Thursday, May 17, 2007

Who is Howard Dean's media trainer?

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Because that person deserves a pat on the back. Dean nailed his appearance on The Colbert Report last night. Okay, it wasn't Face the Nation, but I would argue that makes it even more impressive--it would have been so easy for Dean to just take the lines Colbert was feeding him, but he actually turned them around into key messages. I particularly liked when Colbert asked Dean if he thought the midterm elections were a referendum on the administration--Dean said yes, then Colbert asked if he thought the 2008 elections would be a referendum on the administration. The rhythm of the questions was exactly the same, basically set up for Dean to say "Yes" to the second question--easy answer, easy laugh--but instead Dean said the 2008 elections would show Democrats to have the better candidates. Small point, but hey, that's the major message pitfall of Democrats and Unitarians: defining ourselves as "not the other guy". Is it sad I got so excited about this? Considering studies show that Daily Show and Colbert Report viewers are more informed than Fox News viewers, I think not.

p.s. What is sad is that every time I tried typing "Colbert Report" I typed "Colber Repor" instead. This is what happens to your brain when it crashes after finishing a 45 page thesis.

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