Dean shows he's a survivor
THE STORY LINE that was supposed to finish off Howard Dean -- the crazy screamer married to the feminist frump -- did not entirely accomplish its mission. The Dean campaign is not totally dead. Not yet.
Dean fought back hard in New Hampshire, reclaiming some of the dignity and credibility he deserves as a citizen-politician who over the last year captured a broad cadre of loyal supporters and raised nearly $40 million.
In a speech to supporters last night, Dean said: "The people of New Hampshire have allowed our campaign to regain its momentum. The people of New Hampshire have allowed you to hope we are going to have real change." He started off reading remarks but ended up putting down the text and just talking. That kind of off-the-cuff campaigning won the hearts of early Dean supporters but cost him in Iowa and New Hampshire. Last night it also cost him television coverage; CNN cut to an interview with first-place finisher John Kerry.
The Dean campaign hoped to close the gap between Dean and Kerry to single digits. That didn't happen. But Dean supporters tried to pump the second-place finish on its own merits. "Howard Dean took one of the toughest body blows in the history of presidential politics in Iowa," said Steve Grossman, a former Democratic National Committee chairman and a Dean backer. "He came back to New Hampshire and built a relationship with these voters to the point where he has the credibility, the money, the organization, and the message to continue to compete aggressively with John Kerry and the rest of the field."
With full acknowledgment of Dean's shortcomings as a conventional candidate, it was stomach-turning to see the news tilt after he finished third in Iowa. So he yelled or howled or cowboyed up -- however you want to describe it -- before a crowd of supporters after a disappointing finish in Iowa. Is that reason to chortle and smirk while broadcasting the Iowa moment over and over in a blatant effort to transform a Yale-educated MD and former governor into Dr. Demento? Apparently it is in this era of cable television journalism.
The media reduced Dean to a caricature. But Dean went back to voters, and his campaign went back to its donor base. Since Saturday night, Dean raised more than $600,000, according to the campaign website.
Dean started to show a more human side in New Hampshire, especially after his wife, Judith Steinberg Dean, joined him. The other doctor in the family turned out to be an asset on the campaign trail despite the sniping about her hair, makeup, and commitment to her profession.
In the final hours of campaigning in New Hampshire, Dean put on a dark suit, a white shirt, and a red tie and held his doctor-wife's hand to satisfy America's obsession with conformity. The next phase of Dean's campaign is unclear. Up until 10 days ago he was supposed to win Iowa and New Hampshire. Now he faces a growing inevitability about Kerry as the party nominee. From the outset Dean was a messenger -- and messengers are quite frequently shot rather than embraced. But whatever happens to the Dean candidacy, the 2004 campaign will be shaped in large part by Howard Dean. He handed the establishment candidates the script for campaign 2004: True courage means standing up to a sitting president. Without Dean, all the top tier candidates would be echoing Joe Lieberman on the Iraq war. And that is no way to beat George W. Bush.
That's what Democrats say they want to do. Electability is the buzz word. Dean goes against the grain of candidates who offer more traditional political experience and a liberalism marbled with enough middle-of-the-road political pragmatism to fool the right-leaning middle. Bill Clinton offered up a similar package with a Southern accent. Democrats are afraid of anger, although Dean is arguing there is plenty to be angry about -- the war with Iraq, irresponsible tax cuts, and a growing federal deficit.
Is Dean just a maverick with a message? Survival is not victory. At some point Dean has to win. He is looking to Wisconsin and Washington state to show that he can.
Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com.
