DEAN BUCKING TRENDS

U.S. News reports

Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean will begin running a combative anti-Bush television commercial Monday–in Texas only.

In the ad, which Dean taped last Wednesday in Council Bluffs, Iowa, he wears a blue, open-necked work shirt, faces the camera, and says, “I want to change George Bush’s reckless foreign policy, stand up for affordable healthcare, and create new jobs… Has anybody really stood up against George Bush and his policies? Don’t you think it’s time somebody did?”

The media buy cost between $100,000 and $200,000, U.S. News has learned. It will run in Austin, 87 miles away from where Bush is vacationing in Crawford.

Interesting. It’s his money, and these “local” ads usually get a lot of free airplay from the national media. But there isn’t a primary in Texas anytime soon.

A couple of other tidbits in this one:

–Dean wore a bulletproof vest during the debate on civil unions in Vermont.

–The only person Dean consulted before running for president was Hillary Clinton, to make sure she wasn’t going to run.

Well, that rules out a late entrance by Senator Clinton into the campaign. One sure thing in American politics is that, for a Clinton, their word is their bond.

FILED UNDER: 2004 Election, , , , , , , ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. CGHill says:

    I’m sure someone has had to post bond for the Clintons in some currency other than the verbal. 🙂

  2. ross says:

    >>One sure thing in American politics is that, for a Clinton, their word is their bond.