And, the one man band play's on!
Posted on 02/12/2005 11:21:44 PM PST by Grampa Dave
New DNC Head Dean Hopes to Rebuild Party
2 hours, 47 minutes ago
By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - New national Democratic Chairman Howard Dean (news - web sites) promised Saturday to rebuild the party in the most conservative regions of the country, help develop state and local organizations and let congressional Democrats set the tone on policy.
Electing Dean on a voice vote during their winter meeting, Democrats put the party's leadership in the hands of the skilled fund-raiser and organizer whose sometimes caustic, blunt comments can lead to controversy. The physician now must contend with a state-by-state political map in which Republican red overwhelms Democratic blue.
"I'll pretty much be living in red states in the South and West for quite a while," Dean told reporters. "The way to get people not to be skeptical about you is to show up and say what you think."
The normally outspoken Dean appeared to be trying to shift his role from flamboyant presidential candidate to cautious party chairman.
"The proper place for the day-to-day battles is Congress," Dean said in response to a question about his opposition to the war in Iraq (news - web sites). "My views are well known, but most of the policy pronouncements will be coming from the leaders in Congress and not from me."
Dean has plenty of other chores to keep him busy.
President Bush (news - web sites) just won his second term. Republicans are firmly in control of the House and the Senate. And the GOP is gaining strength in conservative states in the South and West.
The former Vermont governor promised to learn how Democrats can communicate positions more effectively.
Dean says that no one is "pro-abortion," but "we are the party in favor of allowing women to make up their own minds about their health care."
And Democrats are not for "gay marriage," but "we are the party that has always believed in equal rights under the law for all people," he says.
Dean is determined to seize the moral high ground from Republicans, arguing Democratic positions on helping the poor and protecting children are consistent with religious values.
The new chairman sounded like a man in a hurry: "Republicans wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before regaining Congress. ... The American people cannot afford to wait 40 years for us to regain control in Washington and put the government back to work for Americans."
Dean has been criticizing Republicans all week and has promised to stay on the offensive, but GOP Chairman Ken Mehlman contacted Dean to congratulate him and then put out a statement describing Dean as "a strong leader for his party."
The kid-glove treatment is unlikely to last. Reminded Saturday that former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich had said Dean would be the perfect leader for Democrats if they have a "death wish," Dean smiled broadly and said: "I'm looking forward to the opportunity to prove Newt wrong."
On Saturday, Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) of Massachusetts gave the DNC another $225,000, donated by Kerry supporters, for grass-roots development. The 2004 presidential nominee gave $1 million last week.
As Dean takes on his new DNC duties, his brother Jim takes over the former governor's political action committee — Democracy for America.
Howard Dean replaces outgoing party chief Terry McAuliffe, who raised more money than Republicans in the last election cycle, developed a sophisticated voter file and e-mail list, and left the party in the black after the presidential election.
Democrats generally sounded an optimistic tone about Dean, hoping for the best from their new chairman who is attempting to show more restraint.
When Dean was asked about anonymous criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, he quickly brushed it aside, saying, "I'm not going to respond to blind quotes."
___
...or maybe Jerry Springer.
People don't normally dig their own graves. I grant you that Dean is not a normal man, since he is unusually arrogant and full of hate. But he is not exactly a dummy, and he's got the liberal media protecting him to a degree.
Whether Dean will be good or bad for the Democrats remains to be seen. If we make sure that people are aware of all the crazy things he'll end up saying and perhaps doing, well and good. But if we don't answer his vicious rants and use them to point out who he and the Democrats are, much of the public will come to accept them as normal discourse, and Bush hatred, etc., as a respectable political position.
You can't analyze politics from the standpoint of intelligent people like ourselves. You always need to think of something's impact on the stupid people who have a hard time choosing between the parties. They're the ones who ultimately drive our fate as a country.
"the strategy of the Rats is to lie in 2006 and 2008 ... this will not go over well in much of America"
It is tempting to think so. But consider the fact that they also lied very blatantly throughout 2003 and 2004. No, it didn't go over well with some people, but it certainly fooled others. "Much" of America is not necessarily "most" of America. NEVER, EVER forget the hard truth that Kerry, personally unlikable and liberal as he was, got 48 percent of the vote. This is a sobering statistic when we stop to think about it. No hard-left candidate has ever done nearly this well in a presidential race.
We cannot not just sit on our ashes and let the enemy destroy himself. Things don't usually work that way. We must keep up the fight. The Dean appointment does give us a good opportunity. But it's an opportunity that depends partly on us, not wholly on the enemy's self-destructiveness, which is easy to overestimate.
Also, never forget that the Democratic party is the most successful political party in the history of the world. Ultimately, they may go the way of the Whigs, but we're still a long way from that point. Indeed, we damned near lost in 2004.
"The polite thing to do" is not normally "the smart thing to do" politically. We need to get over this hangup.
Mehlman's failing here was to make a comment that completely papers over Dean's vicious extremism. In politics, you can't assume that "people will get it." You need to help them understand, using EVERY POSSIBLE opportunity to TEACH them. Mehlman's stupid comment ratifies Dean as a legitimate political opponent, when in fact the man is a hate-filled extremist. Our RNC chairman failed to call it like he sees it, usually a mistake in politics.
Jerry Springer is probably mean enough and tricky enough to do the job.
good un.
Dean says that no one is "pro-abortion," but "we are the party in favor of allowing women to make up their own minds about their health care."
Right. Maybe he vcould name me a "pro-choice" democrat in a position of power in the democrat party.
Let me see if I got this right, women can kill their unboen children but the state can't put to death convicted murderers.
Dean's contemptuous comment that partial-birth abortion is "an issue about nothing" belies any claim to be sensitive to the pro-life concerns.
As for fiscal conservatism, sure, if one defines it solely in terms of budget-balancing at the cost of high taxes, Dean did OK on that score. But that's not what we need.
We all need to be clear on who and what Dean is: a vicious leftist bigot who hates Republicans and has nothing but contempt for anyone who votes for them. We should denounce him every day in every way. Make his life miserable and ruin his reputation. Don't let him say "hello" without attacking him in one way or another. Come up with names for him -- names that hurt, not just ones that get a chuckle.
Make him the poster boy for extremism, elitism and anti-Americanism in the mind of every voter to the right of ... Dean himself.
Thanks for the ping!
Bump!
Bumping the one Metrosexual Band.
He ain't no man.
The Democrat Party believes pregnancy is a disease
Thanks for the pic! Just reinforces what we already know -- Dr. FrankenDean is NUTS! Look at his eyes. If those aren't the eyes of a raving lunatic, I don't know what are! I think Dr. FrankenDean and Sen. McQueeg are running a close race to see who goes over the edge first!
When I was growing up, my parents and Grand Father taught me how use a person's eyes as possible warnings.
If we look at so many of the untouched photos of Dean's eyes, we see the eyes of a mad man filled with hate.
that is a GOOD thing, imVho.
free dixie,sw
Keep us posted on his trips to Dixie. Those trips should probably be stand alone threads.
free dixie NOW,sw
So true! I can't wait for Dr. FrankenDean to appear before a VFW or American Legion convention! Now THAT will be something to see! (That is, if he has the cajones to appear before those groups!)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.