Ted Rall: Time for Democrats to Rally Around Dean

[quispquake]

Seems Rall has decided that Dean is the man...

BTW, for all you non-Deanies, I'm officially undecided also (keep bouncing between Dean & Kucinich...), so keep the flames to a minimum, okay???

<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=127&e=1&u=/uclicktext/20031211/cm_ucru/canceltheprimaries>

[La_Serpiente]

1. we had a thread on this earlier

and I thought it was disrespectful of him to do that. However, that's his opinion.

[pistoff democrat]

4. I also think it's disrespectful,

sweetie pie.

[La_Serpiente]

7. hehe

;-)

[quispquake]

9. yeah, kind of disrespectful...

I thought it was kind of disrespectful too, but figured I'd post it as I usually really like Rall...

My feelings are that it would be nice to pare down the Dems, but I really enjoy the many ideas that are brought into the debate by the wide range of Dems we've got running...I really like most of them and would be happy to have them as our next President (hell, I seriously would consider voting for Cthulhu if he ran...ABB!!!).

Kucinich-Excellent person with views closest to mine of any of the candidates...and a fighter to boot...His health care plan (along with Braun) is the best of any of the candidates.

Dean-A fighter...and damn it, we NEED a fighter this election!!! And when people say he's wishy washy...we need someone who can look at new information and CHANGE WHEN THEY ARE CONFRONTED WITH SOMETHING NEW...I for one like someone who doesn't take a position then stay with it no matter what information they're confronted with...

Clark-Appealing to me more and more as an honest man with excellent foreign policy potential...and his taking on Fox a couple of weeks ago showed us that he would fight for us

Kerry-I like him a lot, and respect him greatly. Has stood up for the American people for years, and I'd be happy to have him as President...I worry he's not quite the fighter some of the candidates are (although I LOVED his ripping back at Koppel the other night!!!)

Braun-Love her health insurance idea...the only idea that will really work (I know, Kucinich supports the single payer system too). Brings women's rights into the mix, which need to be brought up.

Sharpton-A highly intelligent & opinionated man who isn't taken seriously, but quite honestly, there's not many of his opinions I disagree with. If he doesn't win as president, there's noone else I'd like more to be the next press secretary (would love to see him dealing with some of the stupid questions the press corps throws out).

Edwards-His common man stand is commendable...I like his talk about how the taxes are being shifted to the middle class in order to destroy it...he may be a bit green to be president, but would make a helluva VP (and I would not be sad to see him President either).

Gephardt-Excellent history of fighting for the common man and woman. His labor history is second to noone, and has the smarts and abilities to be a great president.

Lieberman-A centrist, but has a good record of sticking up for the common man & women in Congress.

So, any of the above...
Thanks for letting me spout!!!

[pistoff democrat]

12. Hey, there was nothing disrespectful about

you posting it!


I am concerned (and I know I'll get lambasted) about the Dems nominating Dean who will not carry the presidential election.

Therefore, I have pretty much decided on Clark/Edwards as I can see them beating Bush/Cheney.


But, is will be ABB!

[Vitruvius]

13. Exactly. Don't cancel the primaries! USE them to nail Bu$h, get media

coverage, and -- most importantly -- articulate Democratic ideas & ideals and how we can do better.

And -- as you say -- each of our candidates has unique strengths that they can bring to this task.

And it would be folly to give up the media coverage associated with our primaries. IF we and our candidates stop shooting at each other and start shooting at Bu$h and the Rethugs. It's up to us whether the media story will be Dems backbiting each other or Dems nailing Bu$h and convincing people we can do far better.

So let's see our candidates compete on articulating ideas & ideals and how we can do better AND on nailing Bu$h's sorry yellow hide to the wall.

Vitruvius

P.S: The money Dean -- or the eventual nominee -- spends in the primaries will NOT be wasted. Not if ALL our candidates redirect their energy to NAILING Bu$h and not each other; not if all our candidates start articulating positive ideas rather than trashing Dean or whoever's in front.

Ronald Reagan was right about one thing: when running in the Republican primaries in 1980, he promulgated the "11th Commandment": "Thou shalt speak no ill of thy fellow Republicans."

It's time for the Democratic "11th Commandment": "Thou shalt speak no ill of thy fellow Democrats."

So let's get rid of "the Democratic Circular Firing Squad" and put Bu$h and the Rethugs opposite a firing squad of all our candidates and all their supporters.

Kucinich, Dean, Clark, Kerry, Braun, Sharpton, Edwards, Gephardt, and Lieberman. Plus their campaigns. That's a lot of firepower.

