Dean fires up the base - on both sides

[billbuckhead]

Dean fires up the base - on both sides

By Linda Feldmann, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor Wed Jun 8, 4:00 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Rule No. 1 for any political partisan is, when the other side is struggling, stand back and keep your mouth shut. Or at least make sure you're keeping it bland.

Thus, by definition, Democratic chairman Howard Dean has slipped up - even if, as he claims, his comment last week that a lot of Republicans "have never made an honest living in their lives" was misinterpreted. For former Governor Dean, another fact of political life working against him is that more media than ever are tracking his every public word - and waiting to pounce if he goes off-message. For days after, the implications of said gaffe are hashed and rehashed, as other news comes and goes.

For Dean in particular - he of the famous scream during the 2004 primary campaign - the occasional arresting moment has become an expected part of his story line, just as malapropisms are for President Bush or a gaffe-free hour is for Republican chairman Ken Mehlman on "Meet the Press."
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<http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/adean>

This is a good point.

[Warpy]

1. Aw, THEIR base is always fired up

They have permanent bugs up their asses about everything from taxes to the womens' vote to men who want to be able to visit each other in intensive care. Dean didn't do anything to their base that free floating anger and ignorance combined with a slick propaganda machine hadn't already done.

Screw 'em.

It's our side that needs to be energized, and if Dean is doing that, he's doing well. Gawd knows the timid old maids in pants who think only yuppies deserve to have their concerns addressed haven't done it.

[Orangepeel]

10. I agree Warpy

it is an unfortunate fact that people who identify as republicans and always vote republican are more likely to vote than people who identify as Democrats and always vote Democratic, especially in non-presidential years.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kolesar]

3. Much ado about not much

How many Americans outside of the politically-informed even know about this story, much less care about it?

[wyldwolf]

4. It's called "feeding red meat to the base"

Great for now. I do hope he becomes more careful leading up to the midterms and then again leading up to '08. He's going to need to woo some independents and swing voters.

[LoZoccolo]

7. But don't you know?

He's going to fire up the base so much that all the hippies who didn't think the 2004 election was important enough to go to (and who voted for Republicans in 1994 because they were mad at the DLC) are going to come to the 2006 and 2008 election! Around half of the people who can vote, don't, and they are all far left people who might not have come out to vote for Kucinich in the primary, but might come out if Dean says some things that get them really ratcheted up!

Man I can't wait!

_{NOTE: This post is sarcastic.}

[stickdog]

15. You think that's so amusing. At least Dean is saying SOMETHING.

Here's how you win elections in the 21st Century: you hit hard and hit often.

If you haven't learned that by now, you're an ostrich.

[LoZoccolo]

18. Answer me two questions.

1. What state could Dean have won that Kerry didn't, by hitting hard and often?
2. If so, why was Dean polling worse than Kerry against Bush* in the poll taken right before the Iowa caucus?

If we don't have a plan other than "throw a fit and see if it works", we'll be losers. And naive.

[stickdog]

21. Well, we've listened to y'all and guess what? We lost. And lost again.

And yet again.

So maybe the time has come to finally draw a little attention to the rapidly backing up political sewer the Repukes are drowning us all in. Ya think?

Kerry wasted our "once every four years" golden opportunity to WAKE UP this country to the vicious and highly destructive shit tide we're all currently swimming against because he thought he could sneak out victory on the Repuke's tilted playing field. He didn't have the will and/or courage to even TRY to tell the TRUTH about our corrupt little naked emperor. By campaigning as nothing more than a smarter, kinder, gentler, more sophisticated, educated and compassionate Bush, he squandered away our best chance to dramatically ALTER the narrow Repuke molded parameters of our nation's political debate to reflect even a modicum of undeniably dire state of our national REALITY.

Sure, gutting the Bill of Rights is popular when you lets Repukes frame the argument.

Sure, killing some random Arabs for revenge against other unrelated Arabs is popular when everybody's too chicken-shit to make the obvious case that Bush's Iraqi disaster is IMMORAL, ILLEGAL, IDIOTIC, COSTLY BEYOND MEASURE, CORRUPT TO THE CORE and UNWINNABLE BY DESIGN.

Sure, questioning fraud-o-matic voting machines makes you appear crazy at first -- that is, until you get people thinking about just how fucking stupid it is trust our votes to a system that was DESIGNED to be inherently unverifiable and unauditable.

Sure, suggesting that Bush's corporepublican tax break and borrow policy making actually ENGINEERED the record high profits and record low wage increases of our most recent "recovery" were might ruffle the feathers of rich corporate influence peddlers in both Parties as well as the media.

Contrasting "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" with BushCo's terra mongering might leave you open to charges of not taking terrorism seriously enough.

Suggesting that ANYBODY in the US government be held accountable for the failures for 9/11 is horribly unpatriotic!

Nor will you likely to score any initial politeness and likability points for hammering home the fact that the Vice President and many of Bush's other closest supporters, friends and family members are BY DEFINITION war profiteers. Yes, people will initially criticize you for being "too negative" and "too strident" when you try to educate them about the Repukes' horrendous abuses of power committed in the name of commerce, "fairness" and/or "security." On the other hand, all of this stuff is still 100% true.

