Press Cooking Dean's Goose
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 22, 2004; 7:13 AM
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- As if Howard Dean didn't have enough problems after sputtering to a third-place finish in Iowa, the press is starting to question his chances of survival.
"Howard Dean is done," Fred Barnes declared on Fox News. "He's finished . . . he's gone."
"Dean is cratering . . . That speech the other night, he just seemed to go nuts," Hotline's Craig Crawford said on CNBC.
"A lethal self-injection," said MSNBC's Mike Barnicle.
A New York Post cover featuring Dean's ill-fated, bellowing, cringe-inducing post-Iowa rant, says it could produce "Howard's End."
CNN plays up a Boston Herald tracking poll showing John Kerry jumping out to a 10-point lead here and former senator John Durkin dropping his endorsement.
Never mind that the collective press corps, with few exceptions, was way too quick to write off Kerry in Iowa, and barely paid attention to John Edwards until his final-week surge. The prognosticators are back in the prediction business.
One thing, though, is clear. As I interviewed people about the Democratic candidates, nearly every one, without prompting, brought up Dean's screechy rallying cry Monday night and said it turned them off. It might have been the most damaging candidate moment captured on tape since Mike Dukakis rode around in that tank, or since a choked-up Ed Muskie railed against the Manchester Union Leader in a snowstorm here 32 years ago. There are few moments when a candidate is in the national TV spotlight this early in the season, and Dean's outburst came at the worst possible time.
CNN's Anderson Cooper mockingly played the end of Dean's rant five times in a row -- five times! -- and David Letterman had Dean's head blow up. Howard Stern has made it into a song with the sound of women moaning.
It is possible, of course, that Dean, who raised $40 million last year, will come roaring back, making this media death watch look ridiculously premature. It is also possible that the air is rapidly leaking from his balloon. No one knows. Tonight's WMUR debate could be big for him.
to be continued |
