Something to keep an eye out for: if by the time of the Democratic convention the delegate situation is such that no one candidate has quite enough to win – or one does, but he’s on the razor’s edge – and you see a report that calls into question the delegate selection methods of any state caucus… call out sick, nuke some popcorn and fire up C-Span, because there’s going to be a no-holds-barred brawl on the convention floor and you’ll kick yourself if you end up missing it.
Just thought that I’d mention.
I fear a less severe version of 1968 (no assassinations or violence at the convention, just a drawn out, bitter campaign.) But I think it’s unlikely.
I finally screwed up my courage watched the Yawp Heard Round the World. And yeah, it’s embarrasing, and the timing couldn’t have been worse. But not half as bad as I was led to believe. People who were there said a big part of the problem is that on TV, he is mic’d and the crowd is not–but in reality you couldn’t have heard him unless he was yelling.
And the media reaction–still, 48 hours later, is ridiculous. Descending into self-parody levels of ridiculous; you wonder if they’re being deliberately stupid, or you’ve wandered into a parallel universe. Complete with the “soul-searching” about whether they’ve been blowing it out of proportion–but no, Joe Klein tells Anderson Cooper, it couldn’t be, because they’ve joked about it on Letterman and Leno–and once you hit the talk shows, clearly it’s far bigger and more powerful than they could have hoped to contain. And Chris Matthews asks some panelist–sure, he can try to recover, but dear God–what if they make fun of him on Saturday Night Live this weekend? When a politician becomes the butt of jokes, there’s no hope for his campaign.
The debate seemed to change very little. Dean was quite good, but he might have needed to be more than good; Edwards has the best debating skills by far but was surprisingly weak on substance a few times; Kerry was fine but forgettable; Clark hurt himself some.
And the interview. I don’t know about the effect on the average NH undecided, but at the very least it will do a lot to bring wavering supporters back to the fold. I mean, how can you read this:
and not feel kind of guilty for considering switching?
And the scoop on the Deans’ bizarre marriage is this: They’re a sweet, normal, decent couple, with their priorities in exactly the right place. They could be my aunt and uncle, or my friend’s parents. Maybe they’re better off being spared the inevitable ugliness of the general election, and maybe he is unelectable. But if so it says more about our country, its electoral process, and its press corps, than it does about Dean.
Wow. Is this the longest comment ever? I’m less bitter than I was last night, just very sad & wistful.