Howard Dean is speaking today at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's (SCLC) Human Rights Luncheon in Birmingham, and there was a lot of excitement among from myself and many of liberal friends.
It's not easy being a liberal in Alabama, and I thought this was a great opportunity for Dean to show the flag, get some airtime in a very Red State, and show off his (and our) best side.
Boy, did it go wrong.
I have no idea what the speech sounded like, or how it was received. I wasn't there.
But I can tell you how the local perceived the event.
There was a lot of effort expended by some of the local TV stations, as they attempted to secure even a two-minute interview with Dean.
I've spoken to people from several of the stations, and the common experience was that Dean's people were rude, not particularly interested in working with requests, and basically gave off the vibe that Alabama press probably wasn't on their side, so why bother.
Maybe it was all a misunderstanding, maybe it just a bad day for the Dean people.
But when you're trying to get the word out that the Democratic Party has a new attitude, having reporters screaming that Dean's people are "jerks," is not exactly a step forward.
Alabama isn't a hopeless cause, especially in the mid-to-long term.
I just wish that national party people would do more than just pay lip service to outreach in every state, no matter how they voted.