My take on the Dean Scream .... a look forward

[Stinky The Clown]

There are many threads involving the good doctor now that the DNC chair race is getting hot.

I support Dean and hope he gets it.

But I want to talk fer a sec about "The Scream"

We know what it really was. We know it was not the rantings of a lunatic. We know how it got played in the media and we're pretty sure we know which political faction kicked it up.

But Dean has, in my opinion, done a really good job of marginalizing it.

I think it should be resurrected.

I can imagine it being a real rallying cry for all Dems. For a while, maybe just for Dean supporters and maybe for the DFA. But I would love to see it go mainstream. In your Face. Loud. Long. Persistent.

It would serve not only as a rally cry for Dems but also a way to say to those who worked hard to destory Dean's campaign ..... "We're back! We're pissed! We're gunna getcha!"

It carries a strong message. Dean owns it. If it goes mainstream it can be used by every Dem. If Dean gets the DNC chair, I'd love to see it done in his first speech..

(Knowing the strength of the loyalties of many of us to our respective candidates, please know this is my view but said with sincerity, not in any way to be read as a Dean bash. Nothing could be further from the truth.)

[WildClarySage]

1. We have got to stop letting ourselves be defined

if we don't take back the scream, then we can't expect to get "feminist" or "liberal".

[Maat]

3. Take back the scream!

And now it has even more meaning ...

I'd like to see Dean get the DNC chair. If he doesn't, those inside the Beltway had better understand that he's still going to be my 'party chair' in a way.

They'd better listen to the grassroots, or they are done.

I'm a proud progressive. I like Dean's passion and the fact that he's an MD, and that helps in separating the wheat from the chaf with respect to a lot of issues.

I'm certainly not hostile to either corporations or fiscal responsibility. Due to both of those, I have $ to donate to my progressive causes. I really felt a home at the DFA meetup I attended on Dec. 1st. It was great.

[madfloridian]

2. Nice post, I think it will get worse.

I would rather they choose someone "safe" and "cautious" for chair, and I would love to see Dean build DFA as a new wing of the party. It is well on its way anyway.

I think Gephard would be a good chair, or Hindery could get LOTS of corporate money. Frost would be good, and he is from the almighty South.

I think Dean should stay with DFA.

[Maat]

5. Do we pay him a salary?

Can we pay him a decent salary through dues that go to DFA? Does he feel the need to be a Beltway power-broker? If so, he might not be satisfied with being with DFA.

I think that it would be fun to have him as party chairman, but I would enjoy him sort of being a progressive caucus leader that they had to deal with to.

If I were him, I would prefer to work through DFA, and be the Muckraker Supremo (Suprema, in my case).

Hope he watches his back, though. I find that the more successful you get at what you are doing, the more dangerous things become - because then nearly everyone is trying to stab you in the back - except the true and faithful.

[madfloridian]

7. SAKAL is what he does best. Pics of DFA HQ

Strategist...and Ass Kicker At Large...courtesy of Bill Scher at Liberal Oasis.

I would love him to be SAKAL. DFA has many who donate on a monthly basis, good income. He earns his keep by paid speeches, his weekly column, and some from his book.

Small staff, simple HQ, little overhead. It can be done, and it can grow very large.

The HQ of DFA with the quilts hanging made by the supporters. Neat idea.

[zulchzulu]

6. I tend to agree

I think Dean would get more done with continuing his great work with DFA. As long as DFA has a lot of feedback with the DNC, everyone would be happier.

2006 elections are too important to have internal battles and turf wars going on with a fractured DNC. Perhaps if DFA could prove its value in getting new Dems in the Congress and Senate in 2006 and can prove that it was those efforts that were responsible for success, then it would make the DNC recognize DFA's value even more.

It's time to be nimble and not bogged down in ego wars.

[madfloridian]

8. Ah yes, those ego wars.

Glad he is the only big ego, aren't you? LOL

[Maat]

9. Thanks for the pix and info, Madfloridian.

Boy, does that office look nice.

You've convinced me. It would be nice for him to remain asskicker-at-large.

I just don't know if that would be enough for him. And I definitely would pay to hear him speak - again and again.

Maybe you should send him an eloquent e-mail. Convince HIM!

And, maybe, we should send him e-mails that make sure that he understands that, even if the snooties reject him as Chair, he still important to his DFA-ers.

I really, really, if it were me, would prefer to remain with DFA. As my hubby says, it is always easier to harass upwards or inwards (from the outside in) than from anywhere else.

And with a solid base, the only one who has a solid, dependable base, he surely could wield a lot of power, cooperating/toying with the Beltway types.

[madfloridian]

10. He knows how a lot feel.

He did say at a meeting that he needed to see if the party really were ready for real change. I doubt they are.

He will be doing a lot of ass-kicking.

This new type of group has never been tried. I think there was a huge influx after the election, which took it over 700,000, but now they keep figures pretty close to the vest.

I would love to see this happen.

[XemaSab]

11. Dean

Regardless of whether he gets the chairmanship or sticks with DFA, he will stay strong.

He's not going to curl up and die like the ghost of candidates past, that's for sure.

[Maat]

12. Me, too.

I think that there might be a really, really strong, united DFA dealing with a weaker Democratic party. It would be interesting. And I doubt strongly that the DNC is ready for real change.

But they can't stop Dean (neither the DNC nor the Rightwingers), and this frustrates them greatly.

[madfloridian]

13. Would be interesting. Here is the SAKAL article.

DNC versus DFA. I almost hope it is that way, but not my decision to make.

Here is the article: Howard Dean for SAKAL
http://www.liberaloasis.com/archives/110704.htm#110904

SNIP..."And there's another job that's currently open that desperately needs to be filled.
It doesn’t pay anything, but only you can do it.

It's a job that has never had a formal title associated with it, but let's give it one:

Strategist and Ass-Kicker At-Large, or SAKAL for short.

Only one other person has been a SAKAL, and it was for the other team in the early 1990s. His name is Bill Kristol.
We think of Kristol now as the neocon mastermind behind the Project For The New American Century.

But in the early 1990s, during the period when the GOP was completely out of power, he hung his shingle on a different mini-think tank, the Project For The Republican Future.

From there, he wielded great power by churning out combative strategy memos for the minority leadership, and buffeting those memos by being a constant media presence.
Keep in mind that Kristol, while fairly connected, was not fully welcomed with open arms by the GOP leadership. He muscled his way in."

[loveable liberal]

4. we need someone to take up the call for democratic values with a passion

screw the christian right, they are fraudulent and hypocritical, if we cant beat that we're no better than they are. Dean or clarke will do just fine.