Why am I wooed by Dean

by phil on Monday Jan 12, 2004 9:52 PM
Government-OLD

It's not just that Howard Dean was the initial politician slash blogger, but I really like the way he speaks. Many would charge that gephardt, kerry, or edwards have more charisma when they speak, but I like Dean's choice of content.

When Kerry speaks it's all about specific issues, like health care or jobs. For Gephardt the same thing. And for Edwards as it is with the other two, it's all about vague generalities like "change"

For me, Howard Dean talks about philosophies that I understand and find are solid reasons to reject Bush. The primary one I can think of is when Dean charges Bush with running a campaign that divides clearly liberals and conservatives on pure cultural issues. This is so true! And it BOTHERS me! I'm too young to care about specific policies, nor am I an expert... but when someone generalizes and summarizes what's messed up about Bush in a coherent fashion, that wins me over.

Another example is when Dean describes his foreign policy and how the Cold War was largely won because russians loved America. And how America must strike a high moral order. That's great! That makes sense. Instead the other candidates say something like, "we need to unify, blah blah" ... pooey.

Dean's anger does not bother me. And his lack of panache or style is also not important. What matters is what he says, and what he says convinces me that he cares about doing what is right.

(disclaimer: I'm not saying straightup that Dean is the best candidate, just that his oratory wins me over)

Comments

Applejack said on January 23, 2004 11:26 AM:

*screachy "WHHAAHHHH!"

Philip Dhingra said on January 23, 2004 11:35 AM:

God, I love his energy!

*sigh*

But I can feel why a lot of ppl would be averse to this velociraptor being in front of the BIG RED BUTTON which governs our 10,000+ nukes.

Applejack said on January 23, 2004 11:37 AM:

Despite Dean's recent embarasments, I admire his enthusiasm. The mistep he made in addressing his supporters after the Iowa caucuss was a good revealing insight into what makes this candidate tick. Rather than being turned off, I find Dean more appealing because I have to filter through less false pretense, while I have to turn a more scrutinous eye to the other stone faced candidates. True humanity has been lacking from the any candidate for a long time. Unfortunately I think Deans "WHAAHHHHH" will replace Ducakis' tank ride as history's big election faux pas.

Applejack said on January 23, 2004 11:41 AM:

yes... the "WHAAAHHHH" and the nukes are can sound like scary combination, although Bush is far more intimidating (at much greater cost) with his policies.

"WHAHHHHH" = patriotism

Philip Dhingra said on January 24, 2004 9:21 AM:

Hilarious article about the upcoming N.H. Primary by Dave Barry.