Dean's efforts (Not the "Dean is insane and ineffective" storyline. )

[kpete]

Dean's efforts
by kos
Thu Jan 05, 2006 at 01:37:38 PM PDT
The National Journal's subscription-only Hotline has a good piece on what Dean has accomplished. The sort of piece you won't see in the WaPo or other publications too busy pushing the "Dean is insane and ineffective" storyline.

With permission from the publication, here it is in whole:
http://www.dailykos.com/



DNC: Spreading The Word. And The Boots.

"Howard Dean has turned out to be the biggest surprise of the season. He's a good man. And he truly gets it." Those are the words of Charles Soechting, the TX Dem chair who when Dean announced his bid for DNC chair had Soechting grtting his teeth. At the time, the Texan worried that Dean didn't get the problems parties grappled with and certainly didn't possess the regional sympathy to figure out how to win elections in the South.

But now, closing in on Dean's 1st anniversary as DNC chair, Soechting has seen enough to convince him that Dean "knows what it to makes Texas truly competitive."

Veterans of Dem politics who work on state and local campaigns are eager to praise Dean. In part, that's because Dean has devoted the bulk of the DNC's staff, energy and time to fulfilling his chairman's campaign promise: to revitalize the Dem Party at the precinct level.

Dem strategists in DC often ask their colleagues: "What is Dean good for?" They moan that he's not raising as much as money as they expected or his surrogates promised; that he hasn't been Joe Trippi-like and revolutionized the party's small donor outreach; that he can't shut his liberal mouth. Dean's admirers have ready counter-arguments, but they've lacked something tangible to bat down the critics. But now, they say, the party's investment in states is beginning to pay off.

[LSK]

1. if we win Congress in 2006, we can thank Howard Dean for saving the USA

[trogdor]

2. kick

Read the article. I recommend it. We will kick some GOP ass this year with Dean's help. Hooah!

[LSK]

3. if its not fixed

[pat_k]

7. It will be unless we stop them. "No More Stolen Elections" must be #1

Gore Won. Kerry Won. These are facts.

We must demand that every "good government" organization, leader, or media outlet get on the "No More Stolen Elections" bandwagon.

Until "No More Stolen Elections" is at the top of every "issues" list and agenda, they will keep stealing our votes.

We must not allow them to cut the American people out of the loop again.

[wildbilln864]

12. No more stolen elections...

I agree completely that we need to make sure, first and formost that elections will be honest and fair for a change but I don't think this will be accomplished in time.

Also, I'd like to see Dean take a public stance supporting John Conyer's efforts to censure and impeach Bush and Cheney.
http://www.censurebush.org

[mattclearing]

15. That would be great, but Dean is the wrong messenger for this.

And I think even he knows it.

Edit: And welcome to DU! :hi:

[madfloridian]

16. Why? Give some reasons. Myself, I think the nominee should be.

But why should Dean or any of us not have an opinion?

[mattclearing]

20. Because a call for impeachment from Dean will be taken

as standard Dean-hyperbole. I'm a Dean supporter, and obviously he has a right to say and do whatever he wants. But politically, I don't think he's the person to put out front on Impeachment.

I acknowledge that Dean was right about just about all of his controversial statements...Iraq, Osama, Tom DeLay, etc.

I think investigation comes first. Then impeachment. It would be nice to have a Democratic majority in place before that happens.

Having the Chairman talk about it will piss off half the party, undercut the work of Conyers et. al who are actively working on it, and alert the media and the Republican Party to the very real possibility of Bush being removed from office. After all, like I said, Dean's controversial statements have a way of turning out to be correct.

Not to mention the fact that the facts of the wiretap scandal are still coming to light.

Dean is doing the right thing...re-organizing the Party at the state and district level, and mostly keeping his head down. The second Dean makes a statement, the focus leaves President Bush, Tom DeLay and their crimes, and becomes "Dean made a controversial statement."

Those are my reasons.

[madfloridian]

23. Thought you were talking about "stolen elections."

Incidentally I am not sure we should call for impeachment with Cheney still so powerful.

BTW, whether you think Dean or any of us are the "right messenger"...doesn't really matter. We have a right to speak.

I don't think he would call for impeachment right now, anyway.

[mattclearing]

29. My feeling is that any investigation of Bush for impeachment

will uncover the details of the energy policy meetings, where Cheney and several Oil company reps divvied up Iraq's oil fields prior to 9/11.

Cheney would not survive any successful Bush impeachment unscathed. And he is so unpopular with the public, that the Republican Party might opt to jettison him anyway.

[pat_k]

22. Don't fall victim to the "they'll say bad things" propaganda.

Any leader or citizen can take the lead in the "No More Stolen Elections" or "Impeach Bush and Cheney" battles.

