Dean said he supports what Kerry and Kennedy are doing.

[madfloridian]

He said he has no say in a filibuster, but here are his comments from a RI community college yesterday. It must have been filled with anti-war protestors and women's right protestors, as I heard someone there say he could hardly talk for being heckled. The article is pretty snide, too, I will just post this quote, which I consider important.

"In a brief give-and-take with reporters as he shook hands and took photos with supporters in front of the stage, Dean said of the Supreme Court fight, "Alito is a real danger to the country if he gets 20 years on the bench. I just want to see him defeated."

Asked about the possibility of a filibuster to stop the nomination, Dean said, "we have to do whatever we have to do. I don’t have a say in whether we have a filibuster but I am very supportive of what Sen. Kennedy and Sen. Kerry are doing."

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16020234&BRD=1712&PAG=461&dept_id=24361&rfi=6

[Mass]

1. Thank you, chairman Dean.

Obviously, he cannot do more openly, but it is great that he expresses publicly his support to those who are ready to fight .

[blm]

2. It confirms my view that there's a Kennedy side of the Dem party

drawing the line in the sand for our traditionalist Dem ground.

[sandnsea]

3. Good going

I was wondering where he was. I suspected he was having to walk a tight rope between differing factions. Really glad he spoke out.

[cal04]

4. he's on Fox news Sunday tomorrow

I never watch fox, it will be interesting to see if they ask him that in the interview

[madfloridian]

12. Nope, they will be too busy trying to point out Democrats who....

took money from Abramoff. They won't have time to ask about things like that....

[William769]

5. I think Dean is doing a great job as the DNC chair.

[MH1]

6. Yay, Howard!

I know he has to be careful but I am glad he came out in support.

Thanks for posting!

[John Q. Citizen]

Alright, Dean. Good on you, man!

[WildEyedLiberal]

7. Good for him

It's good to know Howard stands with Kerry and Kennedy and the courageous Democrats who oppose Alito instead of the defeatist faction like Harry Reid, who seems to be saying all he can to derail a filibuster's success.

Edit: Just read the article; I liked Dean's snark at the end. I have the same question myself, Mr. Reid...

[rodeodance]

8. i am doing ehe dean Scream

[Cha]

21. That could be a dance, too!

Set it to some Irish Jig music!

[FreedomAngel82]

9. Good

Maybe he got other people to call, write, fax whatever too while he was there. And I agree. We have to do whatever we can to keep him off the bench.

[wisteria]

10. I appreciate Dean's support.

What an awful article though. No balance or fairness in it at all. I liked his response to the question of support-go ask Reid. It's obvious, they are focusing on 2006 and are afraid to rock the boat.

[emulatorloo]

11. thanks MF for posting, and THANK YOU GOV DEAN FOR BEING WHO

YOU ARE and saying the things you say and doing the things you do for us.

:patriot:

[madfloridian]

13. Another interesting comment....guess he has to walk a fine line...

between saying too much on the subject and not keeping an opinion of his own.

"Dean brushed off a question about why, if Alito is as bad as Kennedy and Kerry are saying, the Democrats don’t appear able to sustain a filibuster, which takes only 40 votes and there are 45 Democrats in the Senate along with some moderate Republicans, such as Chafee, who might join in.

"You have to ask (Senate Minority Leader) Harry Reid," Dean said, as he was whisked aside by an aide telling him he had another event to get to."

Guess there was nothing else he could say.

[RazzleDazzle]

14. Jeez. How sad is that

That that's the kind of response he has to resort to because they (Pelosi and Reid) basically emasculated him from any power within the party relative to POLICY.


But he's absolutely right: we should be hammering on Reid to enforce some party discipline for once in his / our lives.

[Reader Rabbit]

15. Dean is pro-filibuster...

...if you ask me. I went batshit crazy on Friday morning and called his office before work, leaving a message about how angry I was that so few Democrats were willing to fight. When I got home, there was a message from his assistant thanking me for my support and energy. You could totally tell that she was with us 100% from the tone of her voice and the words she used. She said that Dr. Dean feels much the way I do, but that all he can do in this situation is inform Democrats how the grassroots people feel about this.

So I would say, get on your phones and leave angry voicemails for the DNC (202-863-8000)!

[madfloridian]

16. NO NO...not the DNC..don't do that to them. Do it to congress.

Please be aware of what you are posting.

[Reader Rabbit]

17. Is there something wrong with doing both?

I've been concentrating my efforts on the Democratic senators, but I figure the odd call to party officials would not go amiss. Democrats.com is also suggesting this as one of the steps to take. Are you saying that it will somehow cause problems?

[madfloridian]

18. You said "leave angry voice mails for" the DNC.

If you think that is helpful and will make you feel better, that is your right.

I think you should target the right people.

[Reader Rabbit]

19. Not "angry voicemails"

A voicemail expressing my anger. Semantics, possibly, but I was in no way disrespectful of the DNC. I simply expressed my disgust at the direction the party is taking, with so few Democrats willing to stand up for what is right.

And from a strategy perspective, isn't expressing one's opinion to the organization that does a great deal of fundraising for Democrats a viable method to pressure those senators with whom we are dissatisfied?

[sandnsea]

22. Leave angry messages here

DLC Phone: [phone]
PPI Phone: [phone]
DLC Fax: [phone]
PPI Fax: [phone]

[madfloridian]

23. Yes, they are the ones causing the trouble.

I was just going to post their article about not filibustering.

