Star Power

So Dean is going to be chair. Bobo Brooks just said that he was a bit too “secular” and “strident.” Oh my goodness, have we made a big mistake in not electing a santimonious wimp? I always get so worried when we don’t take the GOP’s sincere advice about such things.

Look, one of the biggest problems the Democrats are going to have over the next three years is getting the attention of the media. Media Matters has documented the over representation of Republicans on the cable gasbag shows and it’s truly alarming. And the liberals they do invite are often boring and ill prepared compared to the more “strident and religious” Republicans.

This is a huge problem. One of the reasons, I believe, that Bill Clinton was able to succeed was because he had a very high Q rating. (Don’t hassle me, readers, about using this obnoxious term. It’s relevant whether we like it or not.) He has tremendous personal charisma and he performed a high wire political act that was irresistable to the media. And it helped us get our message out, even when he was taking a lot of heat.

Howard Dean is like that in his own way. He creates a stir; you never know quite what’s going to happen. He fascinates the media and they will be paying very close attention. I don’t doubt that he will be undisciplined at times and create some trouble, but he will be visible. And every time the media calls on him is another chance for him to pound home our message.

Right now the biggest danger for Democrats is that we are becoming media ciphers. It’s not that we don’t have some power in DC. The social security debate shows that we can affect the process if we stand together. But as far as the country is concerned we are becoming invisible and we have to deal with that if we are to compete.

They are going to slam us no matter what we do. Dean, as a fascinating political figure, will be invited to personally respond. And he tends to do it memorably. It’s a mistake to underrate that talent.