[w13rd0]

2. Well, I like Ted Rall...

...but it's not as if he hasn't changed his mind before. He wrote a piece earlier on saying not at all flattering things about Dean. Now he'd like for us to rally behind him. I agree, I'd love for people to rally behind Dean...in the primaries, which will still take place.

[calimary]

5. Me too. It feels as though the "Sorting Hat" has spoken. Or at

least given strong hints.

That said, I will support whomever we wind up with as a nominee. Yes, even Lieberman. But it seems to me that we do have a trend here. If I supported someone else, I'm realistic enough to know I'd probably be looking at this, myself.

I would hope this would be the beginning of the end - of such devisiveness. Amazing. The guy who claimed he's a uniter, not a divider, has sure done divisive stuff to all of us. And even one step removed (as we churn away about our candidates)! Shit! Let's all try to take a deep breath, and start coming together, to accomplish Priority One.

Getting RID of the bushies.

[jayson23]

15. C'mon, guys, lets LOSE!

Sheesh.
Is there something in the Democratic DNA that makes us like to lose elections?

Dean is Mondale, Dukakis, and Al Gore wrapped into one. An inconsistent, arrogant elitist who can energize the base in the primaries and lose spectacularly in the general election.

I'm sick of losing, and I'm sick of being the Republican's bitch.

Dean's not my choice, and I'm amazingly offended that some whiny chinless speck like Ted Rall thinks should be asking us to "rally behind" this loser.

[K8-EEE]

18. Bush The Second Is The Next Bush The First

He's goin' down. No matter who the nom is...I think many people who voted for him the first time won't this time, and many people who either voted for Nader or didn't vote will vote for GWBs main opponent.

[theivoryqueen]

3. sounds like a plan!

I'm in. What the hell, we already pretty much agreed Anybody But Bush.

[Melodybe]

8. All the media whores are saying this

to piss off the other candidate's supporters. As soon as the nominee gets chosen I have a feeling the positive comments will be few and far between, if any. If they do have some positive stuff it will only be to show how much better a candidate the nominee is than the other 8. Just to piss them off. Tell your friends because that is the truth.

[w13rd0]

10. Haha...Ted Rall...

...isn't exactly a "media whore"...

[quispquake]

11. Far from it...

I really appreciate Ted's integrity...he's put up some pretty abrasive cartoons & articles, but you can tell they're honest, and the way he feels...

pp23

[jayson23]

16. sounds like a (harebrained) plan!

I'm out. See, this is a democracy, and here, we VOTE.

Yeah, how about if all those other candidates dropped out and just supported Dean? Or better yet, let's all rally behind Braun. What the hell, let's just let the media pick our president. Why, if we called off the 2004 election altogether and just annointed Bush again, think of all the money we'd save!

Elections are so expensive, and such a hassle. Let's just rally behind someone chosen by the media.

I was at General Clark's endorsement by Rep. Charles Rangle yesterday, where he was surrounded by state Senate and House leaders, an army General, Hasidic Jews, Black Muslims, Tuskegee Airmen, and a host of others. What did I read about it in the papers today? "...a group of about 200 supporters, most of them white."
The media loves the idea of a Dean / Bush faceoff like they love a NASCAR flameout. It's good television. But it's not good democracy.

Dean is not major league, he's not ready for the presidency, and he stands no chance against Bush. None. He might get the white liberals to drive their Volvos to the polls, but he won't get mainstream America's vote.

And you know what? If Dean is the nominee, he won't get my vote, either. I may be a Democrat, but I'm not an idiot. I'm not voting for someone that would embarass us all if he got within spitting distance of the White House.

Sure, I support Clark, but I'll back whoever the Democratic nominee is. Unless it's Dean. I'll back Kerry, Lieberman, Braun, Edwards, Sharpton, Kucinich, Gephardt... but I will not support, will not campaign for, and will not vote for Howard Dean.

[deminflorida]

6. Karl Rove would like for us to rally behind him too....just like

Sitting Bull enjoyed it when the 7th Calvary rallied behind Custer.

[Bucky]

14. I'm criticizing, not flaming

I've always found Rall's politics to be a bit naive. Mind you, I agree with his positions 90% of the time, but his rationals and argument often seem to be a bit cartoonish, simplistic, unappreciative of life's innumerable nuances and subtleties.

So when I read statements like this from the article cited:

What if the other Democratic candidates came together at a joint press conference to announce that they were dropping out of the race to endorse Dean?

