UAW endorses Howard Dean for DNC Chair

[truebrit71]

UAW Endorses Howard Dean for DNC Chair
DETROIT, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The 18-member UAW International Executive
Board today unanimously voted to endorse Dr. Howard Dean for chair of the
Democratic National Committee.
"We believe that Howard Dean will be a dynamic, innovative and effective
leader for the DNC," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said on behalf of the
board. "Gov. Dean has proven his ability to bring new people into the
Democratic Party and energize grassroots political activists in all parts of
America."
"Gov. Dean understands quite clearly that the Democratic Party cannot
afford to write off voters in any region of the country, and we're convinced
that he will work tirelessly to make Democratic ideas and candidates winners
in local, state and national elections," Gettelfinger said.
Four members of the UAW International Executive Board are members of the
DNC.
The UAW is one of North America's largest and most diverse labor unions,
representing 1.2 million active and retired workers in the United States,
Canada and Puerto Rico.
SOURCE UAW

[ultraist]

1. DEAN IS IN! The train has left the station. How could he not be?

I think we are approaching a new day. A return to our core values as Democrats and an empowerment of grassroots and web enabled activists.

Hope is on the way!

[Renew Deal]

4. SHHHHHHH!!!!

The Deanies said stuff like that during the primaries. I am pulling for him now. Just wait patiently, fingers and toes crossed. :P

[Cha]

5. YEah, Man!

:P

[bullimiami]

6. i MAY actually remain a dem....

we need to purge the congress of the enablers and go-along gang. joe "i really like you" biden, harry "this is not the time for fillibuster" reid and the rest of the pink tutu crowd and get some more liberals with spines.

[MadisonProgressive]

25. Don't forget

"I'll go torture the prisoners if you're too busy, Dubya" Lieberman

[calimary]

22. If the unions are starting to come aboard, that may be the ball game.

I'd read that union endorsements were the last bastion, and some might be wavering towards another contender and that would be what stalled Howard Dean's ascension. Looks like that's not in the cards now. It's not a done deal yet. Monkey-wrenches could still be thrown. But this does look like welcome news.

GOD, I HOPE SO!!!!!!! My heart STILL belongs to "Hollerin' Howard."

[Rockerdem]

50. This puppy is over

Howard Dean is a cinch now. And the brick-by-brick manner in which he accomplished it is soooo impressive. This is the kind of workmanlike performance that is required for the job. Congrats to him and our party.

[4_Legs_Good]

2. Wow... Here we go Howard!

Looking better every day.

Dean is someone who can bring the entire nation together. We're giddy about him being DNC chairman, and the Rush Repukes are giddy about it too because they think (wrongly) that he's easy to beat.

I guess they don't understand just what he did for the Democratic party last year, which, for the first time EVER outraised the Republicans.

We owe Dean BIG, and I can't wait to see him step up to the plate and kick some ass!

david

[bullimiami]

7. if they are acting giddy its a cover up

they were scared to death of him, a wildcard, in te primary and did everything they could to get him while at the same time loudly claiming how he was the one they wanted. .

[4_Legs_Good]

8. You're probably right

but, my Rushbo co-workers cheer every time he gets an endorsement. My guess is that Rush is bluffing, but they're so brainwashed that they don't see that and are just doing as their told. Hilarious really.

Any Republican who doesn't see Dean as a threat, especially in a position like DNC Head, is completely out of their minds.

david

[Zensea]

10. I was about to say Rushbo co-workers are out of their minds

& then you said it for me.

[Justitia]

15. "Whistling Thru The Graveyard" is what it is called

Trying to act cool when they are scared shitless.

Make no mistake - the RW does not want The Good Doctor anywhere within bomb throwing reach.

Go get 'em Howard!

[MadisonProgressive]

26. Just like he wasn't a threat in the election

after he was desperately gang-tackled by both sides...

[Lorien]

9. Rove even admitted

after Kerry was selected that they didn't want Dean because he would have hammered them on the Iraq war.

