InstaPundit
Gephardt: You have to feel bad for the guy. It's like Charlie Brown and the football -- it gets snatched away every time. He's a decent guy, and he deserved better and I feel kind of bad for him.
Dean: He's mad as hell, and he thinks he was robbed. Two things really struck me about his speech -- the way that as he thanked Tom Harkin and the AFSCME, they seemed to visibly deflate, and just how mad he really was. I think he feels he's been screwed by the media and by the Democratic Party. Also, as I channel-surfed and listened to the commentary, I got the sense that the press people really hate him. I'm pretty sure that the feeling is mutual. (Read this commentary by Taegan Goddard, too.)
What Happened to Dean?
In an initial look at the results in Iowa, it appears that at least three major factors contributed to Howard Dean's plunge from assumed front-runner to disappointed third place finisher.
Dean's "outsider campaign" had trouble assimilating insiders. His plunge coincided almost perfectly with endorsements from Al Gore, the ultimate insider, and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), the most coveted endorsement in the state.
Negative ads by Dean and Rep. Dick Gephardt worked perfectly in that nearly destroyed each other.
The capture of Saddam Hussein made the pro-war votes by Sen. John Kerry and Sen. John Edwards more palatable to many Democratic voters. In addition, Dean's first reaction to the news raised many eyebrows.
Edwards: Missed most of this, but he seemed classy and smart.
Kerry: National health insurance? This is the time to talk about national health insurance? The overall tone of Kerry's talk suggested that he thinks Edwards is the guy to worry about. But he would have done better if his talk had been shorter. A lot shorter. Short enough that Hardball wouldn't cut away for a far-more-entertaining grilling of Chris Lehane, about which I expect Mickey Kaus will have more shortly. . . .
Overall, I'd say that this is good news for the Democrats, and for the country, and bad news for Bush and the Republicans, who would have much preferrred a smashing Dean victory. |