Now I don't have to do it again.

[sandnsea]

24. Partly anyway

I still think the Blue Dogs are bigger trouble than the DLC. As well as red state Dem Party leaders.

[madfloridian]

25. Yes, Blue Dogs really do.

I was just thinking mainly that the DLC came out this week to speak against the filibuster. They had to have their say. I maybe need to post that article again, but I value my head. This place is crazy.

I remember my Bob Graham was one of the founders of the Blue Dog Coalition. But I can't find that original website now. There is one but it is not set up well.

[madfloridian]

26. Aha, the Blue Dog site. Compare the crossover DLC/Blue Dogs.

http://www.house.gov/cardoza/BlueDogs/bluedogs.shtml

MEMBERS
Blue Dogs' Bios

http://www.house.gov/cardoza/BlueDogs/members.htm

Rep. Joe Baca (CA-43)
Rep. John Barrow (GA-12)
Rep. Melissa Bean (IL-08)
Rep. Marion Berry (AR-01)
Rep. Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Rep. Dan Boren (OK-02)
Rep. Leonard Boswell (IA-03)
Rep. Allen Boyd (FL-02)
Rep. Dennis Cardoza (CA-18), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications
Rep. Ed Case (HI-02)
Rep. Ben Chandler (KY-06)
Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy
Rep. Jim Costa (CA-20)
Rep. Robert E. "Bud" Cramer (AL-05)
Rep. Lincoln Davis (TN-04)
Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (TN-09)
Rep. Jane Harman (CA-36)
Rep. Stephanie Herseth (SD)
Rep. Tim Holden (PA-17)
Rep. Steve Israel (NY-02)
Rep. Mike McIntyre (NC-07)
Rep. Jim Marshall (GA-03)
Rep. Jim Matheson (UT-02), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration
Rep. Charlie Melancon (LA-03)
Rep. Mike Michaud (ME-02)
Rep. Dennis Moore (KS-03)
Rep. Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Rep. Earl Pomeroy (ND)
Rep. Mike Ross (AR-04) , Blue Dog Whip
Rep. John Salazar (C0-03)
Rep. Loretta Sanchez (CA-47)
Rep. Adam Schiff (CA-29)
Rep. David Scott (GA-13)
Rep. John Tanner (TN-08)
Rep. Ellen Tauscher (CA-10)
Rep. Gene Taylor (MS-04)
Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-01)

[sandnsea]

28. Yes, AND

remember who is leading the filibuster and voting no on cloture, including DiFi. And then go back and look at some of those bankruptcy and other votes, particularly in the House. I see more of a Blue Dog line than DLC. I see the DLC as trying to bring Blue Dogs in, although doing it rather clumsily. You know I've thought for a while that the way to change the party is to go headlong into the reddest of the red, LISTEN, reframe, and win.

[Cha]

20. Bless his heart! This country is at

war and Dean's one of our fighters in the trenches..and Great for Kerry and Kennedy, too!

[madfloridian]

30. I was very proud to read that.

Sounds like he was really heckled though. Article says anti-abortion protestors and anti-war protestors. Poor guy, he can't win for losing.

[jillan]

27. Well Chairman Dean - then do something about it.

Help us in this fight.

Coming from you, maybe some of the sitting on the fence dems might listen.

[madfloridian]

29. What do you want him to do?

He is speaking out all over the country. He is not an official voice on this, but he is speaking out..

[TayTay]

31. I am deeply grateful for his support.

Gov. Dean can see the threat to America and to our civil liberties that an extremist like Alito would be. I am deeply grateful to him for his stand for us and for our country. He is a good man and a great Democrat!

[AntiFascist]

32. One suggestion I heard regarding Dean.....

was to threaten not to donate money to the DNC unless Howard Dean comes out, as Party Leader, calling for the filibuster. The sooner the better!

I know there are a lot of Dems who will cry that this would only hurt the party, but for many of us this is the last straw. In my case, I haven't been donating to the DNC, so this might cause me to start donating.

[madfloridian]

33. It won't hurt them. They will get money. You do what you need to do.

If it makes you happy...donate. If it doesn't make you happy, don't donate.

If you love green eggs and ham, eat them.

If you don't love green eggs and ham, don't eat them.

Never do anything you don't want to do. Always post in nice threads to stink them up.

Whatever turns you on.

[AntiFascist]

35. cool....

:rofl:

I'm emailing him now.

[unkachuck]

34. thank you, Dr. Dean....

....please do all you can do behind the scenes....

[madfloridian]

36. "defeat of Alito more important than Democratic politics of the moment."

Another statement he made as he mingled at the first rally.
I happen to agree on that.

"He called for an end to the "insanity this president has put us thorugh in Iraq" but had no specific plan for withdrawal. Dean said electing a Democratic Congress would be a first step toward "telling the truth to our citizens, our soldiers and our allies."

In an unscripted moment after his speech at the rally, Dean acknowledged that Chafee would make a better political target for Democrats if he voted for Alito. But he said the defeat of Alito -- whom he labeled as "ultra right-wing" -- was more important than Democratic politics of the moment.

http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20060128_dean28.222deed7.html

That follows the theme he has been pursuing on this topic that country is more important than party right now.