2008 Woodie Awards
Editorial
Issue date: 2/5/07 Section: Opinion
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In Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Notre-Dame des Paris, for you Francophiles) the first face we meet is that of Gringoire, the endearing little poet-playwright to whom fortune is capricious. The book begins on opening night of the presentation of his magnum opus, a pious passion play dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. The affair happens along swimmingly, with Gringoire watching in rapture from stage left as his actors and actresses gracefully deliver the lines he labored over. It's his night.
Then a funny thing happens: a beggar, lurching from a pillar, screeches out, "Alms for the poor! Have you any alms for the poor?" The beggar distracts attention from the action on stage, so insistent are his peals pleading for charity. Gentle Gringoire tries his hardest to move things back on track, but to no avail. Chaos ensues, and the play is lost.
Now, think of a politician. A Catholic politician, with French blood coursing through his veins. He had his show planned, and had planned it well, with every line, every scene carefully scripted. But it collapsed out from under him. He tried and tried to set things aright, but life had other plans for him-and he was thrown unceremoniously into the gutter on what was supposed to be his nuit de triomphe.
Any guesses?
The answer: John Forbes Kerry.
Our junior Senator announced last month that he would not continue running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008, and we say Thank You, beautiful Universe.
Kerry never should have won the 2004 Democratic nomination. He wouldn't have but for Howard Dean being caught on tape yelping. Dean is someone with energy and tenacity enough to have beaten George Bush. He's a fighter, and by all means 2004 should have been his year. Politics and people's attention spans being what they are, though, a single sound bite can be the death knell for a candidacy. Learn well, Barack.
Dean was a breath of fresh air. He had energy, he had ideas and he didn't care much either way what Republicans or anybody else thought of him. He was going to work. And he is working now in his capacity as chairman of the Democratic National Committee (which seems the job he was born for; he's out swinging like a champ, if the 2006 mid-terms are any indicator).
Then a funny thing happens: a beggar, lurching from a pillar, screeches out, "Alms for the poor! Have you any alms for the poor?" The beggar distracts attention from the action on stage, so insistent are his peals pleading for charity. Gentle Gringoire tries his hardest to move things back on track, but to no avail. Chaos ensues, and the play is lost.
Now, think of a politician. A Catholic politician, with French blood coursing through his veins. He had his show planned, and had planned it well, with every line, every scene carefully scripted. But it collapsed out from under him. He tried and tried to set things aright, but life had other plans for him-and he was thrown unceremoniously into the gutter on what was supposed to be his nuit de triomphe.
Any guesses?
The answer: John Forbes Kerry.
Our junior Senator announced last month that he would not continue running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008, and we say Thank You, beautiful Universe.
Kerry never should have won the 2004 Democratic nomination. He wouldn't have but for Howard Dean being caught on tape yelping. Dean is someone with energy and tenacity enough to have beaten George Bush. He's a fighter, and by all means 2004 should have been his year. Politics and people's attention spans being what they are, though, a single sound bite can be the death knell for a candidacy. Learn well, Barack.
Dean was a breath of fresh air. He had energy, he had ideas and he didn't care much either way what Republicans or anybody else thought of him. He was going to work. And he is working now in his capacity as chairman of the Democratic National Committee (which seems the job he was born for; he's out swinging like a champ, if the 2006 mid-terms are any indicator).
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