Jennifer Granholm gave an extremely spirited speech for Obama last night, flailing her arms around like she was having a full-on epileptic fit at times, pointing, screaming, just extremely animated. (I actually wondered if anyone had dubbed a porno script on top of the visuals on Youtube already. Apparently, I need to wait a few more days to see that.) So why does she get great press for going nuts on national TV, or seeming to, and Howard Dean got wall-to-wall grief? Is acting like a lunatic ok or is it not ok? Explain?
Off the top of my head, Granholm’s not the one running for President.
I think it was the ridiculous scream at the end that got Dean the weird coverage. Him screaming out the names of states was actually kind cool, I thought, it was certainly riling the crowd up. But Dean got a little too excited and let out that awful, lame “Yahhh!”
The scream wasn’t the problem, it was how lame it sounded.
Besides, I don’t think the scream cost Dean anything in the polls, it was his insane burn rate and then failing to win Iowa or even do all that well. It was a campaign long on inspiration and short on sound management. I still think he would have made a good President. Good governors usually make good Presidents.
I would have loved to see four years of SNL with him as President. They portrayed him as a violent angry guy.
That’s good. So lesson 1: when running for POTUS, have your surrogates act borderline-insane sometimes, but never do so yourself. Anything else?
Actually what impressed me was that she finally got that damn mole taken off her face.
And it hurt like hell to have that procedure?
That’s pretty much it. She was acting in the position of a cheerleader, trying to rile up the crowd and doing a good job of it. Not the most dignified position, but useful in its place.
Because the sounds of the crowd was filtered out by the microphones, yes.
This is correct, and it’s annoying that the facts tend to get removed from this story when people look back at it. Dean was leading in the polls going into Iowa and wound up finishing third because Kerry and Edwards had better ground games. The failure to close the deal killed Dean’s campaign.
Dean’s campaign had already fallen apart. He’d come into Iowa favored to win, then started malfunctioning in interviews and debates giving everyone the impression that he wasn’t ready for prime time.
His “I have a scream” speech merely solidified that perception.
Beyond that, what I think made that speech so disconcerting for many was how out of place it was. It was supposed to be his concession speech.
Granholm’s speech wasn’t remotely as out of place.
Anyway, because she was born in Canada, she can’t even run for the Presidency.
actually, she seems to have three moles removed, one on each cheek and another on her chin.
Gawd, it’s been such a long time since I thought of Howard Dean’s career-ending shriek. Thank you for reminding me of it! My stepdad’s brother could do the most hilarious, uncanny impressions of almost any male actor, and he did this almost every day. snicker
Seriously, though, it’s just pop culture. Don’t attempt to understand the nuances of pop culture. Why does one person become notorious for doing something, but someone who did something very similar doesn’t? I dunno.
Perhaps an even better comparison would be to a fluffer. Her job was keeping the crowd aroused until the star got on the set and the real production started.
Like I said—fluffer!