Democratic Imbroglio (The Confederate Flap: So Long, Howard & Hello, Hillary?)

The Richmond [VA] Times-Dispatch ^ | November 9, 2003 | Ross Mackenzie

[quidnunc]

Howard Dean really put his mouth in it. The incident may mean he has kissed his sweet Democratic nomination good-bye.

Dean said — he has said the same thing several times since February — he still wants to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pick-up trucks. His most recent mouthing led to ridiculous responses by his fellow Democratic wannabes. Richard Gephardt said he doesn't want to be the candidate "for guys with Confederate flags" in their pickups but "for guys with American flags." John Kerry, implicitly tying the Confederate flag issue to race and guns, said, "I would rather be the candidate of the NAACP than the NRA."

Al Sharpton dismissed Dean as sounding more like "Stonewall Jackson than Jesse Jackson," adding Dean is "insensitive" and "too arrogant to say 'I'm wrong.'" John Edwards, indignant and almost in tears, joined Sharpton in demanding Dean apologize — and added: "The last thing we need in the South is somebody like you coming down and telling us what we need."

Initially, Dean dug in. "I was not wrong, John Edwards!" he said. Later, uncertain how to deal with such confrontational rabbits, he sought counsel from the sage Jimmy Carter. Ultimately Dean said, "I started this discussion in a clumsy way" and "I deeply regret the pain that I may have caused."

Dean is no dummy.

He obviously understands the Republicanization of the formerly Democratic South during the past decades. He meant by his remark that to strengthen themselves nationally the Democrats must broaden their appeal to precisely the Southern whites who have left the Democratic Party in droves. "We can't beat George Bush unless we appeal to a broad cross-section of Democrats," Dean said along the way. "I make no apology for reaching out to poor white people."

Yet he employed the wrong symbol and slipped. Up there in the Vermontian provinces, Howard Dean may have missed that rightly or wrongly the Confederate flag has been politicized — ideologized — as a symbol of white hatred of African-Americans. Its display on public property is absolutely improper. But its display on private property (even pickups) — indeed, its very mention — roils the domestic sea, as repeated scenes in Richmond amply testify.

And politically, the flag is a killer. Last year Democrat Ben "Cooter" Jones, of "Dukes of Hazzard" television fame, in his congressional campaign for Virginia's 7th District seat, employed the "General Lee" Dodge Charger from the TV show — complete with Confederate flag painted on the roof — as a prop. He said: "I do fly [the Confederate] flag" and "I'm not going to take it down." He lost with hardly more than 30 percent of the vote in a two-man race.

The South has left the Democratic column, no question.

-snip-

[GeronL]

Now don't go mentioning Hillary! You scare people! =o)

[GeronL]

If I had money I'd buy one of those missile silo homes!

[Buck W.]

What is the deadline for candidates to announce?

[MJY1288]

Howard Dean is a typical New England Liberal, he insulted the entire south with his comments and he doesn't even realize it, his weak apology after that circle jerk of a debate hosted by CNN last week was proof of just how ignorant Howard Dean is. His way of apologizing was to say southerners need to think about more than just Guns, God and Gays.

What a frickin moron

[Lancey Howard]

The South has left the Democratic column, no question.

Well, duh, Ross.
The only places that are still in the Democrat column are the nation's parasite nests (cities). Nothing new here. The famous blue-red county-by-county post-election map spells it out pretty clearly.

[At _War_With_Liberals]

When Dean speaks glowingly of Muslims and bashes Southerners, we have a real problem.

I keep picturing Hillary joining the race and fraudulently running a campaign of a moderate to sway moderate Dems.

[MJY1288]

Here is what Hillary needs to worry about if she decides to run.... She doesn't need to worry about who consistantly shows up at the polls and votes DEM, they will vote for her. She needs to worry about the other 100 million people who don't usually vote....... She might excite the democrat base, but if she runs and gets the nomination, she will stir up those who normally don't vote to come out in droves against her

[cmotormac44]

Then we don't have to worry about her election--there sure 'ain't' enough "moderate" demonrats in the nation to pull that off

[At _War_With_Liberals]

The leftists are in her back pocket already.

