Dan Rather: Hall of Famer?

I remember the 2000 Election Night meltdown and all of his "Ratherisms" that became too much.

"Bush has run through Dixie like a big wheel through a cotton field."

"This race is as tight as a too-small bathing suit on a too-hot car ride back from the beach."

"Hotter than a Laredo parking lot."

"We've lived by the crystal ball, we're eating so much broken glass. We're in critical condition."

"Don't shoot the piano player, he's doing the best he can."

 

His pre- and post-Evening News anchoring certainly buoy him, but his Evening News anchoring is a lot to be desired.

The walking off the set.

The takedown by H.W.

Courage.

The swing and miss on W.

The 2000 fiasco and the Ratherisms.

But ... he was in Dallas in 1963 and was on the front lines for that and he was a stalwart in the field before he replaced the GOAT. And he's embraced the attacks from the right in his post-anchor days. You want to replace who replaced the GOAT.

Honestly, the Ratherisms on Election Night cracked me up because they were so goof-ballish.

I mean, you didn't get this from Chancelor, Jennings or Brokaw: "Pennsylvania drops for Gore, 23 electoral votes, and for the first time tonight, mark it, if you're in the kitchen, Mabel, come back in the front room, 145 for Gore, 130 for Bush, 270 needed to win."

Or: "If a frog had side pockets he'd carry a handgun."

And: "Bush is sweeping through the South like a tornado through a trailer park."

 

"Courage" was so strange.

Seems like he's having a small revival on Facebook. Usually spot-on commentary without too much homespun hokum. Of course, on that platform the vast majority of his followers are folks who watched him decades ago.