[4_Legs_Good]

17. I'm still a bit up in the air...

about how great he would have been as a candidate. I would have prefered him to Kerry and most of the others in the field, but I'm not sold on the fact that he wouldn't have been branded a liberal wacko (which is totally outrageous - he's a radical centrist as far as I'm concerned), and might not have done as well as Kerry.

HOWEVER, as DNC chair - someone to energize the party and raise money? Forget about it! Dean is THE MAN! He will help reinvigorate us and get us back up and running.

Interesting on Rove, I think the Iraq war was George Jr's greatest weakness, and Kerry fumbled the attack there way way way too often.

david

[jswordy]

27. Rove and Buscho ALL read "Brer Rabbit." But not Democrats.

Want a refresher? Here you go!

Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby

Hence, we lost.

[BiggJawn]

40. They didn't read Uncle Reemus

Because THEIR Tar Baby is this place called "Iraq"

[cal04]

3. Great! That's two so far today

UAW Endorses Howard Dean for DNC Chair
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050202/dew026_1.html

Machinists Union Endorses Dean for DNC Chairman
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050202/dcw012_1.html

[calimary]

12. Hot Diggity-Dog! I read something the other day about labor endorsements

being a real clincher. Well, how 'bout that - here they come! It's not a done deal yet, of course, but MAN do we need this!

I tell ya, when I went to that "DNC Listening Event" in downtown L.A. a few weekends ago, it was maybe something like 96 or 97 percent of those who spoke (probably a couple of hundred by the end of the session - and that was only about half of those who'd signed up) endorsed Howard Dean. And they didn't just endorse him. Every speaker who mentioned him, speaker after speaker, gave an earnest, heart-felt endorsement, filled with personal testimonials about how he sparked their interest for the first time in their lives, how they'd never felt like getting involved before, how they'd never donated money or done any work for the party before until they heard him, just TONS of grassroots gospel! It was already underway when I got there, but as I sat and watched (did not get my turn to speak, however), I can count on the fingers of ONE HAND how many people endorsed somebody else. It was Howard Dean, Howard Dean, Howard Dean. And for all the proper reasons. And from all kinds of people. Young students and little ol' bent-over seniors. People who'd driven in in nice cars and people who rode the bus for hours. People who were able-bodied and people in wheelchairs. Asians, Hispanics, Blacks, Whites, yuppie types, corporate types, t-shirt types, Goy, Jewish, button-down suit types, tattooed free-spirit types, you name 'em, they were all there. And over and over and over and over they all said similar things. And every one of them, with VERY few exceptions, was HUGELY for Howard Dean.

Everybody talked up Barbara "Backbone" Boxer and her courage and the fact that she stood up. YES, it was MAJORLY noticed. AND appreciated. And EVERYBODY complained about how wussy the Dems have become, and how nobody except Boxer and Dean seem up to fighting back. EVERYBODY complained about the constant capitulation to the republi-CONS, about being "republican-LITE," about caving in again and again and standing for nothing and showing no leadership and no guts. LOTS of people denounced the DLC and said we need to get AWAY from them and cut off their influence because they're leading us straight over a cliff. EVERYBODY had some version of this. The DNC panelists really got an earful. It was a DREAMY day to sit there and listen to so many people, so spirited, so emphatic, and just verifying everything I've been complaining about myself, and everything people here on DU tear their hair about every day. And by the way, if many more speakers were to be believed, there's a HUGE amount of people who know all about wolves in sheep's clothing like Tim Roemer. And despise him accordingly.

I hope to God that Dean gets this. I hope to God! It's the calcium supplement and vitamin infusion we desperately need! I won't celebrate until it's a done deal, but I'm REALLY glad to hear these union endorsements are starting to come in. That is VERY good news.

[KoKo]

33. Thanks for that report. There are lots of folks who feel

that way here in NC, too!

