On the eve of the Christmas holidays, Dean went public with thoughts about God — he believes in Him. While the Lord is probably relieved that the Episcopalian turned Congregationalist-almost-a-Unitarian believes in Him, Dean’s pandering had more to do with strengthening his position in the South after focus groups pulled together by his campaign revealed discomfort with a man of little faith.
“[Dean’s] stump speeches weren’t working with the groups,” says a Washington-based Democratic Party consultant familiar with the focus group study that took place in early December. “When asked, they wanted to have a sense that the candidate shared their values, and in the South that means a candidate who believes in God, the Bible and the family.”
Speaking of the American Spectator website, I predict that I am going to be consistently amused by Shawn Macomber’s daily reports from New Hampshire over the next month
PERHAPS THE MOST INTERESTING thing about the long event was Teresa Heinz Kerry’s inability to mask her boredom. While her husband was talking she sauntered out back and stared off into the parking lot. She slumped in a chair, head in hands, looking at the floor. She whispered back and forth with Time magazine’s Joe Klein.
One of the last questions Kerry fielded was whether he would take month-long vacations while president, as George W. Bush has done. Kerry answered a plain “no,” and looked confused when the audience broke out into raucous laughter. Teresa had come to life, and was nodding crazily, “yes, yes, yes.” Kerry lost his smile for the first time in three hours.
“No, really, the answer is no,” he said. But Teresa just kept bobbing, and the audience kept laughing, and John Kerry frowned, as if he couldn’t decide whether to draw his sword or his quill.
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