Roger Simon's talk with Howard Dean today.

madfloridian

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Wed Nov-03-10 08:26 PM
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Roger Simon's talk with Howard Dean today.

Edited on Wed Nov-03-10 08:28 PM by madfloridian

I know that after we won control of Congress and the White House in 2006 and 2008 that Dean must be ready to cry or scream today. It must be so frustrating. I know it is for so many of us.

Let me clarify before posting some quotes. I do not think Dean would ever run against Obama, I simply do not. I don't think Simon thinks so either, but I am sure the idea is tempting today. One thing I hope will happen is that I think Dean may be more outspoken now after the election. I sure as hell hope so.

Roger Simon on the election.

President Barack Obama sounded humble, almost meek, Wednesday at his news conference. “No one party will be able to dictate where we go from here,” he said. “We must find common ground.”

Howard Dean took a somewhat different tone on the phone with me the same day. “If Republicans think we’re going to slow the growth of Medicare and Medicaid and give tax cuts to those making a million dollars a year, we will wrap that around their necks and beat the hell out of them in 2012.”

Simon speaks of how Rahm and Harold Ickes managed to keep Jesse Jackson out of the race in the 1990's.

Dean is different. He has run for president before — albeit briefly — which is not essential but can be very helpful. He is still a hero to many young people for his pioneering use of the Internet as a political tool. Most important, he appeals to liberals for his dramatic challenge to Democrats to stop being wimps and rolling over for George W. Bush. In 2003, Dean said he represented “the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party,” a call that might sound appealing now to liberals who fear Obama will compromise even further with Republicans. And Dean, a doctor, was a champion of the health care public option, which Obama abandoned.

Simon presents more of what Dean said to him this morning.

When I spoke to Dean Wednesday morning, he said he had foreseen the loss of the House but had kept his mouth shut because he “didn’t want to make headlines.” But the loss of the House is, he said, “to some extent a referendum on Obama.”

Would Dean challenge Obama in 2012? “Nobody is going to beat him (for the nomination) in 2012,” Dean said. “All that would do is weaken the president.”

But, Dean added, “if you want to reform Washington, you can’t have a staff that’s all from Washington.”

And what’s more, he said, “there has to be a fundamental change in the way business is done in Washington. We have to do that if we want independent and even some Republican support.”

This has been a horrible day for those of us in Florida. Just to think of our new governor and senator turns the stomach. I don't attach specific blame, but I am very very angry.

For two years we have been told not to make waves, not to rock the boat, and to understand why so many of Bush's policies are continuing. We have been asked to understand why no investigations or charges are being made against the people who corrupted our country from 2000 to 2008. We are supposed to understand why Don Siegelman is still living under the fear of going back to jail when it should have been over for him by now.

We have been asked to understand the pummeling of school teachers that is happening from all sides because of the policies of this administration, to understand that public money is now going to privately run schools in the guise of reform.

In my mind I know Howard Dean would never run against this president, but I do hope he goes back to speaking out firmly again. Not the wishy washy way he has talked for months to keep from doing anything to hurt the presidency.

And I hope other Democratic leaders will start going on TV and speaking out clearly and firmly on things that should really matter.