[Hebegirl]

46. Send an Email to the AFL-CIO

You can encourage more union endorsements by letting the AFL-CIO and
SEIU (aflcio.org, seiu.org) know that Dean is the man. He is, because he actually walks the talk. He got right in there and at a grassroots level really accomplished a lot in local elections. He has a really strong track record of getting things done. He just has 'it,' no matter how he gets labeled. Of course he'll have enemies, that is a given for anyone in the limelight like that. I hope the DNC sees the f%$^&(* light for once and does right by the grassroots. I won't abandon ALL hope for the Dems, then.

[Zhade]

57. Didn't SEIU pull back a Dean endorsement during the primaries?

Am I recalling this correctly? If so, they owe him.

[calimary]

55. Thanks back atcha. I don't mean to blather on, but it strikes me

that there's so much divisiveness out there. Dean is perceived, for better or worse, to be a threat. So we're seeing lots of anti-Dean maneuvering and posturing from MANY quarters, both inside and outside the party, from people who are threatened by him as a potential opponent - either as leader of our party, or as the grabber of the BIG brass ring. So they're gonna be busy.

I just wanted to offer this because all the negative input coming at Dean or about Dean sometimes demoralizes me a little, makes me feel isolated, or as though maybe I'm just crazy or I don't understand or I don't really see how the game is supposed to be played or whatever. And I've seen it here. I've seen it in the Dem-CA groups. I've seen it just talking to people. As long as we who believe in him and who resonate with him are kept off-balance, whoever it is trying to defeat his advancement then gains.

It just seems to me that others who have faith in Dean and may feel equally unsettled NEED NOT FEEL THAT WAY! If you could have been in that lecture hall and seen the many many people so fired up, and heard the speakers in their forcefulness, and seen the rest of us in the audience who were encouraged to hold up green index cards if we agreed with whatever was said (or red index cards if we disagreed) - and almost every hand went up, many not just holding those green cards but waving them wildly from side to side... if you could have seen that, you would have felt ten feet tall as a Dean supporter. We are NOT alone. We are NOT some marginalized little minority fringe group not to be taken seriously. We are NOT some itty bitty band of malcontents. There were LOTS of people there, and EVERYBODY among them was saying the same thing we have said here. EVERYBODY. So many different versions of the SAME THING, the SAME DISCONTENT - indeed, in many cases downright anger and disgust, the SAME FERVOR. I needed to see and hear it. You need to see and hear it, too, to take comfort and strength.

And those party higher-ups who fail to recognize and harness this are DOOMED.

[Zhade]

58. If it helps, DFA pulled me in post-election, at a really low point.

I know there are more like me joining up every day. This kind of thing needs to be done.

[Maat]

11. Woo-hoo! I'm happy.

This will keep me involved, and contributing to the Party. Honestly, if it were a Beltway Insider, or someone else they picked, I would merely participate through my causes and Democracy for America.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[calimary]

14. Truly. Somebody from the DNC called me yesterday, asking for

my husband and me to re-up (and of course, send money). I yelled at her - well, as a surrogate, I reminded her it wasn't specifically her against whom I was venting. I said I gave til it hurt to the Dems nationally, locally, and various other races, til it hurt, and I can see what I got for my money - next to nothing except for Barbara Boxer. I said NOT ANOTHER NICKEL until the Dems show some spine, and that there should have been at least 40 Democratic Senators standing with Boxer in each of several occasions by now, and where the hell were they? She said - well, that's why they needed to show the DNC numbers - of membership and contributors and I said - you show them THIS: that TWO loyal Democrats are going AWAY unless you guys shape up. And one way to do it is to bring on Howard Dean. You do that, I start giving money again. She finally gave up and stopped arguing with me. She was sensible. Because I wasn't going to let her win.

[MissB]

21. I did the same thing last week

Although I didn't yell, lol. I simply told the woman that my renewal hinged on the outcome of the DNC chair race. Wrong choice = not a penny more.

I'm sure some will disagree with this tactic.

[eridani]

53. Not me. Exactly what I said n/t

[Zhade]

59. We were told at the DFA Meetup tonight that the tactic is frowned upon.

But what else can you say when it's really how you feel? I know many who are ready to bolt the party if it screws up this decision.

I know being positive is the right idea, but there really ARE lines in the sand for many loyal, lifelong Dems.

