A thread in support of Dr. Howard Dean

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7. I love the Good Doctor!

After Kerry caved and refused to fight what very likely was another stolen election in 2004 (thank you, kenneth blackwell - the male version of katherine harris - GOD! Do ANYTHING to keep the GOP out of the Secretary-of-State job in EVERY state!!!!!!), I remember taking my "Kerry/Edwards" bumper sticker out of the back window of my car, and replacing it with the "Dean for America" sticker I'd kept even after he wasn't the nominee. And as I did so, I mumbled "I was right the FIRST time."

I STILL love Howard Dean. His "50-State Strategy" was a clear WINNER. And we should have stuck with it as though it was laminated onto every item of clothing we own. He had TWO winning seasons in 2006 and 2008. Then dear darling Debbie took over and sucked it all back in within the damn Beltway, and the teabagger era that began with the 2010 debacle - was on HER watch. HOWARD DEAN was the key. And HOWARD DEAN had the right idea.

I haven't recounted this story in awhile - but back in 2005, the DNC held these "listening events" across the country. They were considering a new DNC Chairperson and wanted our input. Well, actually, they really didn't because they kept getting input from us, the great unwashed, that was severely counter to what they wanted and were expecting to hear. We weren't telling them what they wanted or expected to hear. And we would NOT let up OR compromise. They came to L.A. and held the SoCal event downtown in kind of an old funky area. Many of us came. I remember parking four blocks away because parking around there was for shit - either exorbitantly expensive or non-existent. By the time I got there the event had begun and I was part of a standing-room-only crowd, standing along the wall on one of the aisles - and THAT area was crowded too - we were hip-to-hip. There was no place left to sit. Hundreds and hundreds of people, and those who couldn't find room to stand along the wall had to spill out into the lobby outside the big meeting room. People who had signed up to speak to the board members were given two minutes each, and NOBODY had enough time. And there was probably another hundred people who wanted to speak who couldn't, because time ran out. And time ran out AFTER the board decided to extend the event for an additional hour.

There was a huge crowd of us. And we ALL wanted Howard Dean as chair. I think there were maybe FOUR people out of all those hundreds there who spoke in favor of tim roemer or some such milquetoast board-designated favorite. The VAST majority of us were NOT having it! It was really unmistakable. No way to spin it. No way to fudge the numbers. There were too many of us there and we ALL wanted Howard Dean. The board was a bit nonplussed. They weren't happy with this. And they did let it be known that this was what they were getting pelted with, at event after event, meeting after meeting, wherever they went, all around the country. WE ALL WANTED HOWARD DEAN. The vote was so lopsided as to be comical. HUNDREDS of votes for Howard Dean versus maybe six for somebody else - and not all of those six went to tim roemer, either. It was a rout. And I guess because they were just so overwhelmed by Howard Dean advocates from coast-to-coast, they finally caved, and the Good Doctor was named DNC Chair.

But you could tell, the board members up on that stage were not too happy. They were uncomfortable hearing again and again from speaker after speaker how we would NOT have anyone else but Howard Dean. This was definitely NOT what they wanted. They wanted another quisling or flaccid release for chair, somebody who'd cave and didn't have any other plans or alternative approaches to building the party and winning more votes AND voters.

It was kinda fun to see! You could see a few of the board members frowning, growing visibly impatient, fidgeting in their chairs, and so forth. They weren't liking this. But they'd committed to it and asked us for our input and MAN-OH-MAN did we deliver it. And for two consecutive election cycles - we proved how spot-on we were. Well, three, counting 2010. Because when Howard Dean was NOT there and NOT able to direct the strategy and lead, it was proven yet again that HE had the right idea and that HIS approach was the correct approach.

I STILL love "Hollerin' Howard"!