Though he didn’t get to see any of the Super Bowl as he flew from Michigan to New Mexico, Howard Dean heard about the flap over Janet Jackson’s televised unflap and thought it was a waste of time for the Federal Communications Commission to investigate.
“I think the FCC is being pretty silly about investigating this” for indecency, the former Vermont governor said Monday as he flew to Phoenix. “There’s a great many far worse things on television that you can inadvertently turn on when you happen to be cruising through cable at regular viewing hours.”
Of course, Dean admits he may see it differently from other people. After all, he’s a doctor.
“I’m probably affected in some ways by the fact that I’m a doctor, so it’s not exactly an unusual phenomenon for me,” he said.
–Rick Pearson
WHOLE LOTTA MO TO GO AROUND
Clearly, candidate mojo is not a zero-sum game. How else to explain New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson telling a crowd of John Kerry supporters Friday in Albuquerque, “You can feel the momentum of Sen. Kerry, can’t you?”
The next morning, Richardson had this to say before a group of about 500 people who had gathered in the same city to hear Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina: “Senator, your momentum is incredible. And you can see it here in the heart of New Mexico.”
The consummate politician, Richardson was just playing it safe for this summer, when he will be chairman of the Democratic National Convention.
–Flynn McRoberts
SON OF A WHAT?
To anyone closely following the presidential campaign of Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, it is well-known gospel: He is the son of a millworker.
But, of course, most people are not closely following the presidential campaign of Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. That would include Scott Duran, 34, activities coordinator at an Albuquerque community center that Edwards visited over the weekend.
Duran said he thought Edwards had a better chance than the other candidates to win New Mexico’s caucuses on Tuesday. Why? “Because of his upbringing,” Duran said, “being–I’m not sure–the son of an immigrant?”
–Flynn McRoberts