Dean a loose cannon ("Why are Democrats suicidally crazy?")

[ConservativeDemocrat]

"Dean is a loose cannon"
By Jonathan Chait

...
The conventional rap against Dean as DNC chairman is essentially the same as the conventional rap against him as presidential candidate a year ago. Namely, he reinforces all the party's weaknesses. Democrats need to appeal to culturally traditional voters in the Midwest and border states who worry about the party's commitment to national security. Dean, with his intense secularism, arrogant style, throngs of high-profile counterculture supporters and association with the peace movement, is the precise opposite of the image Democrats want to send out.

...
The DNC chairman has two main jobs. First, he transmits the party's message -- an important role when the party lacks a president and majority leaders in Congress. This job requires one to master the dismal art of "message discipline," boiling down the party's ideas into a few simple phrases and repeating them over and over until they have sunk into the public consciousness.

It's a role for which Dean is particularly ill suited. During his campaign, remember, he fashioned himself a straight talker, delighting reporters by repeatedly wandering "off message.'' On the plus side, he won friends in the media by appearing honest and human. On the negative side, he did himself enormous damage, when, for example, he suggested that he wouldn't prejudge Osama bin Laden until he had been convicted in a court of law.

...
So, how did Dean manage to trounce all comers for this position? Dean's supporters see his triumph as the victory of the masses over a tiny Democratic elite desperately trying to cling to power. As one left-liberal blogger gloated: "The fact that Howard Dean will most likely be heading up the Democratic Party is our victory. It is the voice of the grass roots lifted up into the halls of power once owned by the aristocracy of consultants.'' That actually has it backward. A recent Wall Street Journal poll found that only 27 percent of Democrats approve of Dean.

The whole article is here.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

To be honest, I've been terribly torn about Dean. And while Jonathan Chait does accurately encapsulate all my misgivings, I still ended up coming down on the other side and endorsing him.

Here's the reason: all these criticisms, though valid, assume that Howard Dean has learned absolutely nothing from his experience going from leading Presidential candidate down to also-ran. I don't believe that. Say whatever else you like about him, Dean isn't stupid.

I also believe that we're not going to win on cultural issues until we stop trying to talk around them and start directly pushing back. One mantra I'd like to hear from Democrats all throughout the heartland is this: "60,000 MORE ABORTIONS UNDER BUSH", "60,000 MORE ABORTIONS UNDER BUSH", "60,000 MORE ABORTIONS UNDER BUSH". Keep beating that into evangelical skulls until they finally admit that "Safe, Legal, and Rare" works, while Faith-Based Birth Control (also called "Pray you ain't knocked up") doesn't.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[merh]

1. I like that rant - where is a link

that I can use to support 60,000 more abortions under the weed?
Thanks! :thumbsup:

[SharonAnn]

2. And, whowould he recommend who does better at the requirements?

"The DNC chairman has two main jobs. First, he transmits the party's message -- an important role when the party lacks a president and majority leaders in Congress. This job requires one to master the dismal art of "message discipline," boiling down the party's ideas into a few simple phrases and repeating them over and over until they have sunk into the public consciousness."

Who in the Democratic party does this? I can't think of anyone who does it as well as Dean.

[mistertrickster]

29. Quick name the last DNC chairman . . . if you said Terry McAuliffe you're

a demo-geek, like me. Nobody else knows who he is.

Yeah, our leadership has just been magnificent so far (sarcasm).

If we go down this time, we go down punching not dodging.

[trotsky]

3. People who think Dean is a whacked-out liberal...

need to truly study his record in Vermont. He was surprisingly centrist in most of his policies. The man brings energy and devotion to the table, and it clearly rubs off on his supporters.

Besides, what has running to the right done for the party?

[piece sine]

35. Rove will push Dean

as far to the far-left as is humanly possible.

[yurbud]

37. Nope--Dean will push economic not culture war

He's New Deal and Great Society, not Greenpeace and PETA.

If regular people bother to listen to him, they will understand and like what he has to say, and he says it in a plain, non-apologetic way.

[phantom power]

4. I can't help but point out that the "be nice and appeal to the middle"

strategy isn't working. Leaders of revolutions are always seen as "loose cannons" by the establishment.

No guarantees that this revolution would be successful, but really, the point is to try somebody different.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. Jonathon Chait and the New Republic are right wing hit pieces

Dean may leave some democrats concerned, but he demonstrated Democrats can fund their party and elections without relying on big business entirely.

Dean also did what NO ONE else did during the primaries..he spent BIG MONEY on places where Democrats had no chance which in the LONG run GETS us back in front of the people you are so concerned about.

YOu can't REACH people if you altogether SKIP campaigning in their hometowns.

[RubyDuby in GA]

6. ding ding ding ding ding - I believe we have a winner

People don't want to vote for losers who are too afraid to even face them.

Dean did wonderful things for Vermont when he was in charge there, and although this is a different ballgame entirely, I know he will do good things for us on a national level.

