Discovery's 'Dean Scream' Documentary (and other un-presidential gaffes)

This weekend, the Discovery Channel will take a look at the "Dean Scream," and other un-presidential gaffes that caused America to turn away from various presidential candidates.

In describing the program, the Discovery's homepage says, "Howard Dean may have wondered what all the fuss was about after his exuberant scream in Iowa. He found out in the next few days. But Dean is in good company: Some of the nation's most accomplished politicians have suffered setbacks, because of gaffes or just plain bad luck."

Adlai Stevenson refused to buy time on television for campaign commercials, because he objected to the notion of politicians being sold like detergent. But his personal appearances couldn't best the larger-than-life Ike, who won 442 electoral votes to 89. Oops!

In another TV mistake, Richard Nixon decided not to wear makeup for the first televised presidential debate in 1960, even though he had recently been ill, and had gotten little sleep. Those who tuned in to their radios thought Nixon won the debate, but those who watched on TV saw what they thought was a young, good-looking Kennedy against an older, unshaven, tired-looking Nixon. Word has it that Nixon's own mother called him the next day to say that he looked awful. Ouch!

In 1972, New Hampshire's Union Leader newspaper published several articles that were harsh toward Muskie, and attacked his wife. Muskie took to the street outside the paper's office, where he gave a passionate speech. The media portrayed Muskie as weeping while he spoke, and Democratic voters decided to go with Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota as their nominee. Yikes!

In 1984, Walter Mondale told voters he was definitely going to raise taxes on the American people to offset Reagan's deficits. Reagan "offset" Mondale by winning the election in a landslide. Sorry!

In 1987, Gary Hart was engaging in a little "Monkey Business" with Donna Rice - the Miami Herald published a picture of Hart and Rice aboard the aptly named boat, sinking Hart's candidacy. Ahoy!

In 1992, President Bush seemed to have somewhere to go during a televised debate with Bill Clinton because Bush glanced at his watch on several occasions. Those watching thought Bush wanted the debate to be over ASAP, whereas Clinton seemed at ease, and wandered in and out of the crowd, making it a personal experience for the voters in attendance. D'oh!

After the recent Iowa caucuses, Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who had been anointed the Democratic party nominee, lost. So what did he do? Was he conciliatory? Determined? Hopeful? Not exactly. During a speech to his supporters he was proclaiming all the states he would go on to win - getting a little carried away in the meantime - and at the end of the list, he let out what he must have hoped would be an exhilarating shout. Instead, it came out as a frightening scream, frightening voters, who picked John Kerry in almost all the other primaries and caucuses. Yeeeeeaaaaaargh!

Dean became a front-runner because of the internet. Dean imploded when he opened his mouth. It wasn't the scream because he had already lost Iowa. It wasn't the media that torpedoed him. It was Dean who made Dean bomb.

Using the internet for campaigning is much like an internet dating service. If a person puts up a good-looking picture and writes a good profile, you'd say he sounds nice. Then you meet the guy and it's a totally different person. The same thing happened with Dean and the democrats. His website had everything rabid democrats wanted to hear. Then they met the guy and decided he was goofy and thus rejected him. The internet allows you to magnify the good and hide the bad. But sooner or later the candidate is going to have to open his mouth.

I too looked for a picture but with no joy. But here is a great writeup of the story from "Today in Odd History" Someone should be able to FOIA the picture.

Jimmy Carter Attacked by Killer Rabbit (April 20, 1979)

Today in Odd History, President Jimmy Carter was attacked by a rabbit during a fishing trip in Plains, Georgia. The rabbit, which may have been fleeing a predator, swam toward his boat, "hissing menacingly, its teeth flashing and nostrils flared." President Carter was forced to swat at the vicious beast with a canoe paddle, which apparently scared it off.

Upon his return to the White House, Carter told his staff about the furry amphibian's assault. Most of them refused to believe him, insisting that rabbits can't swim (although since most mammals can swim, there's no reason to believe that rabbits cannot), and that even if they could, they certainly wouldn't attack humans, and certainly not presidents. Fortunately, a White House photographer had been on the scene, and had recorded the bizarre attack. The photograph showed Carter with his paddle raised, warding off a small creature which might, or might not, have been a rabbit. One staffer was quoted as saying, "You couldn't tell what it was." Undaunted by their skepticism, Carter had the image enlarged, and there it was--a killer bunny rabbit, apparently bent on assassinating the president.

The story might have ended there, except that White House Press Secretary Jody Powell mentioned the incident to Associated Press reporter Brooks Jackson in August. The Washington Post ran it as front page news. The original photograph was not available (until the Reagan administration leaked it in 1981), but the paper filled the gap with a cartoon modeled on the poster for the movie Jaws, starring the rabbit and entitled Paws. Powell made a belated attempt to impress the public with the seriousness of the attack, calling the creature a "swamp rabbit," but since Carter had to appease his rabbit-loving constituents by insisting that he had not actually smacked his buck-toothed opponent with his paddle, but only splashed water at it to drive it away, it seemed unlikely that he had been in danger. The entire episode became a symbol of Carter's floundering presidency. According to Powell, "[I]t shows the extent to which an insignificant incident can snowball and end up in newspapers and news shows across the country.” Carter biographer Douglas Brinkley says, “It just played up the Carter flake factor.... I mean, he had to deal with Russia and the Ayatollah and here he was supposedly fighting off a rabbit.”

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