Instead of beating Americans over the head with these awful truths in a valiant attempt to at least begin EDUCATING the United States' too often brain-dead voters, Kerry's ploddingly "safe and circumspect" Bush-lite campaign "strategy" ensured the Dems were playing a "loser take nothing" game in 2004. And in losing his personal quest for power in his typical careful, nuanced, polite and uncontroversial way, Kerry legitimized the RepubliCONs' unflichingly consistent use of hypocritical jingoism and religious pandering to foist their wholly destructive agenda on our once great nation.

[LoZoccolo]

20. Also, LaRouche says more than Dean.

Way tougher stuff, too. How come he's not sitting on top of the Democratic Party?

[Mojambo]

5. Our base is better than their base

Our ideas are better than their ideas.

Their megaphone was louder than ours, NOT anymore.

Thank you Dr. Dean.

[loveable liberal]

6. Republicans are Nescient! That would confuse them....

Use big words. Knowledge is frightening, tell republicans we'll protect them from thought and I think we might have a winner!

[pscot]

8. I agree with the article

Dean could convey the exact same message without resorting to rude language about Our Republican Friends. It isn't smart to gratuitously piss people off, especially if some of them might be potential recruits, if approached the right way. Save the tough rhetoric for the pols, but don't insult the rank and file. They're not all Freepers.

[Pewlett Hackard]

9. what's wrong with this picture

when McCain spouts off, he gets adored by the press, but when Dr. Dean puts forth his straight talk, he gets crucified by the press. hmmmm...

[Cha]

11. Dean would cut back on

the media conglomerate..mccain would let them keep their monopoly.

Welcome to DU, Pewlett Hackard!

[Eloriel]

13. Not only that, Hillary was pretty insulting about Repugs the other day

and no one seemed to even notice. Well, it did hit the internet press, but that's all AFAIC:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/06/nyregion/06cnd-hillary.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5090&en=b58541f817436370&ex=1275710400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

snip

"There has never been an administration, I don't believe in our history, more intent upon consolidating and abusing power to further their own agenda," Mrs. Clinton told the audience at a "Women for Hillary" gathering in Midtown Manhattan this morning.

"I know it's frustrating for many of you; it's frustrating for me: Why can't the Democrats do more to stop them?" she continued to growing applause and cheers. "I can tell you this: It's very hard to stop people who have no shame about what they're doing. It is very hard to tell people that they are making decisions that will undermine our checks and balances and constitutional system of government who don't care. It is very hard to stop people who have never been acquainted with the truth."

Mrs. Clinton described Republican leaders as messianic in their beliefs, willing to manipulate facts and even "destroy" the Senate to gain political advantage over the Democratic minority. She also labeled the House of Representatives as "a dictatorship of the Republican leadership," where individual members are all but required to vote in lock-step with the majority's agenda.


I dunno, that's a lot stronger -- and more insulting -- IMO than calling the GOP the party of white Christians. :shrug: No hissie fits in the press. Did Limbaugh even blink?

[Eloriel]

12. Sure, if you're going to let the other side or the media manipulate

your behavior, and thus control you. Oh, forgot -- THIS time it's OUR supposed side trying to do the manipulating. And the Repugs are only too happy to pile on. (Now what was she saying about keeping your mouth shut when the other side is imploding? )

Dean is a really savvy politician, even if a very blunt one. He knows Harry Truman did all right, and I'm sure that emboldens him because Truman did a lot of the right things, which is Dean's intention too.

Oh, btw, here's a little bit about the war going on now:

Undercutting our Party Chairman: Insider Dems Launch a New Assault
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1837195
Link: http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/06/tell-bill-richardson-to-go-cheney.html

It's official: the DLC wants WAR
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1836491

Beltway Dem insiders whine, 'Dean stole our Golden Goose!'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1835521

Dean-hating "Dem strategist" Gary South = Gray Davis' Campaign Manager
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3809724#3809888

"Richardson distances self from Dean: He is not our spokesman."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3807744

John Edwards responds to the Dean Controversy!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1833416&mesg_id=1833416

DEAN: REPUBLICAN POLICIES DON'T HELP HARD WORKING AMERICANS
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1834118

Note to Biden and Edwards: Howard Dean speaks for me.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3792471#3793043

And on the flipside:
NEW GAME: CATCH HOWARD DEAN'S BACK
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1837227
Link: https://www.democrats.org/epatriots/give.html?sourcecode=E008977

[brentspeak]

14. Good going, Dean. Just insult the core constituency

White Christians are going to feel like this is where they belong.
(sarcasm)

[stickdog]

16. How does telling the truth about Repuke demographics insult whites or

Christians?

Please explain your (il)logic.

[Fleshdancer]

17. This author is missing a serious part of the equation

Dean is shining the light on the lack of diversity of the GOP at a time when the RNC is working hard to court minority voters. We want to piss off the GOP and we want them to finally start defending themselves when it comes to setting actual agendas that benefit minorities in this country. They can court minorities all they want, but we don't have to make it easy for them.

The GOP isn't splitting when it comes to wanting more Black or Hispanic votes. Of course there's unity in wanting to get more votes! The GOP is experiencing internal battles on subjects like the filibuster, social security, the expanding government, and the deficit. Dean isn't saying ANYTHING that is uniting the GOP on subjects they are struggling with within the party.

edit: typos

[dsc]

19. Gaffe free hour?

I guess if you don't count lies as gaffes. He lied repeatedly about the DSM. He claimed, despite being gay, not to know if being gay is a choice, he lied about the deficit (even Russert corrected him on that) and he told several other lies.