It's about 2 weeks later than it should have been, but the Dean campaign has obviously pivoted, showing pretty good dexterity reacting to the loss in Iowa. His tone in NH is explicitly different from before, and the campaign e-mail shows the new message . . .
Last week, in a diary, I argued that the Dean campaign should focus on Dean's record in VT, using a tag line which included "Proven Leadership for America's Families" or some pother formulation highlighting Dean's accomplishments with the phrase "Proven Leadership." Well, last night the campaign sent out an e-mail from Dean that said, in part:
Now it's time to talk more about the change that we need in our country, and who's best positioned to make that change happen.
This race is about the future. It's about fulfilling the Promise of America for our families and kids. And it's about which candidate has a proven record of delivering results.
For eleven years, as Governor of Vermont, I balanced budgets; provided health care for nearly every child in our state; expanded prescription coverage for seniors; created 20% more jobs; and raised the minimum wage.
We invested in Vermont's children. We lowered child abuse rates and raised graduation rates. Teen pregnancy went way down; childhood immunization went way up.
We did all this for Vermont's children, and now, by acting together, we can show how to do it for all of America's families and children.
"Proven record of delivering results." Hey, I liked the "leadership" part of what I was saying, but the proven part was definitely more important.
His delivery is also different, and Dean explicitly mentioned that it was so. He said something like, "I'm going to talk like I talk to the people of Vermont, just giving the facts and what I believe" or some such formulation (he went on to say that he might get a little exuberant talking about Bush, but everyone would have to forgive him there . . . ). I talked to a few people in NH--a couple Dean supporters and a couple not, none of them what you'd call news junkies--and all of them had registered this new approach from Dean on the same day it occurred, so it got disseminated pretty well, seemingly.
All of this speaks well of the campaign. Their failure to evolve going into the new year worried me greatly, and I think they missed a big opportunity by not doing so. His post-defeat speech in Iowa was not a good thing, and we really don't know if this new approach is in time to pull out a good victory in NH. But it makes me feel a lot better about the campaign's prospects if they make it to the finals. It's exactly what they needed to do.
Now, if they can get some good ads . . .