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player ready...CALLING MRS. DEAN
As Howard Dean travels across Iowa, New Hampshire and the nation, there is one thing missing from his campaign: his wife.
The former Vermont governor’s wife, Dr. Judy Steinberg, is the only presidential candidate’s spouse who has not been out on the campaign trail. Since appearing at Dean’s side when he announced his candidacy, she has left the politicking to her husband as she conducts her medical practice in Vermont.
Her absence has drawn attention to their marriage, a topic Dean addressed in an interview with reporters in Iowa.
“I do not intend to drag her around because I think I need her as a prop on the campaign trail,” Dean said. “If she wanted to do it, it’d be great, but she doesn’t want to do it and therefore if she does do it, it won’t be great. I just think that she should do what she needs to do for her own happiness and sense of satisfaction.”
–John McCormick
CAN YOU SEE THIS, LISTENERS?
Using a prop to illustrate a point during a debate is nothing new.
Unfortunately for Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, the pie chart he used in a Democratic debate in Des Moines on Tuesday had little impact for potential voters. The debate was broadcast only on radio.
Chiding Howard Dean for refusing to support cuts in the Pentagon budget, Kucinich held up a pie chart of the federal budget.
Then moderator Neal Conan of National Public Radio interjected for listeners:
“Congressman Kucinich is holding up a pie chart, which is not truly effective on radio.”
Kucinich, however, thought he made his point, saying: “Well, it’s effective if Howard can see it.”
–Rick Pearson
JUST DROPPING BY
When Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut made his first visit to Iowa this week after deciding to focus his campaign on New Hampshire and other early-balloting states, he took a good bit of ribbing.
Before a debate, as the candidates posed for photos on the stage, several rivals joked with Lieberman about taking a wrong turn somewhere and ending up in Iowa.
Lieberman, who hadn’t been in the state since he announced in late October that he wouldn’t compete in the Iowa caucuses, denied feeling sheepish upon his return.
“It’s not awkward,” he said, fondly recalling a trip to the state this summer. “I can still taste the deep-fried Twinkie that I had at the Iowa State Fair.”
–John McCormick
SHOWING HIS SUNNY SIDE
For months, Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri has intimated that Howard Dean is unelectable in a November matchup with President Bush. Gephardt has said his 26 years of congressional experience and his history of taking on Republicans make him a better candidate to face Bush.
While it’s clear what Gephardt believes, he won’t flat out say he thinks Dean is unelectable. Why not say the words?
“I’m an optimist,” Gephardt said. “I’m a positive person and I want to tell you what I think my positives are.”
Yet at the same time Gephardt was making those statements at a Des Moines rally this week, his campaign released a fundraising e-mail appeal that savaged Dean as a “gaffe a day” candidate who “whined” after facing tough questions from rivals.
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The missive from Gephardt campaign manager Steve Murphy also warned that when it comes to an America threatened by terrorism, “people are going to turn to whom they trust, [and] it certainly will not be Howard Dean.”
–Rick Pearson
REPUBLICANS ALLOWED HERE
The tall young man in the powdered wig identified himself as a Republican running against President Bush this year and rambled on for several minutes before asking Sen. John Kerry to tell him what he thought of that.
The bizarre encounter took place as Kerry fielded questions after a speech on a recent evening at a Cedar Rapids union hall. Kerry looked at Bush’s self-styled challenger unwaveringly, waiting until the man stopped talking to defuse the situation with a quip.
“Listen, man, I just gave you a lot of free time,” Kerry said, drawing laughter from his standing-room-only crowd of more than 100 people. “You ought to thank me.”
According to the Sioux City Journal, Bush’s would-be foe is Daniel Vovak of Greenwich, Conn., who claims to have campaigned in all but four of Iowa’s 99 counties.
Iowa GOP officials point out that Vovak, 30, is not old enough to run for president. The Constitution requires a president to be at least 35.
Dan Mihalopoulos