My take on Trippi's leave here.#

Howard Dean has a statement on Joe Trippi's departure from the Dean campaign.#

"I am deeply grateful to Joe Trippi, who has decided to leave the campaign. Joe has made enormous contributions not just to our campaign but to American politics — revolutionizing the way in which people are brought into the democratic process and helping hundreds of thousands of people to believe in political change again.

Aaron Swartz has an interesting take on this--one that puts emphasis on Trippi over Dean.#

Dean has decided to continue his campaign with a boring Washington insider who helped Al Gore's presidential bid go down in flames. Experts predicted Dean will soon begin spouting platitudes about "the people versus the powerful" while hiding his liberal political views and failing to make any innovative policy suggestions. This could make Dean stand out even less in an already-crowded race.

Commentators suggested the move would be difficult for Trippi, since Dean is still first in money, infrastructure, and delegates. "Rebuilding your constituency after a change like this is always difficult," said one unnamed source. "This is certainly going to be a major blow to the Trippi campaign."

Dave Winer's thoughts on the Joe Trippi's leave.#

So we got our answer. Dean wants to catch Kerry, and the Internet will have to wait. The new manager is a long-time lobbyist, a "special interest," influence seller, canonical insider. This is an okay outcome, not the best one, but okay. It's safe to support either Dean or Kerry, and we'll get a traditional Democrat administration either way. The CNN guys will treat him well now.

The Daily Kos on Joe Trippi's leave.#

It was perhaps inevitable after Dean's weak Iowa and NH results. A major staff shakeup in Burlington. Dean's media firm, Trippi, McMahon and Squires -- the source of Dean's crappy campaign ads -- is apparently out. And Trippi himself may or may not be gone. Either way, he's no longer campaign manager.

[...]

What Trippi built with the Dean campaign was amazing. Unprecedented. But the results weren't there. And in this biz, there's no margin for error

Jim Moore writes about organizational learning and momentum plays.#

The marketplace of political ideas is the fastest moving marketplace in which I have ever personally participated. This week, this day, feels different from last week, and from yesterday. Organizational learning is paramount.

So what does this mean for the Dean campaign? We have been criticised of late by our supporters for not telling the news, bad as well as good. Supporters feel betrayed when they are told things are fine, and then find out otherwise when the votes come in. "We could have helped" they say in distress, "but you didn't really ask us!"

The Black Saint is what I call "Wicked Funny."#

Tuesday night, Gov. Dean told his supporters, an assortment of Internet weenies, that there was "good news and bad news."

"The bad news is that we came in a distant second but the good news is that Lord of the Rings was nominated for Best Picture and this time, we're going to win! Master and Commander, my ass!"

The crowd cheered enthusiastically and chanted, "Gandalf! Gandalf!" as Gov. Dean threw back his head and screamed, "I'm coming for you, Sauron! I'm coming for you! You can't hide in the White House forever!"

Michael Feldman says what hasn't been said enough about Trippi.#

As it stands, we will have to wait for '08 to see the Internet Strategy taken to the next level on the national stage. In the meantime, watch local races, where a few hundred strategically mobilized voters can swing an election, and targeted protest campaigns as the probing ground for digital democracy.

Good night, Howard. Last one out, turn out the lights....

Curt Siffert writes about Howard Dean and Joe Trippi.#

I've been curious for quite a while where Trippi ended and Dean began in the Dean campaign. After hearing stories about how Dean didn't know what a blog was, could barely post on the blog (and only has like five times so far), and was freaked out and thought the blog was hacked when they had way more money coming in than they expected... it started to come across to me like Dean wasn't all that attached to the Dean campaign.

I thought it was a flaw, but hopefully not a big one. But the question remained, what part of "Dean" was Howard Dean, and what part of it was the Dean campaign?

