Posted on 07/28/2006 9:46:37 AM PDT by new yorker 77
Let me steal the opening from Ruth Marcus' column on Alberto Gonzales yesterday and repackage it for my own purposes:
Howard Dean is achieving something remarkable, even miraculous, as DNC Chairman: He is making Terry McAuliffe look good.
Surveying the wreckage of Dean's latest imbecilic utterings, grotesquely overwraught analogies, and phony calls for unity, one really has to wonder: has there been a greater buffoon leading one of the two major parties in recent history?
Republicans remain thrilled by Dean's rise, of course, not only because he has an uncanny ability to make the Democratic party look bad with cringe-inducing headlines on a fairly regular basis, but also because he's created such a deep division within the party itself.
The bitter feud between Dean and DCCC Chair Rahm Emanuel and over Dean's rapid cash burn rate and his insistence of pursuing a 50-state strategy at the expense of allocating all available resources toward this November is well known. And as Jay Cost wrote last week, with Democrats enjoying strong fundraising and a favorable national political climate, "the timing of this feud could not be worse."
Time will tell whether Dean's 50-state strategy turns out to be a smart, long-term investment or a collosal waste of resources. Much of the outcome will be determined by execution, and frankly Dean's track record in that department doesn't instill much confidence. As we learned shortly after his presidential bid imploded, not only was Dean fabulously undisciplined as a candidate, he was a terrible manager as well, and behind the scenes his campaign was an "utterly poisonous" mix of bickering and backbiting.
Luckily for Democrats, Dean is but one of three links in the party's '06 election chain, and the other two (Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emanuel) are exceedingly disciplined, focused, and have put the party in the best possible position to make gains and perhaps recapture one or even both chambers of Congress this fall. But you know what they say: a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If Democrats somehow manage to blow another opportunity this November, Schumer and Emanuel will get their share of criticism, to be sure, but expect most of it to flow to the trio's weak link, Howard Dean.
Posted by Tom Bevan at 04:23 PM
Howard Dean is at least so obviously in touch with his inner space man that everything he says is kind of funny, in its' own way. But he doesn't come across as a whiny little pansy.
Terry McAwful always came across as a fem queen spurned the poolboy, ya know?
Ok. Now I understand where dirtboy was coming from. The Clinton's are hoping for control of the DNC pending the disastrous results for the Dems after the 2006 elections. Thanks for clearing that up.
I would love to see bob and maybe ann coulter/laura ingraham/malkin in a cross fire type show he really is reasonable and likeable liberal along with a guy name pat caddel they scold the dems when they are wrong. I look foward to watching any show that they are on and usually tape it
I would love to see bob and maybe ann coulter/laura ingraham/malkin in a cross fire type show he really is reasonable and likeable liberal along with a guy name pat caddel they scold the dems when they are wrong. I look foward to watching any show that they are on and usually tape it
The Clintons do have a long history of screwing over their friends. As long as it's good for Bill and Hill!, they don't care how many seats the Donks lose.
McAuliffe was just a scumbucket. Dean is a raving lunatic.
McA and Dean are cut from the same cloth. Lie, lie, lie, slander, slur, misrepresent, and siphon money to cronies.
I agree with your estimation but for a different reason. Dean is spending the money on infrastructure (long term party building) investment. My guess is his aim is to create a grass roots structure that answers to him not to the Clintonistas. This is why Rahm is pissed. My guess is Dean has aspirations for the White House and is building a machine to get him there. The fact that he is using general Dem money to build a Dean machine is wonderful. If he is marginally successful, he can either run for the White House or be the power broker extrordinaire of the Dem party. I may be wrong, but why would a Chairman be stealing the spotlight from every possible candidate the party has on a daily basis. Why would a Chairman spend lavishly on party building in areas the party has not taken in a general election for 15 years? He is building an empire responsive to him.
Regarding the Ruth Marcus piece in the Washington Post, I felt like emailing her and asking if she missed the good old Janet Reno days -- the days of total shirking of responsibility... of turning a blind eye to illegalities and corruption in the White House... of accepting that there was "no controlling legal authority". What do you think, Ruth? Could the country have standed another 8 years of Bubba-like Justice Department?
tig, yes, that's likely. He blew it with 'the scream" and in fact, support was bleeding long before then. But his ambition for the oval office remains in the forefront, and his decisions are predicated on that.
Ruth Allyn Marcus, a White House correspondent for The Washington Post, was married yesterday to Jonathan David Leibowitz, the chief counsel to Senator Herb Kohl, Democrat of Wisconsin. Rabbi Max Tickin performed the ceremony at the Galleria in Washington.
Ms. Marcus, who is 35 and is keeping her name, graduated cum laude from Yale University and received a law degree from Harvard University. She is the daughter of Arnold and Judith Marcus of Livingston, N.J. Her father retired as the director of regulatory affairs at Bristol-Myers Products in Hillside, N.J. Her mother is an accountant in Union, N.J.
Mr. Leibowitz, 35, is also the chief counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice in Washington. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and received a law degree from New York University.
He is the son of Marshall and Ruth Leibowitz of Ridgefield, Conn. His mother teaches theater and movement at the Wooster School in Danbury, Conn. His father is the director of research at the UCE Corporation, a manufacturer of liquid-crystal displays in Norwalk, Conn.
dave chappelle as howard dean, funny!!!
http://www.dorks.com/html/Dave-Chappelle-Lost-Episode---Howard-Dean.html
The chip that Evil Genius Karl Rove had secretly implanted in Howard Dean is working very well. Let's just hope it doesn't smoke itself before November! ;-)
Byaahh!
I left my reply to you there.
All I can say is, I hope I am wrong.
I wouldnt bet on it however.
Cheers,
knewshound
Indeed. Those things run on smoke. Once you let it out, workee no more.
I've seen it happen hundreds of times.
+--< ]B^)
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