Inside the Beltway

Told you so

“Just a quick reminder that in December of 2003, while most magazines were running cover stories on Howard Dean, The Atlantic Monthly had John Kerry on its cover.”

—Atlantic Monthly statement after John Kerry scored his major upset in the Iowa caucuses

Freak show

What really propelled John Kerry so rapidly to the top in Iowa after he had lagged so far behind in the polls?

One can’t ignore a cleverly worded television ad launched in the state Jan. 7 by one of the nation’s leading free-market political-advocacy organizations, the Club for Growth PAC, highlighting longtime Iowa caucus leader Howard Dean’s liberal tax record.

The $100,000-plus ad, which was not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee, opened with a couple walking out of a barber shop. An off-screen announcer asked what they thought of Mr. Dean’s plan to raise taxes on a typical family by $1,900.

Without hesitation, the husband responded: “What do I think? Well, I think Howard Dean should take his tax-hiking, government-expanding, latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading …”

His wife continued: “… body-piercing, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show back to Vermont, where it belongs.”

Club for Growth Executive Director David Keating told Inside the Beltway yesterday: “One of the things that just shocked us is how our ad not only entered the political culture, but also the comedy culture.

“We’re going to poke fun at any politician with an insane tax plan,” Mr. Keating said. “And it fits Dean’s plan — and persona, perhaps. I mean, you saw his rant.”

Veteran Iowa reporter David Yepsen agreed in one nationally televised interview: “The only memorable political ad here is the Club for Growth ad.”

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