It is now less than a week until the Iowa Caucuses, which will mark the start of the presidential primary season in the United States. I think the 2016 election cycle is certainly going to be an interesting one, to say the least. A year ago, it looked as though the election was guaranteed to be a Hillary Clinton-Jeb Bush contest; now, Clinton is behind in polling in Iowa and New Hampshire to Senator Bernie Sanders and Bush polls in the single-digits behind other candidates.
While politics should not be entertaining, there is no doubt in my mind that this election will be entertaining due to some of the candidates involved. I reckon that factor will determine the primaries in at least some manner - we shall see.
Showing posts with label New Hampshire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Hampshire. Show all posts
Tuesday, 26 January 2016
Sunday, 19 January 2014
The "Dean Scream"
This time ten years ago, during the United States presidential election of 2004, Vermont Governor Howard Dean gave this infamous speech after finishing third in the Iowa Democratic Caucus:
At the time, Dean had been ill with the flu and the crowd was filled with highly enthusiastic and loud supporters. He had to bellow above the roar of the crowd in order to be heard; unfortunately for him, to those watching television, it appeared as though he were needlessly yelling at a quiet audience. Dean later confirmed that the "Yeah!" he screamed out at the end was due to his voice cracking.
Dean's speech and scream was highlighted as a major reason for his loss in the Democratic primaries to Senator John Kerry. The media subsequently overplayed and mocked his speech, which brought down his poll numbers: at the time of his speech, Dean had held a significant lead in the New Hampshire primary, but when it came to voting day in that state on January 27th, he came in second to Kerry. By the end of the Democratic primaries and caucuses, Dean had only won Vermont and Washington, D.C.
It's a shame, as back then I thought that Dean would have been a good Democratic candidate and president; I also thought that his scream speech was impressive. Fortunately, despite his defeat in the presidential primaries, Dean is far from being some forgotten politician: his 50-state strategy to help Democrats compete and win elections in heavily Republican areas and his campaign's use of the Internet to mobilize voters were used by President Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates in the 2008 and 2012 elections, and I'm sure that Democratic candidates will continue to use the Dean-Obama model for the foreseeable future.
I should also note that it was because of Dean that my brother and I became interested in politics. We might not have followed the 2004 election - and might have had less interest in subsequent elections - had it not been for him.
At the time, Dean had been ill with the flu and the crowd was filled with highly enthusiastic and loud supporters. He had to bellow above the roar of the crowd in order to be heard; unfortunately for him, to those watching television, it appeared as though he were needlessly yelling at a quiet audience. Dean later confirmed that the "Yeah!" he screamed out at the end was due to his voice cracking.
Dean's speech and scream was highlighted as a major reason for his loss in the Democratic primaries to Senator John Kerry. The media subsequently overplayed and mocked his speech, which brought down his poll numbers: at the time of his speech, Dean had held a significant lead in the New Hampshire primary, but when it came to voting day in that state on January 27th, he came in second to Kerry. By the end of the Democratic primaries and caucuses, Dean had only won Vermont and Washington, D.C.
It's a shame, as back then I thought that Dean would have been a good Democratic candidate and president; I also thought that his scream speech was impressive. Fortunately, despite his defeat in the presidential primaries, Dean is far from being some forgotten politician: his 50-state strategy to help Democrats compete and win elections in heavily Republican areas and his campaign's use of the Internet to mobilize voters were used by President Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates in the 2008 and 2012 elections, and I'm sure that Democratic candidates will continue to use the Dean-Obama model for the foreseeable future.
I should also note that it was because of Dean that my brother and I became interested in politics. We might not have followed the 2004 election - and might have had less interest in subsequent elections - had it not been for him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)