Dull, But Still a Draw

[Nicholas_J]

...Dean had the subjects. He spoke against the war in Iraq, which once was his personal and thus immensely profitable stand and now is becoming crowded as the war turns into the early Vietnam. Dean also spoke about the job losses being the worst since Herbert Hoover. The deficit is monstrous, he pointed out. If these issues are around next fall, Bush can be beaten by any aluminum-siding salesman.

But he said this in language made of wood. He spoke without saying one phrase that would inspire. And the cheers of the crowd seemed forced. The crowd out there was young and as white as the candidate. I walked through them for some time and there was no electricity in the whole place.

When I mentioned to people with me that Dean's shirt sleeves were too contrived, they mentioned that I had liked Robert Kennedy, who campaigned in this same Bryant Park in rolled-up shirt sleeves.

"He was Catholic," I said.

Dean is about as WASP as you can get. He is out of East Hampton, the part of it where money comes out of the safe with a light coating of dust. His father was the head of Dean Witter stocks on Wall Street. He has membership in the Maidstone Club. Some Jewish people point out that they could never get in the Maidstone Club. I couldn't get in the joint, either. Do they write about that in these glorious stories about the Hamptons?

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/politics/ny-nybres283431588aug28,0,5735107.column?coll=ny-lipolitics-print


Jimmy Breslins opinion...still the best of the best.