Democratic leaders back Dean, don't want 'wimp'

[dogday]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic National Committee leaders embraced feisty party boss Howard Dean on Saturday and urged him to keep fighting despite a flap over his blunt comments on Republicans.

After a meeting of the DNC's 40-member executive committee at a downtown hotel, members said Dean was doing exactly what they elected him to do -- build the party in all states and aggressively challenge Republicans.

"I hope Governor Dean will remember that he didn't get elected to be a wimp," said DNC member Gilda Cobb-Hunter, a South Carolina state representative. "We have been waiting a long time for someone to stand up for Democrats."

Dean took fire from Republicans and some Democrats earlier this week for a series of recent comments, including calling Republicans "pretty much a white, Christian party" and saying they "never made an honest living in their lives."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/11/AR2005061100457_pf.html

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[arkie dem]

5. Guns, Gay Marriage, Abortion

and the repukes have demonized the word Liberal.
I'd say Dean is doing a Hell of a job, or the repukes wouldn't be a bitchin about him.

[Name removed]

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[arkie dem]

17. Hell, I like the word Liberal.

That's what I am and damned proud of it.

[Name removed]

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[arkie dem]

23. Point taken...

[MisterP]

25. they're "neoliberal" here, like Blair, Schröder, Thomas Friedman, Thatcher

Reagan, Milt Friedman, Pinochet, et cetera ad nauseam.
And welcome to DU!

[Name removed]

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[fujiyama]

46. Yes, I think the term liberal

in Europe connotes a "classic liberal", or what is otherwise known as libertarian. I remember reading an article in an Australian newspaper, stating America has liberal gun control laws. In the strict sense of the word, this is certainly true, but here in the US, many would be confused.

In the US, it's generally known as open-minded, though it has been demonized by conservatives and republicans in the last 25 years or so to make it seem soft, weak, and anti-American.

[Name removed]

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[FreedomAngel82]

32. Easy

"moral values." :eyes:

[Name removed]

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[Orangepeel]

38. well, people need to feel good about themselves

one way to do this is to feel superior to others.

I can try to feel superior to poor people, but there are a lot of people richer than me.

I can try to feel superior to ugly people, but I'm not the prettiest person in the world.

I can try to feel superior to people who don't drink, or who don't eat too much, or don't go into debt, or who don't drive too fast, but that might be hard if I like to do those things.

Feeling like a good, moral person for not doing something I don't want to do? THAT is doable.

:shrug:

[Mojambo]

12. Because gays can't be allowed to marry, dammit!

The Republicans manipulate under-educated middle class voters into voting for them by playing to their fear and bigotry.

[Name removed]

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[Mojambo]

22. Actually, I don't think the right wing really cares much at all

Whether or not gays eventually are allowed to marry. They just like to use the fear of it happening to blind certain (again, mostly under educated) voters to their immensely destructive economic policies.

[Name removed]

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[Mojambo]

39. You'd have to ask them

But my suspicion is that, unprovoked, they really don't care much either.

It's when life gets hard, due to massive mishandling of economic and foreign affairs by the Republicans, that under educated voters are antagonized by people like Karl Rove into looking for scapegoats.

[Pirate Smile]

21. Some good quotes from the DNC members. Here:

"We have to get our politics out of Washington. We cannot continue to be held captive by party leaders who I respect but who have to play their own local politics," Cifuentes said, calling congressional Democrats "timid" and the flap over his comments "mostly a Beltway play."

BUILDING THE BASE

Karen Marchioro, a DNC member from Washington state, said she was stunned to see so many congressional Democrats back away from Dean.

"We always defend them, why won't they defend us? And they want us to support them for president?" she asked. "I have no desire to lose, I just think this is the way you win -- you let people know where you stand and you fight."

Cobb-Hunter said Dean "should consider the source -- congressional Democrats. What's their track record? He's doing what a lot of us wanted him to do and expected him to do."

[Name removed]

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[I Have A Dream]

29. That's the $64,000 question.

If we could truly understand it, we could better combat it.

I think that a one part of it has to do with middle class people thinking that all "liberals" want to do is give their tax dollars to people who don't want to work, and, of course, they suspect that the "liberals" are themselves planning to be part of this group. In my opinion, what "liberals" really want to do is help those who are doing the best they can with what they have and still need a hand to pull themselves up out of the hole so that they can live a life of dignity.

Do people take advantage of the safety net that the left has worked so hard to set up for less fortunate people? Yes, some do. However, the vast majority of people who are helped are hard working people who just need some help for a while. In a perfect world, this wouldn't happen. However, given that this world isn't perfect, I'd rather that some people get away with taking advantage of the system than for hardworking people not to get help when they're down on their luck. However, it really will help our cause to try to put as many safeguards into the system as possible to eliminate as much abuse as possible.

This is one thing that I often hear middle class people complain about. Of course, there are many other things as well.

[Name removed]

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[I Have A Dream]

42. Yes, it is true of a certain segment of Republicans.

However, many middle class Americans think that someday this might just be them or their families (living off of their inheritance and don't want to pay an estate tax), so it doesn't seem to bother them. For some reason, they don't think that the other way (down on their luck) just might be them also, which is happening more and more often these days.

