Posted on 11/23/2003 3:38:48 PM PST by Political Numbers Guy
From Howard Dean's official campaign blog...
Rall: Howard Dean for President
Ted Rall, in his Universal Press Syndicate column today, explains why so many third party voters are coming to Dean:
Howard Dean has the best chance to beat Bush.
Brilliant, aggressive and moneyed... Dr. Dean has a corner on the single most important issue to Americans: health care. His politics are surprisingly centrist... He's got traditional Democratic constituents (he just stole the biggest AFL-CIO union's endorsement away from Gephardt) and fresh new ones (twentysomething bloggers have mailed him $25 million in crisp twenties).
Dean's got lots more going for him, not the least of which is running as an insurgent small-state governor disliked by his own party's top leaders (the ex-governor thing casts him as even more of an outsider). Polls show Dean leading his nearest rival, John Kerry, 33 percent to 19 percent in the crucial New Hampshire primary. Coming out early and hard against the war in Iraq wins him major props with the liberal base and makes him seem ahead-of-the-curve to everyone else. Most importantly, he's his own man. "He doesn't really owe his current standing to any of them...," says Darrel West, a political science professor at Cornell.
But the rubber would really tear up the road at the presidential debates, where Dean's dry, sardonic Long Island wit would devastate the hapless Bush--and charm television viewers. His natural pugnacity could help Dems deal more aggressively than usual with the nasty attack ads they can expect in the campaign ahead. Frankly, the other Democratic contenders don't have what it takes to stand up to Karl Rove's brutal war machine.
Maybe it's premature to endorse Gov. Dean. But right now, given the information we have available, he's the preferred candidate of us Anybody But Bushies.
Help Dean stand up to the "nasty attack ads" that the RNC is launching today by contributing to the bat.
********************
To get more of an idea of what Ted Rall is all about, read his column from two weeks ago, told from the point of view of an Iraqi Ba'athist fighter...
Why We Fight
NEW YORK--Dear Recruit:
Thank you for joining the Iraqi resistance forces. You have been issued an AK-47 rifle, rocket-propelled grenade launcher and an address where you can pick up supplies of bombs and remote-controlled mines. Please let your cell leader know if you require additional materiel for use against the Americans.
You are joining a broad and diverse coalition dedicated to one principle: Iraq for Iraqis. Our leaders include generals of President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s secular government as well as fundamentalist Islamists. We are Sunni and Shia, Iraqi and foreign, Arab and Kurdish. Though we differ on what kind of future our country should have after liberation and many of us suffered under Saddam, we are fighting side by side because there is no dignity under the brutal and oppressive jackboot of the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority or their Vichyite lapdogs on the Governing Council, headed by embezzler Ahmed Chalabi.
Because we destroyed our weapons of mass destruction, we were unable to defend ourselves against the American invasion. This was their plan all along. Now our only option is guerilla warfare: we must kill as many Americans as possible at a minimum risk to ourselves. As the Afghan resistance to the Soviets and the Americans' own revolution against our former colonial masters the British have proven, it will only be a matter of time before the U.S. occupation forces become demoralized. As casualties and expenditures rise, the costs will outweigh the economic and political benefits of occupation. Soon the American public will note that the anticipated five-year price tag of $500 billion, with a probable loss of some 4,000 lives and 10,000 wounded, is not a reasonable price to pay to get our 2.5 million barrels of oil flowing to the West each month. This net increase, of just 0.23 percent of total OPEC (news - web sites) production, will not reduce U.S. gasoline prices. At an average of 35 attacks each day, an hour does not pass without an American soldier coming under fire somewhere in Iraq. Ultimately the American public will pressure their leaders to withdraw their harried troops from our country.
It is inevitable. Our goal is to make that day come sooner rather than later.
It is no easy thing to shoot or blow up young men and women because they wear American uniforms. Indeed, the soldiers are themselves oppressed members of America's vast underclass. Many don't want to be here; joining America's mercenary army is the only way they can afford to attend university. Others, because they are poor and uneducated, do not understand that they are being used as pawns in Dick Cheney (news - web sites)'s cynical oil war.
Unfortunately, we can't help these innocent U.S. soldiers. They are victims, like ourselves, of the bandits in Washington. Nor can we disabuse them of the propaganda that an occupier isn't always an oppressor. We regret their deaths, but we must continue to kill them until the last one has gone home to America.
