INSITEVIEW- - tom shugart's weblog

Wednesday, July 02, 2003

Washington Disconnect

Another post on Howard Dean. I guess this is Dean Week for Insiteview. I’m paying for it with a precipitous drop in hits. I always seem to strike out when I go political on these pages. But, Fuggit! A blogger’s got to blog about what’s at the forefront of his mind. I’d rather risk hits than authenticity.

There’s a lot of media buzz going on right now about Dean. But is he peaking too early? Howard Fineman takes a look at that possibility. Terry Dean (no relation) of the Washington Post submits a comprehensive look at the Dem’s fund-raising dance from a number of angles. Highly interesting and informativive.

A number of commentators have dubbed Dean’s performance on Meet The Press as a dud. Some have even called it a “disaster.” They cite the fact that Dean responded, “I don’t know the answer to that,” to several questions. This is simply not done Inside The Beltway. It’s pure heresy.

It's hard to believe that these Insiders were watching the same interview that I did. This, after all, was the very interview that got me excited about the guy. I’m no sage, but I sure as hell ain’t no dummy either. These so-called “experts” just don’t get it.

The best retort to their myopic perspective comes from Dean’s campaign manager, Joe Trippi. A campaign manager is just about the last person I would ever expect to be quoting. But, hey, I’m flexible. If the words are right, I say quote ‘em. I even quoted Hermann Goering once in this blog. So why not a campaign manager?

Here’s what Joe Trippi had to say:

”There's a huge disconnect between Washington and the rest of the country, and you have to ask yourself why is that," Trippi said. "Part of it is because if in Washington he says I don't know the answer to something, everybody says, 'Oh my God can you believe that? And at home, everybody else around America is going, 'Wow, did you hear that guy, did you what he said? I've never heard anyone say something like that. I like him."

Totally on the money, Joe. The point could not be made more succinctly.

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