearse]

18. Crap!!!!

Kerry and McCauliff (sp?) didn't say anything, either. Guess they're all afraid of stepping on rethug toes. Wimps!

p.s. Can you post the transcript?

[DFLforever]

34. Here it is:

We believe that every single American has a voice and that it should be heard in the halls of power every day. And most importantly, it ought to be heard by guaranteeing an open and fair vote on Election Day.


Text of the acceptance speech:

http://www.democrats.org/news/200502120001.html

[pdurod1]

3. I don't know how much tv commercials cost...

But Dean and Kerry connected big time with me during the Iowa primaries

[saracat]

6. What has that to do with the original question?

[pdurod1]

15. Simple: The topic motivated me to respond.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

[EST]

4. I watched it all.

He was concise, effective, and on point, but the expected fire-and-brimstone quality was definitely missing. Seeing that the neocon media would be much agog for blooper sound bites, I imagine a deliberate, measured tread surely his aim.

[saracat]

7. He was concise and on point , but he was woodenly reading and

he definitely lost his place a few times. Not for long, just stumbled a bit. I was surprised.Even when he isn't "fire and brimstone" he is a good speaker. I have seen him in person several times and he was always good, even extempore, and this was very odd. Wooden and flat. I wonder why? It was almost as if he weren't prepared and yet, the speech was written. Who knows?

[EST]

10. My impression was he'd been up all night

And they did say he had to go directly to give another one, and somebody had lost it. Saw 'em hunting and muttering.

[Erika]

8. Dean is a doctor

He actually gained a degree as a MD. Unlike Lott and Bush, he was not a cheerleader on his college team.

He was first class. The media made up the hysteria on his so called scream. Both he and his wife are first class doctors and professionals. He will reserve his passion for when he needs it.

He did great.

[JI7]

9. maybe he didn't want to give the right wing media anything

which they could take out of context and keep playing over and over again.

[EST]

13. My point, exactly.

[WI_DEM]

12. oh well, can't always be a hit

as I remember a fella named Bill Clinton gave a very wooden speech at the 1988 Democratic Convention and when he came to the words, "In Conclusion..." the place erruupted in applause. I guess everybody is entitled to an off day, so I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

[MADem]

14. Yeah, I think that one makes the history books

...as one of the longest speeches in the history of the convention process. He took a load of ribbing about it on the late night circuit, and his willingness to laugh at himself was one of the aspects that made him start to appeal to a lot of Americans.

I think, given the "inside baseball" infighting about who would get the DNC chair (there was an awful lot of impassioned lobbying going on at the outset), he probably figures the best bet is to give your basic speech, and lay low for now. Perhaps there are a couple of folk who are still smarting, and he's not interested in riling them up.

Give him a few days, and he'll be in the groove and charging---he'll be kicking ass in Iowa, in Oklahoma, in New York, in California, in New Mexico, in Texas....well, you get the idea!!!!

[Adelante]

24. Ha!

I think it was 12 hours long, that speech.

[saracat]

29. Very true. I just wondered why, as He is usually very good.

[Romberry]

16. This wasn't a campiagn speech meant to fire up...

...a red-meat kind of audience. This was an acceptance speech from a man who is looking to lead a diverse party home from the wilderness. If he had been "fired up" you'd be seeing talking heads yacking about irrelvant crapola like "temperament" for months to come. His speech was exactly what it needed to be under the circumstances.

Now, in answer to your question: No, I am sure that you are not the only person in the world who was disappointed. Some Democrats and many, many Republicans were, I am sure, hugely disappointed -- but for different reasons.

[RetroLounge]

19. Yes, you are.

RL

[Carolab]

20. He's not running for office. He's trying to reform the party.

His attitude was serious, which is wholly appropriate, given the incredibly difficult nature of this job. Also, I am QUITE sure he'd rather be president and this was one way the DLC could prevent another run in 2008. Notice how he keeps saying that he won't run then? And you know, he always keeps his promises. I say, LET'S DRAFT HIM to run again, after he's taken the reins of the party and gotten things underway...in about a year.

