Dean in the Danger Zone; MSNBC Charges Dean exaggerates his height

MSNBC ^ | Jan 10, 2004 | Howard Fineman

[nwrep]

Jan. 8 - Joe Trippi was on my mobile phone. I had called him for some poll numbers and he sounded, understandably, hassled. Not frantic, but stressed. He should be.

As Howard Dean’s campaign manager, Trippi has masterfully guided his man to the brink of the Democratic nomination. But Trippi has been around a long time, and he knows that in any campaign, especially a presidential nomination race, things can change faster than you can shout “Hart Upsets Mondale.” If you’re the front-runner at this point in a campaign, time seems to slow down to an agonizing crawl. Election Day can’t come soon enough for you. Trippi knows that leads can crumble, an unexpected rival can rise up suddenly and that voters do what they want, not what pundits expect.

[Support Free Republic]

Rank	Location	Receipts	Donors/Avg		Freepers/Avg		Monthlies
24	Nevada	380.00	5	76.00	114	3.33	60.00	3

Thanks for donating to Free Republic!

Move your locale up the leaderboard!

[billorites]

They got little hands
Little eyes
They walk around
Tellin' great big lies
They got little noses
And tiny little teeth
They wear platform shoes
On their nasty little feet

Well, I don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
`Round here

[EllaMinnow]

...But Dean’s problem isn’t his height, it’s his humorlessness. He isn’t a guy to make fun of himself (the way his own dad did, calling himself “Short Me” as he strode energetically through life). In any case, his staff opened him to ridicule by the way they staged the endorsement from former NBA star Bradley. If Dean is going to stand on a soapbox, which, in effect is what he was doing, you don’t allow the TV cameras to film the whole thing from behind. It was a silly, amateurish effort at stage-managing a fact that couldn’t really be hidden in the first place...

Okay, where's the Daschle pic?

[Ken522]

So how tall is Dean? The news articles I've read say he's about 5'6" ....

[COBOL2Java]

From the article:

Are they really ready for prime time? In terms of stagecraft, they aren’t there yet. Dean is self-conscious about his stature. He claims to be five-eight and three-quarters. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in his company and, while he is an energetic presence, he isn’t a tall one. If he’s nearly five-nine, I’m Larry Bird.

[Mike Darancette]

I don't think Dean is going to get the nomination.

[TRY ONE]

"So how tall is Dean? The news articles I've read say he's about 5'6" ...."

Bill Bradley at 6' 5" looked like Shaquille O'Neil next to Dean Boy....

[TRY ONE]

"So how tall is Dean? The news articles I've read say he's about 5'6" ...."

Bill Bradley at 6' 5" looked like Shaquille O'Neil next to Dean Boy....

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

I think that Dean claims to be 5'8 3/4".

Using the 'Man Measuring System' that would make him 5'6 3/4".

[jagrmeister]

And yet it does matter to the public. Short people rarely win elections as President.

[Graymatter]

Howdy is 68" high.

From New Republic: "Chatting with reporters on his campaign jet recently, Dean complained about a New York Times story that had described him as 'diminutive.' Dean first noted that the Times reporter, Adam Nagourney, is 'about five-three.' Then he added, 'I don't know that I'm so short.' Well, a reporter asked, how tall are you? 'I'm five-eight,' Dean replied. 'Almost five-nine.' Dean probably should have stopped here, but he didn't. 'Five-eight and three-quarters,' he continued. 'The reason I don't tell anybody about the three-quarters is that it sounds like I'm very sensitive about my height. And I'm not.' Where would anyone get that impression?"

[EggsAckley]

Is this excerpted, and if so, where's the link?

[EllaMinnow]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3908177/

[EggsAckley]

Thanks!

[small voice in the wilderness]

I'm more concerned that dean exaggerates his abilities.

[MotleyGirl70]

Okay, where's the Daschle pic?

You mean this one:

It's a classic Strange Cosmos. :)

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

[Salvation]

Another Tiny Tommy trick -- stand on a booster platform?