Posted on 05/10/2005 7:57:33 AM PDT by ForOurFuture
Breaking party lines, former Gov. Howard Dean said Monday he supports Rep. Bernard Sanders' bid for the U.S. Senate, saying the Independent makes a "strong candidate." "A victory for Bernie Sanders is a win for Democrats," Dean said in a telephone interview Monday.
Sen. James Jeffords, I-Vt., announced last month he would not seek re-election, clearing the way for what's expected to be a crowded race in fall 2006.
But Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, added that his support is not unconditional.
"We've got a few things to work out with Bernie," he said, adding, "Bernie's not a Democrat."
Dean, the outspoken former presidential candidate whose aspirations for the White House abruptly ended during the primary more than a year ago, refused to describe Sanders' shortcomings in the eyes of Democrats.
"I'd rather tell him in person," Dean said.
Sanders' practice of voting with House Democrats and his name recognition - bolstered by his position as the only U.S. representative in Vermont - makes him appealing to Democrats desperate to regain seats in every branch of government.
"Sanders is a strong candidate," Dean said.
Jeff Weaver, Sanders' chief of staff and campaign spokesman, said the congressman won't formally announce his candidacy until "much later this year."
But Weaver said Dean's support is natural in a political atmosphere dominated by conservative voices.
"I think Gov. Dean and Congressman Sanders share an interest in beating back a very aggressive reactionary agenda of President Bush and congressional Republicans," Weaver said. "We intend to win this seat and Bernie will be a strong voice against the Bush agenda."
Weaver said the campaign will lean heavily on Democratic volunteers and supporters, but also on groups not necessarily aligned with a political party. He mentioned working families, farmers, senior citizens and veterans.
"This is going to be in many ways a historic grass roots campaign for Vermont," Weaver said.
Jim Barnett, chairman of the state Republican committee, criticized the new alliance, saying it raises questions about whether "backroom deals" are being made between Dean and Sanders.
"This is exactly the kind of cynical politics that Bernie Sanders once said was corrupt," Barnett said.
Weaver, calling Barnett a "White House protégé" and a "Karl Rove character," said, "He can throw his bombs and we'll do our work for the people."
My position is that the Democrats currently in the Senate are no different than Bernie Sanders. Except that they fear being as honest as Bernie is in his beliefs. Bernie is no worse, no better, than Boxer, Kerry, Kennedy, Hillary...Hillary is a closet Marxist. I wasn't always certain of that, but when she slipped up and repeated the rhetoric about taking from the rich to give to the poor she sealed it. She even had to have a reporter come out with a bogus story about not quoting her correctly. Then the revised quote essentially said the same, only in a verbose way.
The election of a Socialist is a bad thing for the U.S. Senate under any terms, but reality is that we have Socialists in the Senate already. Bernie replacing Jeffords would at most retain the status quo of Socialists represented.
IF Bernie is elected what he will do is become the face of moveon.org. The Face of the Democrat Party. He'll do as Dean did in the primary, draw the Senators further Left. IMO, this benefits the conservatives/Republicans in furthering their majority over the long term. This is why I welcome bernie as a representative for the Democrats IF Vermont must elect a Liberal.
If Republicans can field a conservative Republican, then of course I don't want Bernie elected. But I've yet to see signs they are serious about doing so. They are serious in Maryland, Minnesota, etc..but so far not Vermont. I'd even accept a Liberal Republican IF that Liberal were like Rudy rather than Chafee. Yet I don't see signs of a Rudy Republican yet either. IMO, Reps may give this race a pass to focus on getting Santorum re-elected, picking up more "red" states and challenging vulnerable "blue" seats.
Sanders DeLayed! Or is he guilty of Barbara Boxerism?.
Those who voted for that Socialist AARP bus-driving scumbag of a Governor here in Montana will hopefully learn their lesson well. He's already made a going concern of driving business out of state. I'm contemplating moving out of Montana. I'm sick and tired of it. The Republicans here in Montana are gutless morons.
That is, he used a Republican-enrolled official to make the Dem. ticket more palatable to voters, when the Rep. that joined him was, in reality, merely a feckless, Rockefeller Republican.
When your ignorance is complete it is often best to remain silent.
Had nothing to do with his Republican running mate. Socialist scumbag Schweitzer won the Governorship by preying on the fears of the gun rights crowd. (Typically many of them Republicans). Gun ownership, aside from property rights, and farming and ranching, is a HUGE issue in Montana.
Truer words were never spoken, and the reason it will help RATS is because the RATS are Socialists! When you lay with the pigs, you smell like the pigs!
All Dean needs to ask himself is "what would MoveOn want?"
All of America will come to see this as who the Demodogs represent.
Somehow, I'm not very worried about this development.
It doesn't look too good. A new Research 2000 poll on the Vermont Senate race:
Sanders 62%, Tarrant 18%
Sanders 59%, Dubie 23%
Sanders 61%, Rainville 18%
Vermont is like Canada. They have no worries concerning terrorism, war or anything outside their borders.
What do they have to worry about?
Oh, I guess some terrorist blowing up a mad cow.
To be clear: Obviously of course I don't believe all Vermont Republicans and/or conservatives are RINO's and CINO's, respectively.
Out of those three, I'd put my money on Tarrant giving it the best run of anyone. He has very little name identification right now, but is a very wealthy software company CEO. If he put in some of his own money, he could overcome the name recognition problem. But I don't know if he could do anything to get over 40% of the vote, unless a credible Democrat ran as well.
The numbers aren't up on Research2000's website yet, but were posted on Taegan Goddard's PoliticalWire.com site earlier today. Goddard is pro-Democrat, but I've been advised by another conservative that R2000 does in fact directly release their data to Goddard, so at this point I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of those numbers.
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