Associated Press photo
Former Vermont governor and Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean gave a speech yesterday at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., during which he correctly remarked, "Let me tell you something: There's only one thing Republican power brokers want more than for us to lurch to the left -- and that's for us to lurch to the right."
Dean for DNC chair
The Democratic Party needs a major overhaul.
We tried it their way -- the centrists' way, the Joe Liebermanesque "Democrats'" way.
They lost 2000. They lost 2002. They lost 2004.
Strike one. Strike two. Strike three.
You're fucking out.
I couldn't support Howard Dean as the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate for several reasons. He had packaged himself as a liberal but his record showed him to be a moderate. He refused to release several years' worth of his records as governor of Vermont. Speaking of which, Vermont is a teeny, tiny state...
I have always opposed the Bush regime's illegal, immoral, imperialistic and unprovoked invasion and occupation of Iraq. I am glad that Dean was (and remains) unapologetically opposed to the Bush regime's invasion and occupation of Iraq, but I foresaw Dean getting crushed by the BushCheneyCorp's (chicken)hawkish "re"-election campaign machine.
So I supported John Kerry, who had packaged himself as a centrist but whose record showed him to be a liberal, and whose service in Vietnam, especially in contrast to George W. Bush's service in Vietnam (ha ha), I had figured, would give him a large degree of immunity over the chickenhawk Republicans' charge that Democrats are weak on defense.
Kerry fired me up, but he fired me up intellectually, and people want to be fired up viscerally. I will be the first to admit that most people who voted for Kerry -- perhaps myself included -- voted more against Bush than they did for Kerry.
Howard Dean's ability to fire people up -- viscerally -- is indisputable. He pioneered the use of the Internet in political campaigns, including online fundraising and the Meetup. (The smaller Dean Meetups here in Sacramento probably were larger than the largest Kerry Meetups in Sacramento. As I said, Kerry couldn't fire the people up nearly as much as could Dean.)
I still don't think that Dean is presidential material, but I can't think of a better person on the planet to head the Democratic National Committee than Dean.
If the DNC isn't purged of the go-along-to-get-along set, the Democratic Party will be in deeper shit than it already is now.
Some handwringers claim that Democratic allies like Michael Moore and MoveOn.org alienated swing voters and that's why Kerry "lost" (I put that in quotation marks because I believe that the Republicans more likely than not perpetrated election fraud).
That's fucking bullshit.
I know several people who were apolitical until they saw Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11." Two of my co-workers, one of them in her 30s and another in her 40s, had never voted before in their entire lives but were inspired to do so by "Fahrenheit 9/11." God knows how many people Dean inspired to vote for the first time in their lives. If it weren't for Moore and "Fahrenheit" and Dean and MoveOn.org and several other inviduals and organizations (who formed a kind of Fellowship of the Ring), on Nov. 2 Sauron -- er, Bush -- truly would have gotten the mandate to which he falsely lays claim, because the Democratic Party leadership proved itself feeble in yet another election.
The Republican Party leadership, on the other hand, as evil as they are, are politically savvy. They knew that to form coalitions is critical to winning elections. They have gladly, if not publicly, accepted the support of racists/white supremacists, gun nuts, Jesus freaks, et. al. They might not allow these mentally defective Nazis a prominent place at the Republican National Conventions, but they sure the fuck don't alienate them, because they're more than happy to get their votes.
The Democratic Party leadership, on the other hand, think that the party can carefully pick and choose even though the party lost the 2000, 2002 and 2004 elections. The party leadership shuns those like Dean and Moore and MoveOn.org who bring in far more votes for the party than they might lose for the party.
And rather than pointing the finger at themselves, the Democratic Party's Old Guard is still blaming Ralph Fucking Nader.
I got this e-mail today from Bob Mulholland, a prominent California Democratic Party consultant and one of the many members of the Democratic Party's Old Guard who needs to go:
To:
Friends
From:
Bob Mulholland
(916) 442-5707 (5715 fax)
bob@cadem.org
Date:
December 9, 2004
On Monday, December 13, the Electoral College meets in State Capitols all across America and in the District of Columbia.
California’s Democratic Electors will meet at 2 p.m. in the Assembly Chambers and cast 55 votes for Kerry and Edwards – the fourth straight time for Democrats.
If Nader had not run in 2000, Al Gore would have been re-elected on November 2.
Instead, it will be 252 Electoral votes for John Kerry and 286 for Bush Jr. with 270 needed to get the keys to the White House. In 1992 Bill Clinton got 370 Electoral votes and in his re-election, he received 379.
C-Span will cover the Electoral College.
For more information on the Electoral College, visit www.cadem.org, go to “Election 2004,” then click on “Top 10 Questions About the Electoral College You’ve Always Wanted to Ask.”
Direct link: http://www.cadem.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=fvLRK7O3E&;b=190089&ct=262799
"If Nader had not run in 2000, Al Gore would have been re-elected on November 2." Yeah, maybe so, but how the fuck is Nader-bashing going to win the Democrats 2006 and 2008 and beyond?
Is Nader-bashing the way the members of the Democratic Party Old Guard try to take our attention away from their own stunning incompetence and cluelessness?
We can't wait for the Democratic Party's Old Guard to wake the fuck up, perform some self-fucking-examination, make the necessary changes and start winning elections. By the time that happens, the party will be permanently crippled.
We need to force the Democratic Party's Old Guard out and start the long, hard work of rebuilding the party and taking back our nation.
Making Howard Dean the chair of the Democratic National Committee would be a powerful first step.
Tell your state Democratic Party leaders that you want Howard Dean to lead the Democratic National Committee by clicking here!
10:21:22 PM 
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