I truly think that it's really important for us to really stress that we're putting up the safety net for people who are doing the best that they can do. Hell, I don't want MY money to go to someone who isn't trying. However, I'd give the shirt off of my back to help someone who just needs a break. If we can defeat this perception, we really could break through to a large number of middle class people, in my opinion.

[FreedomAngel82]

2. Hell yeah!

Dean is the best chairman!

[fooj]

3. Feisty and Fed Up!!!

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

F*ck those Fascists!

[Cha]

6. "Fiesty little

bastard" is what someone called him during the primaries and a DUer had it in his sig line..I forget where it originated but I'll never forget it.:)

[BrklynLiberal]

11. Great bumper sticker!!!!!

[bigwillq]

4. Dean RULES!

:bounce:

[vogonjiltz]

7. Dean needs to keep the retoric

up. He needs to make as much noise as posible, throw enough mud around and some of it will stick.

[GiovanniC]

8. I'm Getting Kind of Sick of the Media

Saying that Dean said Republicans "never made an honest living in their lives". That's not what Dean said.

He said "a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives", and that's an important distinction.

One is a very general statement, the other paints ALL Republicans with the same brush. SOME Republicans make an honest living and work their asses off. These are the kind of people whose economic best interests are better served by the Democrats, and if we want to sway them, we wouldn't say that they never made an honest living. Dean DIDN'T say that, but the media is working their asses off to make it seem that way.

[fooj]

16. Kind of?

peace.

[GiovanniC]

18. I Try Not to Beat Up on the Media Too Much

Because my momma always taught me that it's not nice to beat up on retards.

[fooj]

33. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

:rofl:

[IndyOp]

34. ROFL! Other than the fact that you have sinned by using

insensitive language in your retort -- it's a damned funny comment!

:rofl:

[GiovanniC]

36. Think of It Like Chris Rock's Comment About Black People and N-----s

There are people with mental disabilities:




and then there are retards:

[IndyOp]

37. Oh, I get it! You know, these folks clean up pretty nicely for their

TV appearances -- must take some effort after having just removed their heads from up some Repub's a**.

:bounce:

[Iris]

43. Matt Lauer really needs to grow back his hair.

Unless he's lost too much of it and is just trying to hide that fact.

[patricia92243]

10. I remember Clinton saying Southeners had found out that God was a white Re

Republican. I don't remember any flack over this. Dean is just repeating the same thing - and it's TRUE - not just Southeners but the whole Republican party think God is a white Republican.

[OrlandoGator]

13. Bottom Line: Dean scares the shit out of the GOP & a lot of Dems equally.

People should be angry right now. Anyone who complains about Dean's "angry" tone has their head up their ass.

[O.M.B.inOhio]

20. Wondering why after DSM Dean isn't talking IMPEACHMENT nt

[ms.airomatic]

28. sign the petition to support Howard Dean and not the

Vichy Democrats...

"Howard Dean Speaks For Me"

hosted on the web by our free online petition service, at:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Dean/

[depakid]

44. Dean sure speaks for me

And the cowardly Dems- Including Harry "the loser" Reid MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT.

As far as I'm concerned- they are every bit as bad- and maybe worse for the country than Republicans.

[newyawker99]

48. Hi ms.airomatic!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[I Have A Dream]

50. Hi, ms.airomatic -- I'm new here also; Welcome!

:hi:

(On edit: Off topic - I also like astrology!)

[Anthropologist]

30. Dean's da' man!

I supported Dean and volunteered for his Presidential campaign during the 2003-4 primaries, and even though he lost (badly); I still support any other endeavor he wishes to pursue throughout his long political career. As a native Pennsylvanian, I was surprised and how progressive and "ballsy" he was to take up progressive policies and make them work, and work was a Republican legislators as well. The people of Vermont must be very lucky to have had Howard Dean as their guv. for nearly 12 years.

Now as chairman of the DNC I expected him to challenge the status quo, to be a down out a aggressive fighter. To get people aroused, and take the other party to task for their wrongdoing. That is what Dean should be doing, that is what "we" hired him for.

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[newyawker99]

49. Hi Anthropologist!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[I Have A Dream]

51. Welcome, Anthropologist!

[mandyky]

40. I watched the event on CSpan this morning

Noone went Zell Miller (dueling words) and everyone seemed really happy with progress made by the party. The have party shindigs lined up in Jackson Hole Wyo, San Antone TX, and Phoenix AZ in the coming months. I call that taking it to the red states. That is why Dean got DNC Chair, and that is exactly what he has been doing. And he has been getting good responses in his travels. I think between the GOP over reaching and Dean at the helm at the DNC, we have a great chance of a majority in the House and picking up seats in the Senate. We shall soon see.

[libodem]

41. weeeee....haaaaaa.....

I hate it when we back wimps. Somebody hasta speak the truth for us. I hope he keeps talkin'. weeeee.....haaaaaaa

[farmboxer]

45. It's Time Dems Fight Back!

It's do or die for democracy, we must fight back!

[Zinfandel]

47. However, it always seems the corporate, more conservative DLC...

has the final say, and laugh...Kerry!

DLC -- Way too moderate for my taste!!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

52. Dean is shaking things up

If nothing else he's getting people to talk about what is going on the other side of the fence. Finally, someone is pointing a spotlight on them!

As far as I'm concerned that's a VERY good thing.