Dean's mouth gives the Democrats plenty to talk about.

[Writer]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8185333/site/newsweek/

(snip)

But Dean was only too glad to get insider help after his "white, Christian party" remark, which was just the latest in a steady stream of invective that many Democrats have viewed as counterproductive at best—at least if wooing Red State swing voters is the goal. Meeting privately with senators last week, Dean promised to watch himself more carefully. "It's important to make the news, not be the news," he told them, according to Sen. Chris Dodd.

(snip)

Sorry if this is a dupe or it it's in the wrong place!

Writer.

[Demeter]

1. I Think It Was A Valuable Observation

Dean is guilty only of telling the truth--not yet a crime, in most places.

The only way to reach the Religious Right, to change their minds and course, is through SHAME. By pointing out where and how they stray from their Christian ethics and their Big Tent meme, Dean can help them admit a mistake and turn back from the brink of fascism.

[Writer]

2. I really disagree with that.

Let me ask you this - would your mind be changed by someone who shames your political beliefs and alliances? I know mine wouldn't be shamed - it would only cause me to be resentful of that person.

Also I think Fineman's article is much more nuanced. He says that Dean's comments are both helpful by delivering attention to the party, while being hurtful for making himself the story, and not the platform.

Writer.

[billbuckhead]

3. Dean made being a "white Christian" seem a sort of crime

Fineman , who I despise and so it pisses me off that I'm forced to agree with him, nails it's precisely with this paragraph.

"But Dean's real problem may not be his mouth but his mind-set. He and his aides seemed genuinely mystified at the idea that his characterization of the GOP was a political mistake. But by labeling the other party a bastion of Christianity, he implied that his own was something else—something determinedly secular—at a time when Dean's stated aim is to win the hearts of middle-class white Southerners, many of whom are evangelicals. In a slide-show presentation at the DNC conference last weekend, polltaker Cornell Belcher focused on why those voters aren't responding to the Democrats' economic message. One reason, he said, is that too many of them see the Democrats as "anti-religion." And why was that? No one asked Dean, who wasn't taking questions from the press."

<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8185333/site/newsweek/page/2/>

[mzmolly]

5. If you take Dean's remarks in context (something the media knows little

about) Dean said Republicans were an "exclusive" party ...

[mzmolly]

4. It's what Republicans have done successfully for years!

Think about the word "liberal" for example. Kerry was shamed for being an anti-war protester after his heroic service, and he took the shame bait.

We do need someone "shaming" the hypocrites in phase one. Then we need to invite their shamed asses into a party that is truly "moral." ;)

We knew who Dean was when we hired him, and I want Dean to continue being "DEAN."

[billbuckhead]

6. I hear all the time why are you a Dem? "You're not Black or Gay"

I hear all the time out in the ATL suburbs, why are you a Dem? "You're not Black or Gay and you work hard".

How calling the RepuKKKes the white Christian party hurts them, I just don't get it. The vast majority of them are proud to be the white Christian party. It's like saying BMW is the car for trendy successful social climbers.

[mzmolly]

7. I agree, he didn't shame them for being White Christians, he shamed them

for being exclusive and representing ONE faction of our diverse nation.

Dean is a "White Christian" himself as are many Dems. Dean however doesn't feel that a Political Party should be representative of a single faction of our society.

[Demeter]

8. One Uses the Tools That Work

Shame for Democrats would be ineffectual, since personal responsibility combined with a personal moral code that is inclusive, supportive of the disadvantaged, and upholding the Constitution precludes cognitive dissonance (in other words, if you aren't doing something wrong, it can't bother you).

BUT

The "Christian" thing is totally dependent on shame: cradle to grave, shame is the cudgel that keeps the sheep in line. And shame is whatever the leadership says it is; this has changed over time as political needs change (and as the culture as a whole debunks the putative "sin").

SO:

The way to break down the brainwashing is to point out the shameful aspects of the GOP reality (and there is no lack of targets), emphasize the American Constituional or the true Biblical teaching, and push to have policy conform. Call it "deprogramming". It works.