BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Monday’s caucuses in Iowa are the first official contest for candidates vying for the nation’s highest office. It also marks 20 years since former Governor Howard Dean saw his front-running campaign for the Democratic nomination come crashing down after his third place in the Hawkeye State.
The Iowa caucuses mark the first major step of the 2024 presidential contest. Former President Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, and Ron Desantis are the frontrunners vying for votes in the Republican race.
“Iowa does more to hurt people than help people,” said former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who was a front-runner for the Democratic nomination in the months leading up to the primaries in 2004.
Only three people have won contested caucuses and gone on to win the U.S. presidency. Dean says Iowa is a test for who can exceed expectations, and who will have a strong second or third-place finish heading into the New Hampshire primaries. “It does show organizational ability in presidential campaigns, more so than broad electoral campaigns where you have people coming out anyway,” Dean said.
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After finishing third in Iowa, Dean gave a memorable speech to rally supporters ahead of New Hampshire that even before social media, quickly became known as the “Dean Scream.” The clip was played countless times on cable news outlets.
Dean says he was already dropping in the polls before Iowa. “Everyone talks about the scream speech — which was a lot of fun — but the reason we lost was nothing because of the scream speech, that was after the fact. We lost because we were out-organized by John Kerry. That’s the name of the game — is organization,” Dean said.
The speech was dubbed by many as a political gaffe but pales in comparison with some of the behavior of candidates in today’s political atmosphere that can actually draw voter support.
Bert Johnson, a political science professor at Middlebury College, says the tone of candidates resonates more today than the message and that party affiliation has become an identity.
“If candidates are appealing to identity instead of appealing to people on the basis of this or that issue, it makes it less important exactly what they say and more important on how they say it,” he said.
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After Iowa, attention will turn to the New Hampshire primary next Tuesday.
A man died Saturday after falling while skiing at Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vt., officials said.
The man fell and slid into a wooded area while skiing Stein’s Run, a double-black diamond trail on Lincoln Peak, Vermont State Police said in a statement.
The double-black diamond rating is the highest difficulty designation in skiing, according to the National Ski Areas Association.
The man was found unresponsive by ski patrol members and was brought to an ambulance at the base of the mountain, police said. He was pronounced dead due to his injuries, according to the statement.
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The man’s name was not released pending notification of his family, officials said.
Police said the death did not appear suspicious. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington, Vt., will condut an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.
No further information was immediately released.
Collin Robisheaux can be reached at collin.robisheaux@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @ColRobisheaux.
WARREN, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont State Police are investigating the death of a skier at Sugarbush Resort.
Police were notified at about 3:26 p.m. Saturday that a skier had died following a fall on Stein’s Run at Sugarbush Lincoln Peak.
The male victim fell and slid into a wooded area off the trail, according to police.
Ski patrol members found the man unresponsive and brought him to the base of the mountain, where they were met by the Mad River Valley Ambulance. The victim was pronounced dead due to his injuries.
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Police say the death does not appear suspicious. An autopsy will be performed at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington to determine the cause and manner of death.
The victim’s name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Thousands of Vermonters took to the streets Saturday, condemning the actions and policies of President Donald Trump in peaceful protests at dozens of locations.
They lined up on Main Street in Newport and on Creamery Row in Hardwick, on the village green in Fair Haven and in towns from Burlington to Brattleboro. In all, around 50 “No Kings” demonstrations were held.
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Castleton resident Robert Revell came to Rutland Saturday to show his anger at the Trump Administration. “We have a war that we’re not supposed to be in, we have a president who does nothing but lie… I am just fed up,” said Revell.
Castleton resident Robert Revell stood along Route 7 in Rutland with hundreds of others.
“I’m just so angry,” said Revell, who held a three dimensional sign that incorporated a blow-up planet Earth with words below that read “Mother DEMANDS NO kings, no pedos and no liars.”
“We have a war that we’re not supposed to be in, we have a president who does nothing but lie,” he said. “I am just fed up. I’m 73 in a couple weeks and I lived through the Nixon thing and I’m just here to protest and share my heart.”
Around him, throngs of people, many in costume, lined several blocks along Route 7 waving flags and handmade signs. Some rang cow bells or thumped tambourines. Many passing motorists responded with staccato horn blasts.
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Nationwide, more than 3,000 protests were planned for Saturday in large cities and small towns. They have been organized by national and local groups, including well-known progressive coalitions such as Indivisible, 50501 and MoveOn.
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Hannah Abrams, of Mendon (in blue jacket) was among hundreds of protestors who stood along route seven in Rutland Saturday. This was her third NoKings protest. “I’m not tired of protesting,” she said, “but I’m really tired of the current administration.”
“For me, it boils down to the cruelty I’m seeing in the world right now,” said Hannah Abrams, of Mendon. “I think that our president instills a lot of cruelty among the people he doesn’t like. And actually for the people who do vote for him too, because they’re not any better off with him in office.”
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“There are a lot of people who say this is not America,” Abrams added. “And I would like to say, it’s exactly America, it’s just targeting different people now … Sadly, this is not new.”
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Stephanie Brush and her 89-year-old mother Mary Jane Demko (in wheelchair) of Rutland Town came out to protest President Trump on Saturday in Rutland. Said Denko, “I couldn’t stay in, he’s too evil.”
Mary Jane Demko, 89, of Rutland, showed up to her local protest in a wheelchair driven by her daughter, Stephanie Brush. Demko carried a sign on her lap that read “IMPEACH THE SOB!”
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“I couldn’t stay in and not be part of this,” Demko said. “He’s too evil.”
Karen Lorentz of Shrewsbury said she too couldn’t stay away. At 80, she said Saturday’s event in Rutland was her first protest. She held a handmade sign she said a friend had helped her make.
“I’m really old and when the Vietnam War was on I was a new teacher and I didn’t have time,” she said. “But I felt strongly that I needed to be here today.”
