DEANAPALOOZA

At this late date, there's nothing remotely newsworthy about Howard Dean's Wednesday rally at the Capitol City Brewing Co. next door to Union Station. Not after Byron York's too bored to be smug report on Thursday morning, and certainly not after today, when "The 447" named him "a piece of furniture."

But I've got pictures, and you've got a few minutes to kill. They're a bit dark, though. This is because I didn't actually get in. Management stopped admitting entrants by about 8:00 p.m., but anticipating an outdoor crowd, they'd set up a bar on the Roman porch in front of the main hall. We couldn't see much, but they did place loudspeakers outside, and I decided to stick around and try the house amber ale (not bad).

This is about what it looked like:


Dean spoke for less than half an hour, then gave a shorter speech to everyone outside, and worked the crowd. In appearances like this, he's still on the trail. And when he left, I could have sworn someone said Dean had "left the building."


Those picture-phone cameras will be in photographs at such events for a long time to come. But eventually I hope they go the way of the huge flashbulbs of the early 20th century.


Pleased to meet you! Hope you guess my name!


Capitol City opened the doors again pretty quickly, and so I got inside for the aftermath: people milling about.

A side-note: I should really inquire about the name "Capitol City." The vastly more popular phrase is "capital city" (Exhibit A, Exhibit B). Capitol means the big building in the middle of the capital city.

And here's some soft-core democracy porn:




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In a previous post I linked to my DCist pre-game assessment, but this time I'll just selectively quote it and add commentary. I said to look for:

Conciliatory statements toward Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

Check. It would only have been news had he not. But he paid proper tribute to the party's congressional leadership.

More statements along the lines of: 'I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for,' which he said just a few days ago.

Well, not so much. The most memorable line of the night, as York noted:

"I'm trying to be restrained in my new role here in Washington."

Dean has always been self-aware of his "excitability" (about which more in a bit) but he doesn't seem able to self-correct. And this is why I'm most happy he's won: speaking on behalf of the Washington "political mediasphere" (I don't think they'll mind) we're quite enthused about having Howard Dean to kick around some more.

Will Chairman Dean be more like Governor Dean or Candidate Dean?

This question was probably the wrong one. This was Dean at a rally, after all. Not a good indicator of how he'll run the office, or what strategic decisions he makes. If I was Dean, I'd give a round of interviews starting for the coming week and then stay off TV for a few months. He's got to prove he'll be more on the gubernatorial side.

But there's another thing: A number of politicians and commentators supporting Dean have pointed to his innovative campaigning (blog activism, fundraising), but I submit that Dean was the least responsible for these developments. Credit Joe Trippi for getting his prophet thing going with the blog and attendant network of blogs and for the McCain-esque aura of openness around the camp. And credit the network of blogs, including (I'm sorry to say) the Kossacks. And then Steve McMahon for making that early ad buy in Iowa. It's easy to forget now, but it was that week in August '03 where reporters first attached word "frontrunner" to Dean.

Sort of like Clinton's relatonship to the 1990s technology heyday, he'll get credit for it even if he wasn't the prime mover. Dean of course signed off on these ideas, for which he should get some credit.

But Howard Dean's problem is akin to Andrew Sullivan's — they're both a little unstable, or as Kaus calls Sullivan, "excitable." Moody. Mercurial. It can make for great theater, but you wouldn't want him to run your business.


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Now I'm going to pretend you've been wondering: What do I think about Dean right now?

I think he's got a better shot at helping his party win the White House next time than Terry McAuliffe ever had. Dean, or should I say his party's nominee, doesn't have to face Bush. (I'd be surprised if he broke his pledge not to run.) And lucky for them, it seems certain neither Jeb nor Arnold will be representing the "hate"-able other side.

I think Gingrich said this week that Dean could help Hillary, if by continuing to be "exciteable" he makes her look stable and clear-headed. I generally would agree with this. She's one of the Senate's shrewdest operator and justified her place on the list of one-name celebrities. Perhaps I should to go back and re-read "No One Left To Lie To," Hitchens' "slow motion citizen's cardiac arrest of the Clinton presidency."

At a bar last night I talked to someone who works in research at the DNC, and who indicated there will be a lot of turnover in the next few weeks. He didn't seem concerned with Dean taking over, but that's what I'd expect him to say.

(I also met Max from P.J. O'Rourke's "The CEO of the Sofa." Seemed a decent chap. And I nearly got into a fistfight with the soon-to-be owner of this space (or something like it). But I think everything's fine now.)


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And lastly, here's a pointless rant:

Was the pre-election party at a capital city bar an outburst of civic activism? Only partly. York likened the event to the glory days in 2003 when Dean was steamrolling the competition. This is about right. But the Dean movement is as an affinity group too, i.e. groupies, and this is what they do instead of go to rock shows. Which makes sense, considering most bands skip over DC on their East coast tours.

With Dean just left, a man to my left said: "He's like a rock star. It's like the Beatles." See what I mean? Anecdotal evidence is good enough for a rant as pointless as this one.

But let's not forget, Bill Clinton played saxophone, Joe Scarborough had his own rock band, and even John Ashcroft can carry a tune. John Kerry had a high school garage band. On the other hand, the Bushes aren't musically inclined, so far as I know. Politics and entertainment intersect a lot, because both sides are fascinated with each other. Rock of course mostly embraces the Democratic party, but exceptions exist: Bruce Springsteen hits the trail for Kerry, and Kid Rock almost played last month's inauguration. Dennis Hopper was there, too.

This attitude basically allows Rolling Stone to dictate the definition of a political rock star to us. We don't want this. Jann Wenner once thought Al Gore qualified.


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Now, that is entirely too much politics for a lazy Saturday afternoon. I'll have more pictures from the heart of NE Massachusetts and East Capitol Street later.

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posted by WWB at 4:34 PM |