I am really paranoid about Hillary.

[DeFault User]

The South's abandonment of the national Democrats flowed naturally from the Democrats' abandonment of the South. The process of abandonment may have begun with race, but the parting of ways has not been race-driven for years. As Dean knows, the Democrats cannot win nationally by writing off the South, but he erred perhaps irretrievably in using a symbol now racially infused.

Writing off the South? Dean's comments just highlight it with a big yellow marker.

John Edwards thought he could vote left, please the Dem powerbase and then call on a Southern image to pull it all together. It's not working too well for the Breck Girl.

None of them is as politically savvy as Bubba, who at least pretended to be "moderate-'slightly conservative'" to keep his Southern base.

[CIBGUY]

The American people wouldn't tolerate Hillary as the Commander In Chief, something that a lot of folks are forgetting.

[MJY1288]

Just wait until Zell Miller starts campaigning for George W. Bush, as he said he would if asked :-)

Dean's comments have just about guaranteed the South to GWB if Howard Dean wins the nomination, and it appears he will. The rest of the country is not going to cozy up to a guy who wants to take away the tax cuts and cut and run in Iraq, it's not what most Americans stand for and most democrat voters, who are not blinded with hatred for Bush, will agree

[ladyinred]

This flag thing is ludicrous. It is a part of history, demonized by the PC left. Sickening to say the least.

[MJY1288]

The best part is.... It's Howard Dean who is under attack for his Confederate Flag remarks, Who wooda ever thunk it ;-)

When the Democrats are engaged in a blood bath among themselves, It's a beautiful thing to witness :-)

[clee1]

There is no deadline, per se.

At this stage of the game, the 10 DemoCrap nominee candidates are all gathering delegates to the nominating convention. Each state has different rules/methods of doing this. Some states require the delegates to pledge their support to the person that wins the state primary/caucus - most do not.

The delegates can (for the most part) cast their nominating vote for whomever they please; even a person not "running" for nomination. This is called a convention draft.

Hitlery could still wind up as the demonCrap nominee.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

But it's a slur on the South to suggest the reason is race - a slur implicit in all the Confederate flag business. Yes, both parties have their racists. Yet the reasons for the Republicanization of the South have less to do with race than with the values the national Democratic Party and growing numbers of Southerners of both races clearly do not share.

The South exalts civility, community, and place. There's also, among many, a strong strain of leave-us-alone and let-us-be.

Money quote, from the article. :)

[HHFi]

Absolutely. Nobody cared at all about the Confederate flag except Civil War buffs and Lynyrd Skynyrd fans until the NAACP needed to gin up an issue to take its rapidly-dwindling membership's minds off the fact that their leader had embezzled all their money. The whole organization had become a useless anachronism, riddled with corruption, unwilling and unable to address any real problems of modern day African-Americans. They needed a McGuffin to distract everyone, and the Confederate flag was it.

They've now boosted their membership, brought the money and PR rolling back in, and demonized a whole group of Americans who were guilty of nothing more than being proud of their ancestors. And they still haven't done one damn thing about addressing any real problems of Black America. If they'd expend a fraction of the energy they waste demonizing the Confederate flag on real issues, like lousy schools, gangs or drugs, they might actually help their own people. But that's not what the NAACP is about. They're the National Association for the Advancement of their own selfish interests.

[CIBGUY]

You're right on target! The NAACP, along with other Black racist groups is required to exploit the ignorance of those of their own race who are continually told by their own black leaders that they can't make it on their own and that they have to rely on the al Sharptons of the world to simply exist. The NAACP certainly does not want to see the Negro gain acceptance in American society, because if they did there wouild be no need for the NAACP.

[Northern Yankee]

Exactly!

Hellary will bring people out in droves to slam her down once and for all.