I have to wonder if he really understands how the primary election process, or even the basic human nature of political a candidate, works. He likes Dean--that's great. But his solution to the challenges before Dean is for everyone competing with him to just shut up, keep their concerns about Dean to themselves, and get the hell out of the way. That's a pretty undemocratic request, which the article seems to be making seriously.

Rall goes on to prove his naiveté and ignorance of electoral law and procedure:

If nothing else, cash-starved states would love it--the average primary costs taxpayers $7 million. More to the point, it would save Dean roughly $75 million--enough to close the money gap with Bush.

Of course very few states, if any, are able to just call off their presidential primaries. Hodling these elections are a matter of law. Most states don't have exclusively presidential primaries anyway. There are all sorts of nomination elections being held in March and April, of which the selection for presidential delegates is only a small part. Cancelling the primaries would save virtually no money at all.

Not only that, but in fact the primaries and caucuses are how the Democrats decide who their delegates are. Is Rall suggesting that these states don't even need to bother sending delegates to the 2004 Convention in Boston? Hell, think of all the money we could save if we just called off the dang convention and just agreed, somehow, to let Dean be the nominee without all that expensive rigamaroll of convention halls and hotel rooms and exhorbitant helium balloon drops?

More Rall:

Canceling the primaries would convey that Democrats are no longer a clumsy amalgamation of special interests. We're organized, it would say.

OK, Rall's a Democrat. But is he a democrat (with a small d)? Yes, to hell with these stupid election things. Let's all march like we're organized and unified. None of this Madisonian hogwash about "amalgamation" and "diversity".

I agree with Rall when he says that we need to unite against Bush to advance the cause of democracy. I find it quite silly when he suggests that we must destroy democracy in order to save it.

[donhakman]

17. Idealism

Idealism is not misguided or naive.
It just appeals to a human trait that is in very short supply these days.

[Martin Eden]

20. I agree. Rall's suggestion is naive,

and it's a waste of time because the other candidates simply are not going to fold their campaigns. Not at this time. Not before a single vote is cast.

Nor should they. It's contrary to the democratic process.

Sure, saving cash for the battle against Bush and presenting a unified and coherent Democratic front would be nice. So would Bush admitting his crimes and resigning from office along with the rest of his cabal.

Perhaps Ted could entertain us with a suggestion along those lines.

[SMucci]

23. Very well said

As a new visitor to this blog and a new blogger I am somewhat
intimidated, but decided to be brave and comment anyway.  As a
reactivated activist (I worked for McClosky against Nixon in
'72) who has jumped head first into the primary process Ralls
suggestion is unimaginable.  There is much anger toward the
Bush administration and here in NH there is a lot of new
political activity as a result.  Some of it is also anti-Dean,
mine happens to be pro Edwards.  We are participating in the
local Democratic meeting and there is energy, which will live
long beyond the decision of who will ultimately represent us
against Bush.  What a shame to loose all those benefits in the
name a rallying around a bank account.  I liked what Al
Sharpton had to say in the "debate" (I think of it
as a forum) - This election can not be about money.  America
is not for sale.  Naive?  I don't think so. 

[AP]

24. keep posting.

[citizen snips]

19. Yes.

I think it is time to support the front runner instead of trying to bring him down.

[Alpharetta]

21. I like trial by fire. Bring on the primaries.

If he wins Iowa and New Hampshire he'll face a barrage of garbage and mischaracterizations. The reporters will hit him with stupid questions and repeat accusations from desperate candidates. It should be a good test.

[belab13]

22. Not So fast Mr. Rall

Some of us have another candidate in mind.


Rep. Kucinich is my selection.

[boilerbabe]

25. Kucinich is wonderful, but I think Dean is going to be the one...

I like Dennis K. a lot. I have been a volunteer on Howard Dean's campaign, but would love to see him as Vice President or in any other capacity that would enable him to be a part of our "Democracy" such as it is!

[realFedUp]

26. Let's Rall!

Rall(y) around Dean. Yes.

[seventhson]

27. Rall's suggestion is Smart, but the egos involved are NOT smart

They would rather see Dean lose than support him against Bush - in mosty of the candidates' cases.

I think Edwards, Sharpton, Moseley Braun and Kucinich will support Dean wholeheartedly . Clark and Lieberman will fade away into punditry. Kerry will probably begrudgingly support Dean, but not much and he won't help with his sour and dour grudge against Dean.

I agree that Rall's proposal has HUGE merit and is SMART as hell. But I also agree that it will not happen until after New Hampshire or even South Carolina -- which is kind of like saying it is not going to happen at all until Dean has wrapped it up.

Then we will see who the REAL Democrats are (the pseudo-Dems will scurry back into their corporate holes)