[Ashamed_American]

21. Alright kids,

who's got a video clip??


www.BlackEyedSundays.com

[janx]

33. You can tap into it here:

http://www.democrats.org/index2.html

High res or lower res.

[THUNDER HANDS]

22. why were you expecting a fiery Howard Dean?

From what I heard, Dean was a bit of a stiff for the 12 years he spent as governor and nobody was more shocked than the people of Vermont at how passionate he was during the primaries.

If he came across as flat, I'd imagine that's closer to the real Howard Dean - the one who's elected, rather than the one who's trying to be.

[janx]

23. "Wooden" ?

Where have I heard that before? ;-)

[saracat]

27. Please. If it is true it is true, regardless of" who" said it!

And this was very unusual for Dean. That is the only reason I commented.

[janx]

28. Except that it isn't true.

There was nothing "wooden" about the speech at all. It was a serious speech. There was subtle humor a couple of times. "Wooden" it was not.
So I guess I disagree.

[saracat]

30. Okay. We differ.I coach candidates and politicians on speechmaking

and it was obvious he was reading.

[janx]

31. Yes, he was reading. And yes, he didn't do much of that during

his primary campaign. But this wasn't a primary campaign, and chances are he wanted everyone to know that.

[ClassWarrior]

25. Is there anything the Democrats do that DOESN'T disappoint you??

Just curious.

NGU.

[saracat]

26. The fact that they elected Dean Chair excites me. I am proud that Dr. Dean

chose to run for DNC Chair. The way Kerry has been conducting himself makes me proud. I admire his votes and diplomatic missions. I am pleased that he has been prominent unlike Gore.I am very proud of Barabara Boxer. I am proud of my own state chair for going to the left. I am proud of the grass roots effort.
That being said , I retain my right to criticise or comment when I don't approve,.I think you have to recognize a problem in order to fix it. And all Democrats are not the same in my opinion.

[ClassWarrior]

32. That being said, I have never seen a thread started by you that says...

...that you are "proud that Dr. Dean chose to run for DNC Chair"... that "the way Kerry has been conducting himself" makes you proud... that you "admire his votes and diplomatic missions"... that you are "pleased that he has been prominent unlike Gore"... that you are "very proud of Barabara Boxer"... that you are "proud of my own state chair for going to the left"... or that you are "proud of the grass roots effort."

I only see threads from you that agonize over your disappointments.

Why is that? Just curious.

NGU.

[saracat]

35. You don't notice the others? There are lots of my threads particularly

praising Kerry. I have repeatedly stated my support for Dr. Dean as chair. There may have been more posts venting than there are praising because there is more to vent about than praise. As far as I am concerned, we are barely crawling our way back to where we should be as a party. It is going to take a lot of effort, and a lot of time. Many in the Democratic Party ARE DINOS, and are going to resist change. It may be that the Party WON"T change for what I consider,(my opinion), the better. If we do go to the center, that would not, IMHO, be for the better. But if that is what most want, that is the way it will be. So far, I am hopeful.
But I see no reason not to express my displeasure when I observe "backsliding". People can agree with me or not. These are just my opinions.

[ClassWarrior]

37. I'd like to see some links.

NGU.

[saracat]

38. Go look in the Kerry Group And BTW

that was insulting.

[ClassWarrior]

39. It's insulting to hear nothing but "disappointment" - even over...

...some of our biggest recent victories.

NGU.

[saracat]

44. I guess anyone having a differing opinion insults you.

And other than Sen. Boxer being pro active and the election of Dr. Dean, what were those "big " victories? Just curious. I don't see that we won anything yet.

[googly]

36. Dean's NOT running, his main job is to collect campaign CASH

and get on sunday TV shows.

[lojasmo]

40. It was a ninety second speech......

He stated his thankfulness for the position, hit the administration for it's budget and for gutting social security, and stated that we needed to work in every precinct to take our country back.....

It was a great little speech.

[Teaser]

41. Yes

you are.

[Eloriel]

42. The speech was great, the delivery sucked. It happens sometimes.

He had an off hour or something. :shrug:

[bklyncowgirl]

43. I thought it was pretty good--trying to avoid the fireworks maybe.

Wouldn't want to give the other side any amunition.