Salon: Why Dean and Franken Are So Hot Right Now

[kskiska]

After years of being kicked in the teeth by GOP bullies, Democrats have finally found two brawlers who know how to give it back.

Nothing is so gratifying to a movie audience as the moment when a sorely abused hero (man, woman or animal) finally feels his strength and gives his tormentors what they richly deserve. From "High Noon" to "Rocky" to "Seabiscuit," America loves to see a comeback, a righting of wrongs, a bully brought to his knees. Which is why, I think, Al Franken and Howard Dean are the men of the hour. For years, we have suffered while right-wing bullies hijacked American politics and media -- persecuting a president for a consensual sex act; stealing the 2000 election; trashing the country's economy, environment and constitutional safeguards; handing the government over to the highest corporate bidders; deceiving the public into a bloody quagmire; and then brazenly smearing anyone who dared to criticize this orgy of dreadful leadership as un-American.

(snip)

But month after month, the resentment grew -- you could see it and feel it on Web sites that the corporate media dismissed as fringe. And then finally, it came pouring out, in a wave of money and volunteer energy for the Dean campaign. And it's still cascading, turning a candidate once scoffed at by the punditocracy into the Democratic front-runner -- and forcing his rivals to amp up their Bush-bashing rhetoric to match the party faithful's passionate mood.

On Monday, the New York Times' Adam Nagourney reported that the White House and the Democratic Party have both concluded that because of the increasingly polarized and evenly divided political landscape, the 2004 race will focus mainly on turning out the parties' core voters, rather than appealing to swing voters and independents. This means a campaign unlike 2000, with its muted, centrist tones, but one that delivers red meat to the parties' respective bases. And what is the temper of the Democratic Party base? They loathe Bush and everything he stands for -- he's become a lightning rod for dark and febrile passions in the same way Bill Clinton was (and is) for the GOP core. It's not just his harebrained ideological nostrums for how to reorder America and the world. They hate him and it's personal. They hate his frat-boy smirk, his phony fly-boy act, his cringe-inducing mangling of the language, his born-again sanctimony, even his Texas twang and his godforsaken, tumbleweed ranch where only someone as fence-post-dumb as W. would hole up in August. They hate him like their lives depended on it, lives that will certainly be unbearable if this bumbling extremist is reelected (or elected) in 2004.

(snip)

…After watching National Review's preppy editor Rich Lowry denounce the Democrats on C-SPAN for "sissifying" and "feminizing" politics, Franken calls him up and challenges him to a "Fight Club"-like mano a mano in his parking garage. "I'm 50 and have a bad back. But I think I could take you," the humorist tells him. A flabbergasted Lowry asks to sleep on it, but then wimps out the next day when Franken calls him again.

more…
http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2003/09/03/franken_dean/index.html

[donco6]

1. Wow! Pretty much took the words out of my mouth.

Especially the part about that stupid-ass ranch. If I were part of the "team" (godferbid) and I had to be down there in frickin August I think I'd puke.

And Franken calling out the Nat Review! Classeur!

[cliss]

2. (claps) yeah!

It's about time. Watch the pendulum swing. It was only a matter of time before people got their voices back. I'm definitely seeing a lot of critical articles, and it only seems to be growing every day.

A lot of people here at DU feel that people in general are easily fooled, that they fall for the endless rhetoric garbage like lava spewing out of a volcano.

Think of VietNam. It was the Americans who called an end to that war. I had just arrived in the US as an immigrant youngster, and I couldn't believe what I saw. There was brawling, violence and general craziness. I wasn't sure about which I country I had ended up in.

I continue to believe that it's the Americans themselves who will put an end to this, not the French or the UN.

[uberotto]

3. Being the outsider and....

portraying himself as "fighting for the soul" of the Democratic party has definately helped Dean jump to an early lead in several polls.

Gephardt, Lieberman, Kerry and Kuchinich are seen by many as being part of the problem (spineless, wimpy democratic party) and this is something that they are going to have a difficulty overcoming. They are starting to attacking bush now, but many are going to ask why haven't they been doing this at every opportunity for the past three years.

Of course the answer is that politics don't work that way. Insults and name calling doesn't help get the job done, and that's what they are there to do, a job. Unfortunately, that's exactly what does win elections, making the masses like you more than the other guy.

Whether Dean's outsider status will continue to keep him in the lead and whether the insider label will continue to hurt Kerry's and Kuchinich's election bids remains to be seen. What you can be sure of is that the next four months will be interesting.

[Stuckinthebush]

4. Wow...that felt good to read!

There are a few more out there taking the lead in punching the right wing where it hurts. I think what you will see with 2004 is a very, very energized democratic base, a mobilized swing group (towards the Dem nominee), and a lackluster GOP base. We are already seeing traditional republicans looking and acting embarrased by Bush and his cronies. I wonder if some of these GOPers will sit out rather than pull the lever for Bush. One thing is for certain, you will see a greater Dem turnout in 2004 than you did in 2000. It was pretty big then, but will be huge now. I think most people see the danger that is presented by continuing with this administration.

Now if we can be sure the votes will be counted....

[dmr]

5. A thought just occured to me

just as I was going to post: "the underdog strikes back" - that maybe, just maybe that is why the GOP is penning Bush* as the 'underdog'.

[Cha]

7. The "underdog"...whatever rove...bush is going down ...under,

over, inside out and everywhich way! your bitch is goin' Down!

[Cha]

6. I was gonna post this but looked first!!

Glad I did! Excellent article!



"The Democratic faithful lust for someone who will knock the cocky look right off George W. Bush's face -- as well as the arrogant mugs of Rove, Cheney and all the rest. Someone who knows how to fight just as hard as the men who scrapped and scraped and stopped at nothing until Florida, and the nation, was theirs. Right now, that looks like Howard Dean, the blunt-talking former wrestler. As one-time Clinton aide Sid Blumenthal, who knows a thing or two about taking off the gloves, says, "Candidates have to fight back hard, or else voters don't believe they'll fight for them."

[UpInArms]

8. thanks for posting this

It made me smile like nothing has in a long time.

We are not "fringe" - we are a force to be reckoned with and politicians ignore the people at their own political peril.

We are their employers and we didn't send them to Washington to become friends with their co-workers - we sent them there to take care of our country's business and to safeguard our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

They need to figure that out and quit licking the inside of *'s thigh.