[Maat]

24. Thanks so much for doing that. I really appreciate it.

I think that I will call them myself. Hope you don't mind if I borrow a few of your words.

[calimary]

52. Not at all. They NEED to hear an earful-and-a-half. LOTS of DUers

here have a lot to say about it - and it's all good. And all eloquent. And as another poster here reported, my DNC solicitor admitted that I wasn't the first one she'd heard from who sounded off like this and/or insisted on Howard Dean.

Broken record, guys. Squeaky wheel. OVER AND OVER. Repetition works. Look what it's done for the enemy and its collective talking points media manipulations.

I have had argument after argument with party operatives who recommended I leave the flame-thrower at home and be nice, so as not to alienate our party upperlings and they would become resentful and wouldn't want to play ball. Well, to HELL with that. Sorry. But in my opinion (and that's ALL this is, let's be clear) we have already tried it their way. We've been nice in 2000. We've been nice in 2002. We've been nice in 2004. And certainly, while Clinton was being roasted on a spit every hour on the hour and even farther back when newt gangrene and his fellow vermin were taking no prisoners, our response tended to be mostly of the "thank you, sir, may I have another." And how's it workin' for ya? Nice doesn't get us anywhere but straight off to Doormat-land. Look, I like to be gentlewomanly and polite, just as much as the next person. But this is trench warfare. This is WWE SmackDown Vs Raw. As I said to my kid - would you arrive in the Smackdown arena ready to fight with a handful of feathers? Especially when the other guy is willing and ready to body-slam you and pile-drive you and knock you upside the head about 237 times? SHOULD you be all set to throw feathers at this person? Or do you want to consider maybe fighting back? Maybe taking a piece or two off this guy and drawing some blood? Are you playing to win, or playing to get pulverized and humiliated? I'd rather win, thank you. As for the being nice part, and playing polite and following the rules, well, been there, done that, and it's a LOSER.

[Zhade]

60. Damn good post! I need to introduce myself to you at the next Meetup.

You said it better than I could have.

[Mr Rabble]

30. I did the same thing...

when the DNC called last week. I also informed them that all 67 democratic members of my homeowners association would also no longer contribute to the DNC if anyone other than Dean gets the chair.

She sounded like she had heard it before.

[llmart]

42. I did something similar......

with the solicitation for more money that they sent me in the mail. I told them they could take me off of their mailing lists until the Dems started playing hardball and stopped pussy footing around.

And let's face it - it was the media that gave Dean the screwing over with their nonstop coverage of a "yell". I thought that was the silliest thing ever in a primary - to make such a big deal over something like that. It's why I watch no mainstream news any more.

[Straight Shooter]

13. No more whimpering, simpering, subservient Dems. GO HOWARD GO!!

:D

[Debi]

16. YEAH! But where is SEIU???

:kick:

[Larkspur]

18. Yeeehaaaw!

I guess Gephardt's influence over the unions has finally waned, and the unions now see reality very clearly.

Go Dean!

[ultraist]

19. We need a PLAN

The MINUTE Dean gets the Chair, what are we going to do?

Make a donation to the DNC or DFA?

We need to make our dollars work for us and let them know, we donate based on good decisions and will not blindly follow the party line.

Even if it's five or ten bucks, thousands donating WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Let's choose a symbolic amount, for instance, 10.01 or 20.01 or whatever. What should the amount end in and why? Any Deaniacs have a good suggestion on that?

How about .06 to stand for the next major elections?

[adarling]

28. We need this...look at this link too everyone and someone post it

like donate 6 dollars or something. I have a great feeling about this one, also, everyone needs to check out this out.

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2005/1/emw203331.htm

seems we have a new voting crisis on our hands, and most of us were not crazy. The exit polls were right! Here is the headline:

Prominent Statisticians Refute 'Explanation' of 2004 U.S. Exit Poll Discrepancies in New Edison/Mitofsky Report and Urge Investigation of U.S. Presidential Election Results

I can't post this yet cause i haven't been a member long enough, just didn't want to register, i liked reading it. Feel like i want to participate more now. Someone post it for me and nominate it for the main page

[CAcyclist]

31. I am going to rejoin the Democratic Party

the minute he is elected.

