Dean's List - To beat Bush, just speak the truth ... LOUDLY

[dkf]

http://hartfordadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:29162

But if you look a bit more closely at the smaller homes between these two stately residences -- euphemistically called "cottages" though none would be purchasable for less than $3 million -- you will quickly notice something fishy about Sen. Kerry's next- door neighbor -- his yard is festooned with navy-blue-and-white "Howard Dean for President" signs. So is the hedge, the white picket fence and the bumper of the Jeep in the driveway.

It's obvious that former Vermont Governor Howard Dean's outsider campaign is catching on, even among the moneyed set. His call to "Wake up!" the Democratic Party is falling on receptive ears. And every vacation morning, as Sen. Kerry goes out to retrieve his copies of the Boston Globe and New York Times in his U-shaped, limo-friendly driveway, he will be reminded of the appeal that he has thus far lacked as a presidential candidate.

The message of Dean's snowball-turned-avalanche candidacy is this: the Democratic Party is in deep trouble. The American people, young and old, liberal and conservative, rich and poor -- and one has to be ridiculously rich to own a house, no matter how small, on Nantucket next door to John Kerry and Teresa Heinz -- are sick of the spinelessness of the Democratic leadership. They may not be fond of Bush but they are being given no clear reason to vote for a Democratic candidate. Except for Howard Dean.

Indeed, the tipping point is nigh. Dean is pushing with all his might to get that pendulum swinging in his favor by offering something no other Democrat has yet to offer: an alternative to the "Republican-Lite" (as Russ Feingold described it) of the Democratic Leadership Council -- which embraces the likes of Joe Lieberman. As I've stated numerous times in this space, and in public forums, nobody likes a bully -- which is what Bush and his backers are. But quivering cowards -- what Bartcop.com calls "pink tutu Democrat" -- are even less appealing.

[MoonAndSun]

1. Great article, thanks dkf!!

I think it was really cool for them to mention Bartcop.com. He should start getting more hits due to this article.


This article is another indication that Howard Dean does indeed have a broad appeal.

[Larkspur]

2. Yes Great article!

Let's get real. The 2004 election is not about liberal vs. conservative. It's about the future of American democracy, of America's once-benign presence in the world, and the long-term safety and health of American citizens -- all of which are in danger if George W. Bush is given four more years to wreak havoc. It's not a matter of if, but when, America's house of cards will collapse if this occurs.

Our junior senator may be the most tin-eared Democrat of all, the one sporting the pinkest tutu. Lieberman is, in fact, on an all-out offensive to paint Dean's candidacy as "dangerous" to the Democratic Party, as though this fiscally conservative, education- and health care-emphasizing doctor -- a proven success as governor -- was some sort of fire-breathing revolutionary. No, Joe, YOU are a danger to the Democratic Party. YOU had your chance. YOU could have taken Dick Cheney down in the debates. YOU could have fought harder for the victory that Al Gore won. But you knew your Senate sinecure was safe, your 2000 opponent being Republican Hall of Shame emeritus, Phil Giordano, now serving 36 years for raping little girls. So, what the heck, it seemed like you were saying, at least YOU improved YOUR political lot.

But at what cost?

Oh so true. Spinelss Dems are on the extinction list.

[Cha]

3. Wow! This is Great News! Glad I caught this before it slipped

away! So Happy Govenor Dean is having the effect on so many others that I found so appealing about him as my candidate for the Prez of the USA!

[whirlygigspin]

4. oh me, oh my

If Kerry can't get his neighbors to support him, he's in deep doo doo.

[LuminousX]

5. I have asshole neighbors

You can't get everyone to like you. You never know, Kerry's neighbor may be upset by the fact Kerry asked him to mow his lawn more than once a year and is just getting revenge.

[Martin Eden]

6. speak the truth ... LOUDLY

This needs to be the principal Democratic strategy. Since the truth is very much at odds with shrubco's rhetoric, there will be conflict when the truth is spoken LOUDLY and REPEATEDLY.

The aim is to focus attention on this conflict, have as many facts as possible brought out in the open, and exposed for all to see.

That the TRUTH is on our side is our chief asset!

[lindashaw]

7. Well said!