The myth of Republican backlash is just that, a myth.

As Dean and others with guts have shown, over and over and over again, when any of our leaders stand up on principle, and don't back down, we win. EVERY TIME!

[mattclearing]

30. Dean has proven effective when the media isn't involved.

And he has proven ineffective when the media was involved. The media loves Howard Dean...it's like following around Mike Tyson or Paris Hilton...you're bound to get a story, but it isn't likely be favorable for Dean, because the media already has their mind made up about him.

If you want the media to lose sight of the issue, have Howard Dean explain it to them.

He will accurately cut through the bullshit, tell them exactly what is up, and they will portray him as a raving lunatic for simply having spoken the unsugarcoated truth.

I've given up on Dean as a television personality. And it's not even his fault. Let him work in the background with real people who understand plain English.

[pat_k]

31. I disagree. When he stands up, he reaches people. There is reality, and

... then there is the beltway boob's perception of reality.

The notion that "Howard is radioactive" is a myth. We have let Fear of Smear block effective action for too long. The better we get at simply acting (and that includes Howard), the more irrelevant the DC carping becomes.

[pat_k]

24. BTW, to lead, he just needs to ask the following question....

The Question:
Can Bush be allowed to get away with making unilateral decisions to do things that We the People have explicitly prohibited?

This question confronts the propagandists with the REAL issue. It leaves them no exit.

If the answer is:

"No, we can't let him get away with making unilateral decisions to do things that We the People have explicitly prohibited."

there is only one option. Impeachment.

Their Big Lie:
Most Americans think the NSA spying program is useful in the "so-called" war on terror, therefore, it must be OK that Bush broke the law when he approved its implementation.

The propagandists keep trying to side track us with discussions of whether or not the illegal spying program has some merit.

They ask partial questions (one of the most insidious forms of propaganda) like this: "Bush has been criticized for using some electronic eavesdropping on suspected terrorists. What do you think about the efforts?"

NO ONE objects to lawfully authorized monitoring carried out by law enforcement, as long as it is carried out with the checks and oversight that We the People, through our Representatives, have demanded through our laws. (Sure, you can object to the boundaries of the current law, and to challenge those boundaries, but that isn’t an objection to actions that are clearly within the bounds of the law as it stands.)

Any supposed merits of the program are IRRELEVANT. The problem is Bush's unilateral decision to violate our law.

Anyone that gets pulled into a discussion of the merits of the program -- whether or not it is useful -- is spreading THEIR propaganda.

The question is not whether the body politic would have approved such a program if they had been asked.

The question (which is worth repeating) is this: "Can we can allow Bush to get away with making unilateral decisions to do things that We the People have explicitly prohibited?"

He terrorized us with the most colossal bomb threat of all time: "a mushroom cloud in 45 minutes" -- an abuse of power that goes beyond any in our history.

Torture is prohibited under EXISTING LAW and he conspired with his cronies to break those laws with knowledge aforethought -- the White House memos outlining culpability of the executive in the offense, and the possible ways the law could be evaded, make thier intent crystal clear.

This is the last straw in a long chain of abuses. He must pay a price. We must demand his Impeachment. We must demand the Impeachment of his co-conspirator, Cheney.

[pat_k]

21. The court of public opinion moves much faster than Congress

We can put "No More Stolen Elections" front and center -- and we can do it "in time."

Every day, more people are coming to understand the truth: Gore Won in 2000. Kerry Won in 2004.

Even those who continue to deny the fact that Bush lost the last two elections, cannot deny the fact that those elections were HIGHLY SUSPECT.

Yes. We may not see new legislation in time, but we don't need new legislation to completely change the dynamics that allow them to steal our votes. We do not need to rely on Congress or the Courts for our salvation. We just need people to recognize that it is up to them to reject the results of suspect elections.

The enemies of our constitutional democracy can try to impose their fascist view of the law, where the letter of the law can trump the will of the people, but we can stop them. We can remind people that their will trumps all cynical misuse of the courts. Our laws are intended to give us free and fair elections that accurately measure our will. Any election that fails to instill confidence in the results is null and void. We the people are the ones who declare it so.

The law and the courts are our tools. When those tools fail to uphold our founding principle -- the consent of the governed -- we need to "Just Say NO."

[wryter2000]

6. Yup

If we win back the Congress in 2006, the murderous thugs who've been killing this country will be exposed. All their machinations, not just NSA spying, but everything, even voting fraud. My guess is that if we win in 2006, 2008 will take care of itself.

And if we do win in 2006, it will largely be the result of Dean's hard work.

[JuniperLea]

4. DUH!

He was always my first pick! Lesson learned: never show how enthusiastic you are about loving your country.

