To debunk the Dean "pretended" thing.... the DLC's own words.

[madfloridian]

Dean never pretended to be what he was not. Here he embraces the centrism part of himself.

This is from the Dean campaign last year, debunking the DLC's assertion that he was fringe activist, as were we. I figured that if people really want to know...here it is.

Will the Real DLC Please Stand Up?
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000228.html

Friday, May 16, 2003
WILL THE REAL DLC PLEASE STAND UP?
On Wednesday, May 14th, the Democratic Leadership Council released a memo that dismissed Governor Howard Dean as an elitist liberal from the ''McGovern-Mondale wing'' of the Democratic Party. It wasn't so long ago that the DLC was praising Howard Dean as an exemplar of moderate, centrist Democratic positions. Governor Deans record hasn?t changed. What changed at the DLC?

10.27.00- The DLC praises Governor Dean's prescription drug plan as the "Idea of the Week".
"Governors Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Howard Dean (D-VT) and Angus King (I-ME) jointly announced their three states would come together to create a regional purchasing pool for prescription drugs. Best of all, the regional plan will rely on market mechanisms."

11.8.96- The DLC posts a memo on their website Claiming Dean's re-election victory as Governor of Vermont was evidence of the success of New Democratic leaders.
"State election results provide additional evidence of Democratic resurgence under New Democratic leadership. Centrist Governor Howard Dean of Vermont won re-election comfortably."

11.4.96- The DLC posts a memo on their website praising Dean as a Centrist, popular Democratic Governor, and predicts he will win re-election easily.
"Democrats in state politics, regardless of their background, tend to be New Democrats by instinct, in part because they are responsible for making public institutions actually work to help citizens solve their most immediate problems. Incumbent centrist Democratic Governors Howard Dean of Vermont is popular and heavily favored for re-election."

Posted by Mathew Gross at 12:31 PM

(This memo from Mathew will help those who claimed Dean said he was a lefty guy.....to see you are wrong. )

(This memo is to show those who think WE don't know Dean's moderate centrist stances....you are wrong.)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That was in response to to several memos from the DLC proclaiming him and us fringe activists. Here is one.

http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251690&kaid=1

Myth #1: Real Democrats Always Turn Left

Unlike Gov. Howard Dean, we never forget to give the late Sen. Paul Wellstone credit for coining the phrase, "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." We often disagreed with Sen. Wellstone on the issues, but we always knew he was fighting for the little guy.

But the great myth of the current cycle is the misguided notion that the hopes and dreams of activists represent the heart and soul of the Democratic Party. Real Democrats are real people, not activist elites. The mission of the Democratic Party, as Bill Clinton pledged in 1992, is to provide "real answers to the real problems of real people." Real Democrats who champion the mainstream values, national pride, and economic aspirations of middle-class and working people are the real soul of the Democratic Party, not activists and interest groups with narrow agendas. ...."

SNIP..."Not only is the activist wing out of line with Democratic tradition, but it is badly out of touch with the Democratic rank-and-file. In 1996, a survey by the Washington Post compared the views of delegates to the Democratic convention to those of registered Democratic voters. The delegates perfectly mirrored the Democratic electorate in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender. But they could not have been more different when it came to class and education. Democratic delegates were nearly five times more likely than Democratic rank-and-file to have incomes over $75,000, three times more likely to have a college degree, and over four times more likely to have done postgraduate work. No wonder that when the New Yorker recently asked Karl Rove to describe the Democratic base, he said, "somebody with a doctorate." So they let Karl Rove define us.?

OH, Mr. From, I am a real person indeed.

[wyldwolf]

1. where was the assertion made he was fringe activist?

[tk2kewl]

2. The DLC is taking its cues from Rove?

Karl Rove to describe the Democratic... "somebody with a doctorate."

Playing to the script of your opponent -- Can't get any stupider than that.

[naryaquid]

3. and if, as activists, we're too "elite" for them......let them get their

"rank and file" to do all the work for them...or would that, then, make THEM too "elite" as well??

[tk2kewl]

4. good point

without activists you've got no money and no volunteers

[naryaquid]

7. You bet..!!

[mandyky]

5. Dean also addressed the liberal label

I don't have a link, but I saw the speech on CSpan - he said if creating jobs and balancing budgets is liberal, I guess I am.

Dean is liberal on some things, on others, not so much. He is fair and he has been known to change his mind when proven wrong - like about NAFTA which he supported as Gov of VT but after hearing from the people in the midwest realized free trade wasn't the answer, fair trade was!

[madfloridian]

10. Can not be labeled at all.

And should not be.

[XemaSab]

6. Well duh

That's because being a delegate costs $ MOOLA $, and most rank and file dems can't afford to spend loads of money to go to the convention.

[Tinoire]

8. Dean always said he was a Centrist. Whence the confusion?

So now anyone against the war is a "fringe Leftist"? Is that how it works now?

[madfloridian]

9. I am trying to show using the DLC's words.

And the fact that Dean posted the DLC's words at his campaign site proudly.

Go figure, Tinoire...go figure. I was expecting this.