September 15, 2003
K Street Debuts With Dean
In last night's debut episode: Mary Matalin and her stock Coulteresque minion attempt to foil Carville and Begala's valiant efforts to help a Democratic candidate prepare for the upcoming debate. Our heroes try anyway, though the carping distraction prevents the brilliant Carville from noticing and pointing out that sometimes 'a' is a better word choice than 'only.' The minion succeeds in convincing Rick 'the dog lover' Santorum that Carville acts purely out of insanity, and that he should continue to stick with their PR firm. Also, a smarmy weasel applies for a job. The screen goes black at a refreshingly unexpected point in the middle of a conversation about whether or not the weasel is "too good to be true."
First off, it was pretty cool to see even a portion of a real debate prep. And to anyone who thinks it's bad to actually use the lines that brilliant political consultants suggest, if they suit you, let me ask you this: Do you really in your heart of hearts genuinely believe that Joseph Lieberman, possibly the most boring speaker in the whole field, came up with that "Dean depression" line off the cuff right there on the stage?
That's what I thought. And let's not get started with our 'on script' president. The people who speak well in public for a living have practiced, hire speechwriters, have been tried by fire, and they've all had to get a lot of help along the way. The Bill Clinton, to take one example, who spoke so well at Senator Harkin's event Saturday is not the same speaker he was as the governor of Arkansas in 1991. But you can have all the coaching you want and not come off as real if the message doesn't fit.
Dean did a hilarious impression of James Carville, and he seemed very relaxed and comfortable. It takes some kind of sense of humor to pull that off, it was good fun.
Carville and Begala wrote an intro to the show and it was posted at the Dean blog. You can go here to read the online supporter commentary.
Coverage: Slate review. Salon review (subscription.) Senate says no K Street in our buildings.
Posted by natasha at September 15, 2003 08:08 PM | TrackBackI would love to have been at the Carville household when these spousal units got home after their respective days working against each other! How can this marriage last?
Posted by: pessimist on September 15, 2003 09:16 PMCool site! Check out my new blog, Mousepads, Shoe Leather, and Hope - The Great Grassroots Campaign. Also, check out my Dean stores, The Great Grassroots Campaign and You Have The Power. The proceeds from the shop will be given to the new Generation Dean chapter on campus. If you feel like linking to any of the sites I gave you, I'd be happy to add a link to your site on my blog. Keep up the good work with your site.
Posted by: Laura in DC on September 17, 2003 03:14 PM