Radio Host Predicts Dean by a Hair
Few know Iowa like its leading conservative talk show host, Jan Mickelson.
As the Iowa Caucus vote nears, NewsMax.com sat down with the broadcaster
whose popular morning show broadcasts on News Radio 1040, WHO, out of Des
Moines.
WHO and its 50,000-watt blowtorch signal give it a powerful voice across
Iowa.
Ronald Reagan began his broadcasting career here, re-creating Chicago Cubs
games for his listeners during the great depression years.
Dean is doing well in the state, Mickelson argues, because of the state's
"angry Left." The radio host predicts the winner: "Dean by a hair."
He says Democrats in Iowa are a "minority of the minority" - there are
577,461 registered Dems, compared with 622,540 registered Republicans and
783,285 registered Independents.
Despite having an edge on registration rolls, Republicans often lose in
Iowa because the GOP offers up "poor candidates."
"Howard Dean is right that the activists are the ones who show up at the
caucuses ... and the activists are the ones who are the least happy about
stuff," Mickelson said. "Happy people don't change history and that's
certainly the case here. Howard Dean is the angry man who appeals to the angry
left."
Another factor is the high number of people dependent on government
assistance.
"You've got farmers that are on welfare. You've got a huge senior
population on welfare. And you've got a huge amount of government employees on
welfare," said Mickelson. "And the party that appeals to the recipients of
opium are ... I hate to be so blunt about it, but the DNC should be renamed
'opium' ..."
Mickelson says so far the only Democratic candidates who have appeared on
his show are Sen. John Kerry of Mass., Sen. John Edwards of N.C., and Sen. Joe
Lieberman of Conn.
"Those are the only ones who will come on the program. The rest of them
have been warned to stay away," he said.
Asked which of the Democrats he'd like to see win the nomination, Mickelson
jokes, "Al Sharpton."
"Actually I don't have a horse in this race. I didn't vote for Bush either.
I'm a small 'D' ... disenfranchised," he said.
Of Dennis Kucinich, Mickelson also made a prediction: "He's coming on
strong. Yeah, he can move from a half a percent all the way up to a percent."
"The Communist Party of America on their Web site a few weeks ago said that
they were not going to field a candidate this year because they were
adequately represented by Kucinich," Mickelson said.