[daleanime]

5. No...

The lesson is how easy it is to spin anything.

[JuniperLea]

8. agreed

i was being facetious:)

[daleanime]

25. S'cool.

I take things pretty seriously.:yourock:

[madfloridian]

9. Cute post in that thread about Jim Dean and John Hall in CT.

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2006/1/5/153738/4426/42#42

"Last Night With Jim Dean (4.00 / 2)

Interesting story from last nights Westchester DFA Meetup...

Jim Dean from DFA spoke, brilliantly, about the neccesity for grassroots organizing and challenging as many races as we can. It was very inspirational.

Before his speech John Hall and I went up to introduce ourselves. As he shook John's hand, Dean got a suprised look on his face. Then exitedly asked, wait, you're not THE John Hall are you? He then asked John for his autograph!!

He said he's interested in the race and in beating Sue Kelly!

Learn more about why John's past made Jim Dean want an autograph at:
http://www.johnhallforcongress.com

DISCLAIMER - Jim Dean, DFA, and Westchester DFA HAVE NOT yet endorsed any candidates in the race, just an interesting anecdote I thought you might enjoy.
by EVale on Thu Jan 05, 2006 at 04:08:55 PM EST

Here is a link to his bio:
http://www.johnhallforcongress.com/bio.html

[Cha]

13. I had to look up John Hall..

I love it!



http://www.google.com/musica?aid=866bMS4rUW

[madfloridian]

17. Read his bio...especially about his wife.

http://www.johnhallforcongress.com/bio.html

[Cha]

19. Thanks! John Hall's wife sounds

like a powerhouse like he does..

"John has lived most of his life in the Hudson Valley. He now resides in Dover Plains with his wife, Pamela Bingham Hall, a fellow musician, attorney, former Tennessee Assistant State Attorney General and general counsel to the State Treasury Department. He has a twenty-six year old daughter who is in graduate school. While a member of the Board of Directors of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, John continued to perform and record his music, releasing new CDs this year by Orleans and his new band Gulf Stream Night, cracking the Americana charts and receiving critical acclaim and radio airplay across the country."



"Despite his musical activity, John's political conscience has called him again. "I'm putting my career aside to run for Congress," he says. "The situation in the nation and the world is at such a crucial juncture, and the stakes are so high. I want to be a voice for creativity and honesty in solving our problems. I want to be proud, not just of our country but of our government. If we can put a man on the moon, we can certainly get ourselves off of our dangerous oil addiction. We need to invest in our own country and our own people, and especially in our children. While we need to maintain a first rate military, for the sake of ourselves and our men and women in uniform, we need to make more friends in the world and fewer enemies."

" Right now," Hall points out, "there are no checks and balances. Our five term incumbent Representative, Sue Kelly, has voted with Tom Delay 90% of the time in the last eighteen months. The White House, the Senate and the House are all controlled by Republicans. The Supreme Court is being stacked to the right. The President and Congress may spend the next three years reversing environmental laws and appointing industry lobbyists to regulate their industries. But if 15 seats in the House of Representatives change hands, the Democratic Party can be a check and a balance. I want to be one of those fifteen."

:toast: to John Hall's success in the 19th District of New York!

Map of 19th District..
http://suekelly.house.gov/CountyMap.asp

[Cha]

10. That's what I'm talkin'

about..

"Dean's defenders say he's making good on his pledge. The DNC has trained 136 new organizers and sent them to 30 states, and by the end of 3/06, party officials say every state's precinct training program will be up and running. In WV, the party now employs four full-time organizers. Recalcitrant county chairs are warming to their presence; one small county that had zero precinct captains in 2004 has twelve today.

"That may not seem like a huge step," says Parag Mehta, the DNC's director of training, "but in that party of West Virginia, where Democrats were afraid to put up yard signs for fear of being taunted, suddenly, there's a Democratic presence."

Feb 12, 2006 should be a good day for more money to flow in for Dean's "Long Range Efforts"!

[madfloridian]

11. And Dean will be the keynote speaker there Jan. 10th.

At a dinner with Byrd and Rockefeller.

[Cha]

18. Sweet!

My sister and a friend and I are going to hear Tim O'Brien(a child of West Virginia and the WWWV Jamboree) play music on Jan 16th in Saratoga, NY at Caffe Lena's.

:D

[BR_Parkway]

14. Funny, while they're moaning about Dean not raising enough money

he's apparently breaking records in fundraising -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2351157

[mzmolly]

26. Proud "Deaniac" from early on.

And prouder by the day!

[eridani]

27. Kucitizen who really likes what Dean is doing

Extremely effective in this role. However good he might be as a presidential candidate, he's even better doing what he is doing right now.

[Wordie]

28. Dean's a very smart man...we're lucky we've got him. eom