Kathleen Parker
The importance of being presidential
newsandopinion.com | WASHINGTON — In his State of the Union address, President Bush offered few surprises, other than his weird concern about steroid use among athletes, but he did demonstrate something reassuring.
He conveyed that he has grown into his role. As he strode down the center aisle toward the lectern in the House chamber, greeting members of Congress, Cabinet members and generals, Bush looked the part: dignified, warm, comfortable in his skin, more statesman than cowboy, fully possessed of that rare quality we call class. In a word, he was presidential.
And then there was Iowa. The Democrats have some work to do.
Howard Dean's rant following his third place in the Iowa caucuses - already dubbed the "I Have a Scream" speech - will be forever embedded in the American psyche as the night Dean lost it. His control, his image and probably his nomination.
Pushing up his shirtsleeves and looking like he might bust a carotid artery, Dean began shouting: "We will not quit now or ever!"
"Not only are we going to New Hampshire ... we're going to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico, and we're going to California and Texas and New York. And we're going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan. And then we're going to Washington, D.C., to take back the White House.
"YEAHHHH!!!"
Actually, no. |
