Pacific Views

Almost Time For Iowa

Dean gets interviewed by Rolling Stone.

The official Dean blog rounds up the day's news. In it, there's a link to a USA Today article that explored the ways that being a doctor affects Dean's policies, among others:

•Focus on results. If a mother is carrying a bleeding little girl who was hit by a car, "it's not the moment where you get all weepy," says Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign manager. "You've just got to find the facts out here really quickly or she'll die. It's not about feeling your pain, it's about solving your problem. He feels it, but he's trained not to show it." Sometimes, Trippi says, "that comes off with a little less warmth to it."

•Reliance on facts rather than theories. Dean, Trippi and others say this explains why Dean has a mix of ideological positions and sometimes changes his mind. He went from opposing to supporting programs that distribute needles to addicts after a 1995 study found that programs helped prevent AIDS and did not encourage addiction. Last year, he qualified his support for free-trade agreements after seeing communities reeling from losing their manufacturing jobs to other countries. ...

US Newswire ran this report about the Dean campaign's forward looking plan to help campaign for congressional seats.

This op-ed from the Des Moines Register talks about the difference Dean supporters' letter writing campaign has made to Iowans who get the usually hand written notes from voters in other states.

And... I'm off. I usually pack pretty lightly, one bag for clothes, one for books & random extras. This time around, I'm deeply ashamed to be bringing with me a *third* bag. The unprecedented third bag contains a -20 degree certified sleeping bag (squished into its compression sack until it screamed for mercy), a hefty Marmot vest (which I got for nearly zip thanks to a tip off on where to get second hand sporting goods cheap), and an amount of warm clothing that would be absurd if I didn't expect days where I'll be wearing upwards of eight garments, not counting the footgear.

If you'd told me a year ago that I'd be purposely traveling to Iowa and New Hampshire in the middle of winter, I wouldn't have dignified you with a reply. And yet, god willing, here I go.

Posted by natasha at January 14, 2004 03:04 AM | TrackBack