Tapper on Dean's Showing on Meet the Press

It Wasn't So Bad

Dr. Dean, the Democratic presidential candidate and former Vermont governor, has gotten notice for bringing some energy to the dismal Democratic ranks. But after his appearance his candidacy was immediately suffused with bad buzz. "If Dean wants to have any chance of getting into the White House, he needs to learn some basic facts about our country," said Joe Scarborough of MSNBC. Even The Associated Press reported that Dr. Dean "did not help himself with an uneven performance."

But many of Dr. Dean's answers seemed perfectly reasonable. His response to Tim Russert's pop quiz about the number of soldiers on active duty — he said one million to two million; the answer is 1.4 million — seems acceptable, especially at a time when the number is in flux. His answers about the solvency of Social Security were glib. But they were no more dishonest than any other candidate's.

I have just finished reading his Down and Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency which damns both sides and the press. I thought the GOP was much worse but he points out all the times the Democrat's were about as bad. Both in this short article and in the book there is a reluctance to just admit the American press is now very biased and doesn't like Democratic candidates. here in the article:

Dr. Dean, the Democratic presidential candidate and former Vermont governor, has gotten notice for bringing some energy to the dismal Democratic ranks. But after his appearance his candidacy was immediately suffused with bad buzz. "If Dean wants to have any chance of getting into the White House, he needs to learn some basic facts about our country," said Joe Scarborough of MSNBC. Even The Associated Press reported that Dr. Dean "did not help himself with an uneven performance."

He doesn't even mention it is former conservative GOP representative Scarborough and the AP with its known big business and Republican bias. He probably didn't know that the hard questions were coming from Tim Russert using a White House hit list but Russert's previous bias is known.