RE: Howard Dean

[Pryderi]

Ed Schultz is making great points about why Howard Dean should have been put in as the chair of the DNC.

They're refusing to cut a $500,000 check to help recall Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin on June 5th.

Dean had a 50 state strategy that put us in charge, and it's been abandoned. We can't win back the House and hold the Senate in 2012 without better leadership.

[DJ13]

1. Are we SURE that the DNC actually wants Walker out?

I suspect they are'nt fully supportive of the recall, as they also dance with many of the same business interests as Walker does.

[Raine]

5. I'm thinking that too, when it comes down to it

I've come to believe they're all on the same side and it isn't the side of the people.

[longship]

2. I dunno about Big Ed's argument

Nor have I followed the WI business closely. But I totally agree that Dean's 50 state strategy was brilliant. It gave Dems seats all over the place, many totally unexpected surprises in very Red states.

The extent to DNC doesn't adhere to that strategy is the extent that they will lose seats in Congress.

[Recursion]

6. OK, but these were those blue dogs that everybody here kept complaining about

and that lost their seats two years ago.

[ljm2002]

8. While that's true to an extent...

...it's also true that once the Democratic Party abandoned Dean's 50-state strategy, they began losing seats again. Whereas, had they kept winning seats, the Blue Dogs would have had less power within the party, since we would not have needed their votes as much with bigger majorities.

Alas, that's not what happened. No one can be sure, of course, that the strategy would have continued to reap such success. But dammit, the party gave up a winning strategy when it was succeeding brilliantly. Which leads me to believe there's more going on than the simple 2-party narrative that the politicians want us all to buy into.

[Recursion]

15. The party did not abandon the 50 state strategy

I think there's some confusion here about what the "50 State Strategy" is: it means the DNC gives money to every state party. Dean introduced that, and the party hasn't stopped doing it.

[longship]

9. You possibly don't get it

Each blue dog caucuses with the Dems. Each blue dog gives Dems one more seat towards a majority and consequently the right to form committees and select committee chairs, to have the right to decide what bills get to the floor for votes.

But go ahead and stop supporting blue dogs because they don't adhere to your specific version of political purity. Then, you will be no better than the lunatics in the the Republican party. This is precisely what separated Dems from the dispicible Repukes. And frankly, it's our sole chance this year.

The Repukes want to divide us. I'll take all the blue dogs if it means we have majorities on both sides of the capital.

Don't you understand that the alternative to a blue dog is probably one from the party-not-named, a guy like Rep. West of FL?

You choose.

[Recursion]

13. You're preaching to the choir. I catch all kinds of hell here for sticking up for blue dogs

I even volunteered for Gene Taylor, for all the good it did.

[Honeycombe8]

3. I TOTALLY agree. The Dem Party shafted Dean after the 2008 election, and gave the credit

to Pelosi and/or others.

[Taverner]

4. I am convinced there are two sides in our party: Our party and deep cover republicans

[Recursion]

7. The 50 state strategy strengthened the state party committees; it wasn't "power to the people"

It meant that every state party would have paid staff (something the GOP had done for years).

[nanabugg]

10. 50 state strategy is the way to go. And even more important is helping folks get IDs in those

states that are trying to deny voting rights to so many.

[Pryderi]

12. Absolutely! Investing a mere 500k in WI is a great investment for building the GOTV effort which

helps build a county party! WI is an opportunity to grow the power of dems within a red/swing state! LET'S NOT BE PENNY WISE AND POUND STUPID!

[progressoid]

11. I've never understood the resistance to Dean.

I have even heard Dems removed from the internal machinations of the party express dislike in him. I guess the third-way neo-liberals have more sway than us regular old liberals.

Kicking and reccing for Dean.

[Recursion]

14. The resistance to Dean is pretty simple, actually

A lot of the party thought it was stupid to spend money in, say, Alaska or Wyoming, and never believed in the Ralph Reed "first get the school boards" argument.

[Pryderi]

16. We need him back. n/t