I wish all the naysayers would just shut up and give him a chance to undo the damage that the previous idiot did.

[HootieMcBoob]

14. Jonathon Chait and "The New Republican" magazine

are the best friends the Republican Party have ever had. They are not to be trusted. They and the DLC will do everything they can to push the Democratic Party to the right which will eventually, if left alone, destroy the party. Just look at the damage they've done so far.

[salin]

20. Per the rightward drift of the New Republic...

My FDR, new deal, keynesian economist father... let his long-time subscription to the New Republic drop by the late eighties based on his belief that they were primarly espousing republican views.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

32. And I gave up on them when they supported the Contras in

Nicaragua, as well as Reagan's military buildup. It was hard to find anything that they disagreed with the Republicans on, other than that someone with D after his name should be in the White House.

[salin]

36. That is about the same time my Dad gave up the subscription

he also supported the "shelter" (can't remember the exact name) movement in which various churches around the country gave shelter to political refugees from countries like El Salvidor - where hit squads were used to kill off dissidents who didn't support the extreme rightwing dictatorships - dictatorships that the US supported. For anyone not familiar with this era and trail of blood, I highly recommend watching the movie "Romero."

[Eloriel]

31. In fact, Chaitt had a specifically anti-Dean blog

when Dean was still a candidate. His hatred of Dean is visceral. While I can understand that (or rather, allow for the existence of that, even if I find it stooopid and ignernt too), it does mean that whatever he writes isn't exactly "objective," and may not be exactly agenda-less.

[disillusioned1]

7. I support Dean

I remember nearly falling off the couch when he said during his campaign that he would dismantle the media's near-monopoly. I think that's a great place to start. Go get 'em, Dr. Dean!

[KurtNYC]

8. Beyond the smoke and mirrors - "Rove fears Dean is the Dem's Reagan"

The RW is soooooooo concerned about the dems making "a mistake" with Dean. HA!

I think this closer to the truth (old but relevant again given Dean's re-emergence):

Rove is sure Gephardt would fail to win over voters in a face-to-face contest against Bush. After all, Gephardt never articulated a winning message in the past. He failed to make his case to the American people against Gingrich and now Bush. He failed to head off the abuses in the House or hold Republicans accountable for them. Under his leadership, Democrats lost ground year after year. Bush's hopes for 2004 rest with Richard Gephardt leading the Democrats to one more defeat. Rove fears Dean will lead Democrats to rousing victory.

That explains Rove's desperation. David Reinhard explains "Why Dean can win next November" in his article of that name: "Let us not be fooled by misguided conventional wisdom. Dean is a threat and Republicans better not ignore him." his is the considered judgment of two respected Republican pollsters -- Bob Moore and Hans Kaiser -- from Portland's Moore Information.

The GOP pollsters fear "Howard Dean can win because he believes in what he is saying, because he can semi-legitimately spin his record as governor into one of fiscal conservatism, and because he comes across as if he actually cares about people The difference between Howard Dean and the rest of the Democratic candidates is that Dean comes across as a true believer to the base but he will not appear threatening to folks in the middle."

See "Why Rove Fears Dean: He Might Be The 'Democratic Reagan'"
http://americanpolitics.info/apj/2003/03-11-13b.shtml

[TomClash]

9. A Poor Article

Dean was effective at fundraising, mobilizing and organizing - precisely the qualities needed in a DNC Chairman.

He was also out front strong and early against a war and a policy about which most people now have strong misgivings. Where I come from they call that leadership.

Appealing to cultural conservatism and the Bush national security policy is hardly a prescription for success. Everyone in politics knows this neo-con nonsense is running its course, so Mr. Chait wants us to copy that right wing reality show just when it is about to jump the shark. No thanks.

[struggle4progress]

30. It's advice from rightwingers. It's trash.

[Eloriel]

33. Not only that, he was effectively doing the DNC's work already

via DFA. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration, but still. DFA was and is encouraging and recruoting candidates to run at ALL levels, helping TRAIN them, helping FUND them, helping them campaign, and helping GOTV. Also community building in all the big and little DFA chapters around the country. If the DNC had been doing that, there'd have been no need for a DFA.

[flamin lib]

10. Everybody said the same things about Ronald Reagan

when he ran against Gerald Ford in the 1976 primaries. He lost but because he gathered a large following he was able to re-form the Republican party and gave rise to modern Conservatism and its appeal to the moderate Democrats. That movement has been hijacked by the neocons and there are a lot of disenchanted Republicans. I heard Christy Todd-Whitman on PBS this AM and she was very hard on the powers shaping White House policy.

Dean is positioned to do the same thing and appeal to those disenfranchised Republicans as he re-builds the party and refines the message as one of true human values.

[aintitfunny]

11. First of all this is just the beginning

of the slash and burn campaign that the right wing media (and we all know that means the MSM and its counterparts) will be producing and promoted as Dean takes the helm of the DNC.

