Dean all but locks up DNC chairmanship

[Relbeek Einre]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/ ... index.html

Summary: Howard Dean's last major competitor for the DNC chairmanship has dropped out of the race and endorsed him.

This ia a very, very good thing for Democrats.

[Burz]

say it with me...

Gonna fundraise in New Hampshire, Vermont, Indiana, Nevada, Montana...

YEEEEAAAAARRRRGGGG!!!!

[Garrdor]

*insert Real TV scream*

YERAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[Croinc]

That's right.....

Just a little more to the left....more left...more left.....

OK..say CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





You liberals have really gone off the deep end if you think this idiot is your savior. More power to ya....oh..i mean less power to ya in the future.

/rolleyes

p.s. no wonder Lurker ducked, hid, and ran for cover of anonimity

[Aabe]

Summary: Howard Dean's last major competitor for the DNC chairmanship has dropped out of the race and endorsed him.

This ia a very, very good thing for Democrats.

Are you serious? You think its a good thing for him to get it? Or is this a troll?

[Partha]

Perhaps you can explain to the crowd why a 'liberal' (We'll ignore his actual record as a governor) is bad to be DNC chair.

[Relbeek Einre]

I absolutely do, Aabe.

The Democrats have been failing for the last four years because they kept trying to be "Republican Lite" - returning to their progressive roots is a -good- thing.

[Aabe]

Well, every conservative, radical right, ditto head person I know was pulling to see Dean as the presidential candidate. He was the conservative poster boy for an easy Republican victory in their eyes..

Of all the demo candidates he seemed one of the more honest though. I did admire him for that.

[Partha]

Y'know, in 1999 just about everyone laughed at the idea of GW running for President, Dems AND Reps alike.

So give me a better reason.

[Relbeek Einre]

Aabe, a lot of the milquetoast Democrats saw him the same way.

But the milquetoasts won the day for two election cycles and they failed against an opponent who was eminently defeatable. The Republicans have solid conservative principles that they loudly stand for (even if they don't tend to follow many of them in practice) and don't soften and make milquetoast, and that's why they win. The Dems need to solidly stand for progressive principles -- principles which the majority of Americans happen to agree with -- in order to win.

[Aabe]

Whether progress is better or not, I dont agree that most Americans THINK progressive is better.

[Relbeek Einre]

They don't.... when you say 'liberal.' But when you break it down issue by issue, most Americans agree with progressive principles, from choice to the environment to gun control. (For the record, I think gun control should NOT be a priority of the Democratic Party, and Dean agrees, thankfully.)

[Eidolon Faer]

Hmm, this is gonna be interesting, indeedy.

First of all, I believe that Howard Dean is a genuine person and a real human being, as contrasted to the carefully-positioned, focus group engineered, cardboard-cutout phony Frankenstein abortion that was John F. Kerry.

This is a good thing for Dean and will earn him a great deal of respect in historic Democrat strongholds that have been going to Bush of late. The populist message still will carry a lot of weight among those red-state folks that the New York media has been sending foreign correspondents to talk to. But they have no patience at all for someone who comes off as phony.

I think Dean would have been -- and IS still -- a stronger candidate than Kerry. Or even Hillary for that matter. But you'll note that he's not getting a job as a candidate. He's becoming a glorified PR flack. And, in fact, his election to the DNC chair makes him the one person on the map who will guaranteeably NOT be running in 2008.

I happen to think this is something of a mistake. Howard Dean's passion and populism, the very factors making him such a valuable candidate, make him very poorly suited for the DNC chair.

I'm not sure why this is happening or what the calculations of the DNC are...especially since SOMEBODY clearly twisted a few arms somewhere. Remember, a month ago, the DNC was begging MacAuliffe on bended knee to stay on and save them from the very fellow they're now cheering.

Were I forced to speculate, I'd argue that Hillary was behind the reversal. She's been running somewhere to the Right of Ann Coulter lately, and perhaps Barbara Boxer's shrill voice is insufficient to drown out the grumbling of the Democrat base as Hillary woos the bigots, homophobes, and imperialist warmongers. But that's just a guess.

[SicTimMitchell]

Although I was never a fan of Dean for president, DNC chair seems like a good place for him.

The flipside is Rick Santorum, the Repub's Dean. Just a little too close to the fringe to be president, but appeals strongly to the party base.

One thing I'll say, is that the "Dean scream" is an example of American politics at its worst. Not by Dean, but by the media. A half-second soundbite of genuine enthusiasm, replayed ad-nauseum, sinks the guy.

[Relbeek Einre]

I agree.

Santorum's in trouble though. Not just because his name has become a gross sexual term, but because he's taking money from companies that run very counter to his professed values.

[Eidolon Faer]

Santorum is going to be chairman of the DNC?

[Relbeek Einre]

Keep up, Eid... I was commenting on Bangzoom's note of Santorum's appeal to his party base, and making a note of why that appeal is starting to be in question.

[Eidolon Faer]

Sorry, I was just a bit thrown by the sudden topic shift. One second we were talking about Howard Dean's rocky rise to the DNC chair, and the next minute we're bashing Rick Santorum.

Didn't seem like the smoothest change of gears is all, Bangzoom kinda popped the clutch there.

[Relbeek Einre]

When confused, reread before speaking. It helps.