In recent months we have opened a second front, against such non-governmental organizations as the United Nations (news - web sites) and Red Crescent. A typical response of the Bush junta to these actions was issued by National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice: "It is unfortunate in the extreme that the terrorists decided to go after innocent aid workers and people who were just trying to help the Iraqi people." Do not listen to her. True, many aid workers are well intentioned. However, their presence under American military occupation tacitly endorses the invasion and subsequent colonization of Iraq. Their efforts to restore "normalcy" deceives weak-willed Iraqi civilians and international observers into the mistaken belief that the Americans are popular here. There can be no normalcy, or peace, until the invader is driven from our land. From the psychological warfare standpoint, the NGOs represent an even more insidious threat to fight for sovereignty than the U.S. army.
In this vein we must also take action against our own Iraqi citizens who choose to collaborate with the enemy. Bush wants to put an "Iraqi face" on the occupation. If we allow the Americans to corrupt our friends and neighbors by turning them into puppet policemen and sellouts, our independence will be lost forever. If someone you know is considering taking a job with the Americans, tell him that he is engaging in treason and encourage him to seek honest work instead. If he refuses, you must kill him as a warning to other weak-minded individuals.
Take to heart this warning of Cuban revolutionary Ché Guevara: "The guerrilla fighter needs full help from the people of the area. This is an indispensable condition. This is clearly seen by considering the case of bandit gangs that operate in a region. They have all the characteristics of a guerrilla army: homogeneity, respect for the leader, valor, knowledge of the ground, and, often, even good understanding of the tactics to be employed. The only thing missing is support of the people; and, inevitably, these gangs are captured and exterminated by the public force." If the Americans are right about us, and we enjoy no popular support, we deserve to be annihilated. Fortunately, the U.S. has adopted Israeli-style retaliatory bombing, cordoning off whole villages and other tactics that are turning civilian fence-sitters to our point of view.
To victory!
(Ted Rall is the author of the graphic travelogue "To Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Back," an award-winning recounting of his experiences covering the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. It is now available in a revised and updated paperback edition containing new material. Ordering information is available at amazon.com.)
Actually, health care is relatively low on my agenda. I care about whether the petrochemical plant where I work closes the gates and leaves me without a job. I care about whether our nation's enemies will continue to attack us. I care about whether my Second Amendment right to defend myself will be preserved. Dean has no particular advantage on any of these issues. He really doesn't even have an advantage on health care.
WFTR
Bill
I really think he's a mean-spirited guy with a short temper. But I really don't want to see him self-destruct until after the primary. :-)
That's really only half true. We never know what can happen, and I hate to see either of the main party nominations go to someone spectacularly unqualified.
Because of Bush hatred, there is zero chance of a leftist third party candidate getting much traction next year. Very few Bush haters will be willing to "throw away their vote." (I put that in quotes because, personally, I think the "throw away your vote" concept makes no sense, especially in a Presidential election). And now that Dean is out there, I fail to see how party bosses could deny him the nomination. The only thing that can stop Dean from being the nominee is his making more gaffs, as he probably will.
Heh.... Ann Richards gets to drink in the mornings now and Al Gore is a useless college professor somewhere. I wonder how often they ask themselves what the hell happened?
Yep. From the Saudies and Communist groups to A.N.S.W.E.R. , then passed out at rallies. Non traceable.
Lefties are those who live off social programs. If they have extra money, they could buy their own food. Looks like we need to end those programs. They don't need them anymore - just like NPR.
I guess most of us are boobs and dolts. I'll take the label if it means that I am identified with the same goals that W has.
Some little guy with big dreams from little town USA. He knows nothing outside of the upper NE. God help this nation if this little pee wee ever gets any political power outside his little world of make believe.
And based on the sample of his art I see here, he is also a very untalented cartoonist.
And based on the sample of his art I see here, he is also a very untalented cartoonist.
Which we see alot of from these 'off the deep end' lefties.
Even Matt "Simpson's" Groening's "Life In Hell" strip has sucked since tv series began. 16 panels of Akbar and Jeff saying "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you..." which a punchline like "I love you." or a reveral of those phrases. Matt Groening has been asked are Akbar and Jeff brothers, gay lovers, or both; his answer is "whatever you find most offensive".
If Dean were a centrist, why would a communist like Rall endorse him?
Ted Rall:
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.