All Dean Got From Press Was This Lousy T-Shirt

As Howard Dean’s presidential bid came to an end this week, the reporters covering his campaign presented the former Vermont governor with a T-shirt inspired by his frequent complaints that the media distorted his message.

The front: “Establishment Media.”

The back: “We have the power -- Dean Press Corps 2004.”

Dean broke into laughter when he was presented with the shirt in the lobby of his Milwaukee hotel on his way out for his last day on the campaign trail Tuesday morning.

“And indeed, you do have the power,” he said, peeling off his suit jacket and donning the white long-sleeved shirt.

“I’m going to enjoy this when we go to California, and when we go to New York, and when we go to Rhode Island, and when we go to Massachusetts,” Dean said, mimicking his much-criticized speech in Iowa. “Yahoo.”

“The establishment media trumped the Internet, but not for long,” he added.

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Out of the Shadows?

Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts got hot. At the same time, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean got cold.

Those two story lines dominated news coverage from the Jan. 19 Iowa caucuses to the Feb. 17 Wisconsin primary, leaving Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina in the shadows.

Since his strong runner-up showing in Wisconsin last week, Edwards has been riding a surge in publicity. But for months, he had a hard time drawing national attention.

In Time’s Feb. 23 edition, published before the Wisconsin vote, the magazine gave Edwards two glancing mentions and focused at length on Kerry’s fund-raising operation going head-to-head with the GOP. Newsweek’s Feb. 23 edition blacked Edwards out entirely.

Instead, Newsweek put Kerry and President Bush on its cover, focusing on their Vietnam War records, and mentioned Dean, former Democratic candidates Wesley K. Clark and Joe Lieberman, and even 2000 Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.

“It wasn’t a conscious decision,” said Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker in a telephone interview as Wisconsin was voting. But he acknowledged: “You have to write at the moment with the assumption that Kerry is the likely nominee.” Whitaker said he would adjust coverage of Edwards “if that changes.”

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Who’s Counting?

$50.3 million: Amount raised by Howard Dean, the most of any Democratic presidential campaign ever.

318,884: Number of people who contributed to Dean’s presidential bid.

$4.9 million: Amount raised by John Edwards’ campaign since the Jan. 19 Iowa caucuses.

$8.5 million: Amount raised by John F. Kerry’s campaign since the Iowa caucuses.

618: Kerry’s current delegate tally.

2: Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich’s current delegate tally.

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Duly Quoted

“It feels a hell of a lot better to try and lose, than not to try at all.” -- Howard Dean in a letter e-mailed to supporters Thursday.

“Over and over, Howard Dean reiterated he never kowtowed to special-interest groups like, say, voters.... Meanwhile, an exciting opportunity awaits Dennis Kucinich. He’s been asked to star in the second season of Fox’s ‘The Littlest Groom.’ ” -- Craig Kilborn on CBS’ “The Late Late Show” on Wednesday.

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Compiled from staff, Web and wire reports by Times staff researcher Susannah Rosenblatt.