I'll donate, too.

It would be cool if a bunch of Decline-To _State or Greens or others all rejoined the Democratic Party the instant Dean was elected.

[eridani]

54. Someone on my list suggested 13.32, 23,32 and such

DFA on the phone keys is 332.

[KissMeKate]

20. Auto workers let me thank you for your time

you rock!

[NWHarkness]

23. That's a big kick in Mark Brewer's pants

The Feb 19 Michigan state convention is getting more interesting all the time....

[JNelson6563]

29. Yes it is!

And I for one am just delighted! :toast:

Julie

[upperleftedge]

32. DNC donations

The folks over at Blog for America are suggesting that their people donate to DNC in amounts that end in $3.32. The numbers corresponding to DFA on the telephone. Democratic Underground could donate amounts ending in $.38. Brand your bucks! Let them know who we are and how much power we have.

[ultraist]

43. That's an excellent idea! "brand your bucks"

I think we should do a GD thread on this but since it's your idea, do you want to post it?

[barb162]

34. I hope Dean gets this post; he is one of the few Dems I trust these

days in leadership, policy-making, etc.

[David Zephyr]

35. Kick.

[upperleftedge]

36. Calimary the toll

free number for the Capitol switchboard that you list on the bottom of your post has been disconnected! Democracy isn't cheap I guess.

[calimary]

56. Yes, sad but true. I am aware of this. There was another thread about

it somewhere here.

From time to time I see that sig line pop up, and then at some other times it does not. The phone number's been down since last week. Sucks, methinks. I'm gonna see if I can find the thread. We were kicking around some ideas about what to do. I called my Congressman (Henry Waxman) and complained. The staffer I talked to said he'd heard this, too. So it's getting around and people are making some stink about it. But it has to be a BIG stink to do any good. Also, it was apparently a private company that provided the number, not a government service per se. And I strenuously disagree with THAT, too. It shouldn't cost people extra to contact their reps. Even other people's reps. Because all those folks who get sent to Washington are sent there BY US, and THEY work for US, NOT the other way around. And it's a real slap in the face to people who can't afford to make a lot of long distance calls.

Glad you brought this up. The more people know about it and get pissed, the better.

On edit -
Found the thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1554809

[lonestarnot]

37. Can repukes think of anything at this point to stop the man?

Freaks better back off him and any airplanes he might ride.

[mb7588a]

38. UAW is such crap.

Their local didn't help for crap in this recent election. I've never met a bunch of folks who should care but don't give a flying fuck. These guys need to get hold of their own members before the dem. party.

[drew4president]

39. Is Dean media Savvy

I like the fact that Dean is a fighter, and strait shooter. But is anyone else worried that he lacks some of the communication skills and grace to do this job? I don’t think he’ll be a failure, but I’m not sure this job complements his talents.

[ima_sinnic]

41. He will do fine. More than anyone else in the public eye,

he comes across as "Mr. Natural." That gives the people confidence in his sincerity. I'd much rather have a few raw edges and gaffes than a polished, slick politician who reads speeches off a teleprompter and doesn't mean a word of them.

[Rainscents]

45. I will donate $100.00 DNC soon as Dean is elected as CHAIR!!!

[obiwan]

48. Look how far grace and communications skills got the Dems in November.

Put away the candy and get the shotgun, rock salt, and bacon rinds. No more milquetoasts.

[V Lee]

44. At least Dean has a spine!

Boxer has found one too. Maybe they can help the rest of the Dems find theirs!

[Rockerdem]

51. All it will take is some intelligent spirited leadership

We have been so lacking that for the last 5 years. We had good people but they were not cut out for this kind of position. Terry McAuliffe was too much of a moneytree technician, and not a politician. It takes a little of both, and now with Dean we have the complete package.

[obiwan]

47. He's the real deal...

... I would follow this man over a cliff. The only Dem with real huevos.

[denism]

49. self delete