Not terribly different that during the campaign, when they finally destroyed him with the scream, knowing all along that they had quieted down the noise of the crowd he was trying to be heard over. When all was said and done they actually covered the story about how they abused their power. Sometimes it is all about the media covering the media.

I hope with Howard Dean we end being Mr. and Ms. Democratic Nice Guy. I hope we go on the attack and start pointing out the stupidity of Mr. Bush and cronies, with civility of course, but we should point it out at every opportunity. I hope with Howard Dean that we stop being the victims of vicious right wing attacks and go on the offense instead of always being defensive. I think he will help accomplish this with civility, common sense, and speaking truth to power.

So Mr. Chait can keep his right wing smear tactics to himself and the Wall Street Journal and their "poll" of democrats, can kiss my big blue state butt.

[mike_c]

12. it's time to change "the party's message...."

Personally, I'm not the least bit interested in a Democratic Party that isn't intensely secular, aligned with the peace movement, and so on. Let the republicans (or someone else) court the religious right, the security moms, and the Nascar dads. I don't share their views on most issues so I don't see any reason to belong to a party that does.

[Rose Siding]

13. Also in LAT. They had a couple of LTTE about it...

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-dean7.1feb07,0,7150511.story?coll=la-news-comment-letters

snip>
I am sick of the ignorant, corrupt, bullying, hypocritical liars who control the Republican Party and the country. I am sick of the GOP spin machines that distort every opposing view and portray even the idea of dissent as tantamount to treason.

I am sick of the media, which are either in the pocket of the Republicans or so cowed by right-wing bullies that they dare not raise their voices to oppose the policies of the Bush administration.

I am sick of policies that try to ram one party's view of religion down everyone else's throat, of the vilification of gays for political gain, and of immoral and unnecessary wars started on blatantly false pretenses. But most of all, I am sick of Democrats who do not have the courage to speak up against all of the many stupid and evil things that this administration has done, is doing and will continue to do as long as nobody calls them on it.

Dean is not a perfect man, but he does have the courage to say what he knows to be true, even when it is politically risky.

Dean has the intelligence and the courage to inspire people to join the party and the organizational skills to raise money and build a truly national party.

MORE........

[EST]

15. Right on-good post!

Dean actually embodies the gold we wish we had in all of the Dems who supposedly represent us in this rat infested lair we call the federal government.
The downside to all this is that Mr. Dean had better make sure he is very well protected 24/7 with multiple layers of highly vetted security experts. The neo-com masters have proven that they are no strangers to political assassination, as the string of dead bodies, both literally and figuratively, now littering the landscape should show us. Poor Howard is now taking his life in his hand. He is becoming a dangerous man to the kill a commie for Christ bunch.

[98geoduck]

21. I'll second that. It is time for a revolution.

[KissMeKate]

16. "pray you aint knocked up"

LOL!

[depakid]

17. Jonathon Chait ought to shut his mouth

Since he's basically just parroting the typical DLC, in the Republican's pocket party line-

If ANYONE has learned ABSOULUTELY NOTHING, it's Jonathon Chait, and his tired, old do nothing, continue to lose, sell out you principles rhetoric.

[kaitykaity]

18. Editor of The New Republic.

Slash piece could have been written by The Weekly Standard
or The American Spectator.

Blech.

[Laurab]

19. A loose cannon

would better describe the nutcase in the WH who has proven over and over again, that he and his administration are indeed "loose cannons". They have done the damage that REAL loose cannons can do, and are looking to do even more.

Rethugs label every dem who has an opinion and voices it, as a "loose cannon". I think they are very afraid of Dean for some reason, and I'm liking all the publicity they're giving him - it kind of endorses him even more for me.

[Eric J in MN]

23. You may know this, but Jonathan Chait isn't a Republican.

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?pt=3M3%2FDZQsgnokTczsUE11kh%3D%3D

[Eric J in MN]

22. Anyone else notice the irony in a man RANTING that

someone else is a "loose cannon."

Howard Dean has never written anything I've seen which rants like that essay.

[agincourt]

24. Didn't Dean's dozen?

win their elections where they had a good chance?

[Eric J in MN]

25. yes. unlike "The 15 Daily Kos dozen," all of whom lost (nt)

nt

[GoldenOldie]

26. Dean only a "loose cannon," to the status quo

We shall see repeated clips of Dean and the "scream," ad naseum....the spin machine in full mode.

The Neocons are working on ways to attack Dean and the spineless Dems are fearful they may actually have to get a backbone.

[98geoduck]

27. "Why have Democrats been suicidally crazy for the last 3 decades?"

Perhaps they need a doctor.

[rodeodance]

28. anyone have a link to ""60,000 MORE ABORTIONS UNDER BUSH",

If I am going to repeat this claim, I need to know if the reseach is valid.
Thanks in advance

[Eloriel]

34. EXCELLENT response

I like it! :D