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This op-ed has been emailed to hundreds of newspapers, from someone from "Strategic Vision" -- anyone ever heard of them? What's their angle? Clearly not Democrats, these folks.
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Dean a Disaster for Democrats
Suffering repeated electoral setbacks, Democrats have been in search of an
identity and now it appears that they have one – Howard Dean. The selection of Howard Dean to become the Democratic National Committee Chairman appears to be all but a formality at this point. In doing so, Democrats are dropping the pretense they are in search of way to connect with voters in the red states. In selecting Dean as their Chairman, Democrats are showing that theirs is the Party of Michael Moore and the extreme left. They resemble the Bourbon Kings of France after the Revolution who learned nothing nor forgot nothing.
Democrats suffered a debacle in 2002 and 2004. Preparing for 2006, one would think they would take stock of what went wrong in 2004. Yet they have not. They try to comfort themselves by saying that the problem was their presidential candidate – John Kerry. While Kerry had his weaknesses, how is Howard Dean an improvement? Dean actually makes John Kerry look like a moderate in his positions. In the upcoming 2006 Election, one can already see Democrats being morphed into Howard Dean.
Yet in selecting Dean, Democrats are supporting his positions and saying that he is where they will take voters if entrusted with power (so much for wanting to talk about values and finding common ground). A short review of his positions (one doesn’t even have to mention the scream heard around the world), shows a man out of step with mainstream America. Howard Dean’s vision of the South is a land where everyone drives a pickup with a Confederate flag and gun on the back. Dean isn’t sure if Osama bin Laden is guilty or not. Howard Dean’s vision of the Middle East is to give Hamas and other terrorist groups anything they want including Israel. Trying to appeal to Christian voters, he could not tell the Old Testament from the New Testament. While he represents the majority of Democratic voters with his policy of run and appeasement in Iraq, he is out of step with the majority of Americans. Finally, for a Party that wants to reach out to social conservatives or at least give them a voice, his stated desire in 2004 was to become the first “gay President” (a play upon Bill Clinton being referred to as “the first Black President”). And Democrats have tied their future to this man.
It is not like that there were not other candidates for Democrats to support until the Democratic kamikaze mission began in rallying around Dean– Tim Roemer and Martin Frost with moderate positions both come to mind. Rather, Democratic leaders (like Democrats in the United States Senate who fought Condoleezza Rice’s nomination as Secretary of State; Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General; filibuster against the President’s judicial nominees; and want to debate the Social Security issue as if it were still 1935 and FDR was in office) are showing voters that moderates and conservatives are not wanted. In their twisted logic, it is the voter’s fault and not the their fault that they lost the 2004 election.
They just don’t get the message that voters sent them – you are out of step with us and just being against Republicans is not a reason to vote Democratic. Selecting Howard Dean will reinforce that message in voters’ minds. Maybe after suffering another punishment in 2006, Democrats will begin to get the message. But maybe not, rather they will probably endorse the ticket of Barbara Boxer and Michael Moore in 2008.
David E. Johnson is the CEO and Co-founder of Strategic Vision, LLC, a public relations and public affairs agency. He can be contacted at djohnson@strategicvision.biz
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