Christopher Lydon on the Internet transformation of politics and how it relates to recent realities.#

The Howard Dean campaign (much more than Howard Dean himself) has come to stand for the possibility of an Internet democracy. From the beginning there was no separating the "political" and "media" tracks of the campaign's offensive. Didn't he say early on that he was running for president because the alternative was to spend the rest of his life yelling at the TV set? Dean's defining thrust was against the war in Iraq, in which even before it began the big newspapers and TV networks were embedded. His first contribution was simply to sound an anti-war alarm that institutional media had muffled. Millions of people knew intuitively that his warning was wise; millions more know it now. He began with a bold exercise in definition--a job of critical journalism that our big media don't perform these days. In large dimensions and small (like his chippy defiance of Tim Russert), Dean's campaign was a critique of the somnolent self-satisfaction that runs through our housecat press. And people loved him for it.

Lawrence Lessig writes about the language of Dean's announcements.#

From today's NYT: "You're going to see a leaner, meaner organization," Dr. Dean, who has asked his 500 staff members to skip their paychecks for two weeks, told reporters on an 8 p.m. conference call. "We had really geared up for what we thought was going to be a front runner's campaign. It's not going to be a front-runner's campaign. It's going to be a long war of attrition. What we need is decision making that's centralized."

Yes, centralized. Fire someone who built the most extraordinary grass-roots organization in history, and hire a Washington lobbyist in his stead. Now we're making progress.

Ryan Overbey thinks that the firing of Trippi is a positive thing, because he looks beyond the Internet and at the issues he sees Dean standing for.#

People have been shocked by the firing of Joe Trippi. They say that Howard Dean has fired the Internet. Hell, if the Internet cost me $10 million in Iowa on orange hats and cell phones for out-of-staters who turned off the natives, I'd fire the Internet too.

Bottom line: Trippi blew $35 million worth of grassroots money. Nickels and dimes from ordinary people. He blew it on terrible ads produced by his own company, on bad politicking in the Iowa caucuses. Part of the responsibility lies with Howard Dean. The speech got him off message. But the endorsements came too early, Dean ran a front-runner's campaign, and he lost his edge. His issues were quietly co-opted by Edwards and Kerry. It was Trippi's responsibility to make sure the message was constantly being communicated to newcomers, that it stayed fresh and exciting and compelling. He let Dean fall off message, and Dean lost.

Mike Walsh wants a post-Dean Trippi interview from Christopher Lydon.#

ScrappleFace reports the Joe Trippi was in fact replaced by Karl Rove.#

Mr. Rove will continue to serve as President George Bush's political strategist, even as he attempts to help Mr. Dean regain momentum after back-to-back losses in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"I have always believed in Howard Dean's candidacy," said Mr. Rove, "I think I stand with the majority of Republicans in saying that his nomination, more than anything else, is the key to guaranteeing that America is in good hands for the next four years."

Michael Feldman posts some low blow quotes about the Democratic candidates.#

Dr. Dean shouldn't feel so bad about hootin' and hollerin' like that Monday night. Why, if I'd spent all that money and come in third, I'd still be back in Iowa hollerin'. - Al Sharpton

Andrew Grumet links to Dean Goes Nuts: "Howard Dean's 2004 Iowa Caucus Concession Speech Remixes."#

Ryan Overbey comments on this:

The neat thing about all this is how the cynical press has forced the video down our throats time and time again. They're throwing in poll data to emphasize Dean's slide. He may well pull a Bush: now he's being treated with the soft bigotry of low expectations, and a 2nd place finish in New Hampshire would suddenly be a sign of "momentum" or "recovery". One thing we know: nobody wants a static story. Big swings are good for ratings. Horseraces keep people interested. Journalists may well be emphasizing how in the dumps the Dean folks are now, but you may see the pendulum swing back just as quickly.

Ryan Overbey links to The Dean Speech From The Audience.#

This is the best spin I've seen on the Dean speech- and it's hardly even spin. It's a video taken from a person at the Iowa rally, and it gives you a sense of what it was to be there. The speech seems very different from this angle.

Dave Winer writes about how the Dean blog is not really a blog... just a "house organ."#

I've been watching the weblog at Dean For America, and there's hardly been a mention of the trouble the candidate is in, the sliding poll numbers, the doubts voters in New Hampshire and elsewhere have about Howard Dean. He was great with Diane Sawyer last night. What I've seen of his campaign appearances have been very good. But the weblog is falling down. They have the most interesting story in the world unveiling around them, and have almost nothing about it. Just the usual house organ stuff.