Howard and Judy Dean on Wolf Blitzer Reports
If you don't have cable or missed the interview, below are my thoughts and observations.
It's clear that this interview is the ratings catcher for Wolf's broadcast. Every commercial break is preceded with a teaser of the Howard and Judy interview.
One of the first teasers shows Howard's controversial comments on the news media in which he states his view that the media is both reporting news and creating entertainment. The look of incredulity on Wolf Blitzer's face is pricless. After a follow-up, Howard clarifies his view that the media is about creating the news as much as about reporting it.
Another teaser says Judy will answer the question, "What's Howard Dean's real motiviation in running for President?"
In another teaser, WB says, "Howard Dean now confident he can win here in New Hampshire," a sloppy paraphrase of Howard's comment that he thinks there has been a "surge" in New Hampshire among people who think we need something other than Washington politicians to solve the problems in Washington.
Click to read on if don't have cable or can't watch the interview itself. I've typed a partial play-by-play plus brief analysis.
The atmosphere is less cozy than last week's Diane Sawyer interview. Howard and Judy are perched in separate chairs, not snuggled on a couch together. Howard is in his "presidential" suit - dark grey or black, with crisp white shirt and red tie. Judy is in a bright blue twinset, perhaps the same cardigan combo she wore in Iowa last week.
The teasers continue throughout the broadcast - yet another teaser from Wolf at 5:30 - - "Stay tuned for a blunt take from Howard Dean on his treatment in the media..."is only moments away...we'll get to that." The interview starts around 5:35.
WB says, "HD is battling to regain the lead he once held in the polls...he certainly has gotten a lot of attention since his stunning defeat in Iowa."
[Unlike most TV reporters still obsessed by the yawp clip, Wolf shows clips from show Dean rallies today rather than from the rally last week.]
Wolf's narration continues, "Again Dean launches attacks on frontrunner John Kerry. This is clearly a candidate with a sense of urgency...but is HD in trouble?"
"Fresh off the event in Nashua earlier today, I sat down with Judy and HD."
The Interview
WB: Can you win in NH?
HD: I think we can...polls say it's a dead heat but who can believe the polls, other polls have us further back...I think there's been a surge...
WB:What happens if you don't win in NH?
HD: We go along to SC, NM.... We're gonna do 5 states at least, we've already done ND, and we're gonna do SC, OK, NM, Missouri, perhaps ND, we have a decent org in Delaware. We did put a lot of resources into these forward states long ago."
WB: Rumors have it you are in a tough money situation.
HD: Money situation is tough for everybody, we've tried to do everything we could in these two states to win.
WB: What's the biggest problem you've faced? Is it your fault, the media's fault, or something else?
HD: In NH we're coming roaring back, what hurt us the most was 6 weeks of being the undisputed frontrunner, we just got hammered nonstop for 6 weeks...and when we defended ourselves we took the people hammering us down but we also took ourselves down.
HD: People like my strong fiscal management and they also like that I'm willing to tell the truth.
WB: John Kerry is complaining that you are now going negative against him, questioning his judgement over the Iraq war.
HD: I DO question JK's judgement - he voted against the first Iraq war...then he votes recently against the Iraq war, there were no WMD's, Iraq was never an immediate threat to the US. He seems to have voted wrong on both wars. I don't think that's a "negative attack" though - it's a difference between us.
WB: Are you saying JK's unqualified?
HD: I would never say that. Any Democrat is more qualified than GWB.
WB: How surprised are you by David Kay's resignation and information that there are no WMD's in Iraq?
HD: I believed there were WMD's, so I was surprised, too, with Kay's report. (Huh ????) GWB said so many things that were false, I'm not entirely surprised.
WB: Kay says that intelligence people and the CIA owe the President an apology. What do you think?
HD: I suspect there's more to it than that. I've heard that the VP criticized the intelligence reporters for not writing reports the way he wanted them.
WB: In aftermath of Iowa, have news media been fair to you?
HD: The news media is an entertainment business as much as a news business.
[SHOCKED LOOK FROM WB.]
HD: You report the news and you create the news.
WB: Are you saying the media created what happened last week?
HD: No, it wasn't Presidential. But you chose to play it 673 times in the last week. But I understand that anybody hoping to be President has to be willing to take it. Whatever you throw at me I need to be willing to take.
WB: As much as we've shown this clip, you've been raising it, too, in your recent appearances, haven't you?
HD: I'm not saying it was Presidential. I've never said it was Presidential. What I regret is that you didn't show the clip of all of the thousands of kids who were screaming, waving flags, I thought I owed it to those kids.
WB: [To Judy] Dr. Dean, you've been married to the governor fo 23 years and know him better than any of us - what do you know about him that you want people to know?
JD: I think you know him pretty well. The most important thing about him is that he's a really caring person - he's always been caring to our family, to his patients, and now he's moving further to care for others. His motivation for his run is to improve the lives of ordinary American people.
WB: What first went through your mind when he said he wanted to be President?
JD: Well, over the years I've seen how capable he is, how honest he is...
[I missed typing for a minute or so here because Judy was so interesting.]
WB: What do you think about all of the attention you are getting now? People are looking at you saying how charming, how endearing you are?
JD: I don't read the media that much, clearly Howard is the one getting most attention. Of course I like good news rather than bad news.
HD: I was moved when you spoke the other day about your patients - what happens to those patients if you win the White House?
JD: If Howard were elected President that would be such an important thing that I would have to give up my practice.
HD interrupts: But you'd have a practice in Washington.
JD: Yes, I'd hope to practice in Washington...
WB: What, would people just come up to the West Wing?
JD: (laughs) My patients have joked about renting a bus once a month and coming down.
WB: HD if you don't win in NH, it will be two losses in a row. What will you do then?
HD: We've got strong support across the country. 89% of our money comes from small donations, we've got orgs stretched out in the March 2nd states and we can fight at least that long.
No claims to great accuracy in my play-by-play here -- I'm sure a more accurate transcript will be available soon -- this is just what I caught while I was watching it.
Afterthoughts
Wolf Blitzer was definitely very nice to Judy Dean - the expression on his face when she talked was markedly more friendly and open than when he was talking to Howard. It was a pleasant surprise to hear him use the adjectives "charming" and "endearing" for her, as well as him saying that he was "moved" by her concern for her patients. Unlike Diane Sawyer, who dripped disdain and oozed scorn for the Deans, Wolf was especially friendly and kind to Judy.
Overall, I don't think it was a great interview for the couple, but it wasn't bad, either. The warmth between H and J was not as palpable, but the setting was not as conducive to it, either. Most of the camera work focused on close-ups of H or J, so there was little chance to observe the interactions between them.
Personally, I was really proud of Dean's assessment of the news media as being in the business of entertainment as much as reporting, but this certainly is going to do little to endear him to the all-important press corps.
For a media neophyte, Judy did quite well to keep her head above water, but clearly her inexperience caused her to miss a great opportunity. WB threw her a very friendly softball in asking her to tell America what she knew about Howard that the country might not know - she didn't share any of the warm fuzzy details that might have endeared them to undecided voters, particularly women.
What struck me as a strong Dean supporter (and, I confess, a pessimist) is that he did throw in some surprising off message zingers in this interview. One was his statement that he did think that Iraq had WMD's. The second, and potentially more controversial, was the allegation that Cheney may have manipulated intelligence reports. This could become another unsubstantiated allegation that bites HD in the ass -- I strongly doubt it would impact NH at this late date, but it could be another nagging "gaffe" next week in advance of February 3rd.
Hope this is interesting or helpful to some of you primary addicts!