Why I am scared of Howard Dean

A democrat shaking in his boots

Published on February 22, 2005 By jdkeepsmiling In Democrat

I am shaking in my boots......

I, as a serious democrat, am scared of the prospect of Howard Dean leading my party. The scary thing is that I actually support him and the ideas that I know he will being to the forefront. What I am scared about is the prospect of what the man will do to support of the party. He is going to alienate far more people then he is going to attract.

I am worried that the democrats are not learning the cold hard facts that this past election pointed out. We are still a country that basically votes on morals. Unfortunatly for deomcrats, we are not aligned with the majority of the voting public when it comes to the perception of our moral values. I do beleive that we are closer then is the common perception, and that is why picking Dean is not in the best long term interests of the party. If we were coming off an idealogical victory in this past election, Dean would be the perfect man for the job. What we need in the current situation is someone who can go into Tenessee and Georgia, and get the people who are socailly conservative or independant, but who align with the other issues that the democrats offer.

We needed someone to step forward who was a true uniter, and I do not beleive that we found our man. This is ashame, for i do believe that this is a critical juncture for our party. I feel we may be more and more marginalized, only to be saved by the great candidate very once in a while.

Thoughts and opinions please.....

Comments (Page 1)

Myrrander

on Feb 22, 2005

I like Dean. I just posted an article about why I like him: Link

It's about time the Democrats came up with somebody who stands for something other than the opinions of consultants.

jdkeepsmiling

on Feb 22, 2005

See, I agree on the surface level. I like Dean persoanlly, but I do not think that he is going to help bring us success as a party. I f you want to argue that the party has lost its way, that is a completely different subject. I do beleive that Dean is the wrong person to lead the current party to victory in the coming years.

Myrrander

on Feb 22, 2005

A guy like Dean -- a centrist who was mis-labelled an extreme lefty during the primaries -- is the sort of Clinton-type Democrat the party needs to lead it. And, he's a smart guy who is committed to his causes. I think he'll do great.

DNCdude

on Feb 22, 2005

Great article! I personally don't know wheather he'll be a good thing or a bad thing(Though I am hoping he'll be a good thing;))

ParaTed2k

on Feb 22, 2005

a centrist who was mis-labelled an extreme lefty during the primaries

A centrist? What part of his agenda in Vermont could possibly be considered "centrist". He has led such a left wing agenda in that state that one border city seriously considered pursuing annexation into New Hampshire!

Unless cradle-to-the-grave government support is now a "centrist" ideal, there is little "centrist" about Howard Dean.

ProgressiveUSA

on Feb 22, 2005

With the **radical right** running the GOP -- pushing preemptive war, torture & debt -- you're worried about the Dems?

"American want Democrats to stand up to Bush," the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire reports. "Fully 60%, including one-fourth of Republicans, say Democrats in Congress should make sure Bush and his party 'don't go too far.' Just 34% want Democrats to 'work in a bipartisan way' to help pass the president's priorities."

Here's Dean's priorities:

1. Show up! Democrats should never concede a single state, a single district, or a single voter to the Republicans. We must be active and compete in all 50 states and work with the state parties to build a true national party.

2. The success of the national party depends directly on the success of the state parties — we must better integrate our operations by:

- Having the DNC pay the salary of each state party executive director to help ensure that the state parties have adequate funds.
- Collectively building and sharing supporter lists between the national and state parties.
- Recruiting, training, and encouraging candidates to run for office at every level — building tomorrow's farm team from the ground up.
- Actively grow local Democratic committees and communities by working with neighborhood activists who can reach out in their communities and enable the grassroots to support state and local candidates.
- Maintaining a permanent campaign in every state. We need to establish an ongoing, active presence, which does not have to be recreated every four years for four months.

3. Set core principles that define the Democratic Party and what we stand for and take a bottom-up approach to the development of the Party's message;

4. Use cutting-edge Internet and other technologies to fundraise, organize, and communicate with our supporters;

5. Strengthen our political institutions and leadership institutes to promote our leaders and our ideas — these organizations must work together in a coordinated and integrated fashion to elect Democrats at every level, so that we can take this country back.

ParaTed2k

on Feb 22, 2005

With the **radical right** running the GOP -- pushing preemptive war, torture & debt -- you're worried about the Dems?

It was this kind of stupidity and rhetoric that cost the democrats an election. As long as that is what people think the DNC is about, they will continue to lose the White House, House and Senate seats, and the respect of those in the party with the ability to think straight.

But thanks for reassuring those outside the party that, as long as there are people like you in the party, we have nothing to worry about!! ;~D

Madine

on Feb 22, 2005

If them Democrat's plan is to try to convince social conservatives to vote for candidates who are not socially conservative...... um ok.

Daiwa

on Feb 22, 2005

There is a very interesting and thoughtful article by George Will (easy, killer - I know) in this week's Newsweek that has to do with judicial activism run amok rather than this specific topic, but it struck me that there is an analogy with the Democrat left and its approach to political tactics. There is a tendency to see circumventing, rather than winning, the debate on ideas as the way to regaining power. Once you read the article it will be apparent what I'm talking about.

Cheers,
Daiwa

ProgressiveUSA

on Feb 22, 2005

ParaTed2k wrote:

It was this kind of stupidity and rhetoric that cost the democrats an election.

Uh huh. Keep telling yourself that. The fact is that Team Bush is not conservative. They are radical. And on issue after issue, their policies prove it.

BTW, on what planet IS torture considered moral (much less conservative)?

messybuu

on Feb 22, 2005

I agree with ProgressiveUSA. The Democrats shouldn't be trying their hardest to be the best. They should ignore their own flaws (i.e. Howard Dean) and just focus all their sights on the Republicans! That'll win them an election!

ProgressiveUSA

on Feb 22, 2005

You've misinformed yourself. I didn't say any of that. And neither did Dr Dean. Work on your comprehension.

messybuu

on Feb 22, 2005

But, there's no time to worry about Dean and his faults! We should just accept what we've got! Remember, we don't have any time to worry about anything else!

ProgressiveUSA

on Feb 22, 2005

Work on your coherence, too.

Moderateman

on Feb 22, 2005

I see Regressive USA is out making new friends again...

I think howard da meltdownman dean is GREAT for democrats.. his winning ways, his calm demeaner, his shouts of joy when getting his ass kicked, he will be a wonderfull role model for democrats, teaching them how to lose gracefully.

gooooooooooo howieeeeeeeeeee

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