November 5, 2003
WIMP OUT:
Power To The People (Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Steve Chaggaris, Beth Lester and Clothilde Ewing, 11/05/03, CBS News)
On a day he was trying to focus on campaign finance, Howard Dean was forced Wednesday to apologize for his controversial remarks that the Democratic Party must court Southerners who display the Confederate flag in their pickup trucks.Speaking in New York, Dean cited Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln as he expressed "regret" for "the pain that I have caused."
Now he's alienated everyone. Posted by Orrin Judd at November 5, 2003 2:33 PM
It strikes me that the "Power to the People" part of the article describes a genetically modified hybrid of Perot's All Knowing Volunteers crossed with Clinton's reliance on Dick Morris and His Dancing Poll Numbers. Since when is letting lots of other people make decisions for you come to be equated with leadership ability?
Oops,there goes the Sister Souljah moment.
Posted by: old maltese at November 5, 2003 4:00 PMCommented on this painful flip-flop in another thread. Dean has now made a perfect political mess.
He may still get the nomination. But it's by no means a slam-dunk. I can still see him losing two of the first three states (IA, NH, SC).
Especially if he keeps talking too much.
Posted by: Casey Abell at November 5, 2003 4:08 PMI guess now Gephardt will start running the Dean trampoline ads in Iowa.
Tomorrow Andrew Sullivan, who praised Dean this AM for standing up to the others, will have to report that he is just another cowardly lion.
Posted by: jim hamlen at November 5, 2003 4:16 PMI guess now Gephardt will start running the Dean trampoline ads in Iowa.
Tomorrow Andrew Sullivan, who praised Dean this AM for standing up to the others, will have to report that he is just another cowardly lion.
Posted by: jim hamlen at November 5, 2003 4:16 PMAndrew Sullivan loves - wait a minute - LIKES Dean because he wants to get married. Andrew, that is, not Howie. Anyway, Andrew is rapidly losing his drawing card as a conservative, Catholic gay. He's not Catholic anymore, and he's not very conservative anymore, either. He can't wait to pay Howie's higher taxes, as long as he can get married. Andrew, that is, not Howie.
Okay, Andrew would hire an accountant to get around Howie's higher taxes. But it's the thought that counts.
Posted by: Casey Abell at November 5, 2003 4:35 PMre Andrew Sullivan:
http://www.brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/339/
Posted by: OJ at November 5, 2003 4:59 PMI agree that he wimped out - he should have just told everybody to put some ice on it.
Posted by: RDB at November 5, 2003 5:32 PMI used to note that the Democrats didn't talk in anything but slogans. Now it appears they can't talk in anything but slogans. If they remain out of power long, their base is going to completely disintegrate.
Posted by: pj at November 5, 2003 8:40 PMWhat really strikes me about all this is the absurdity of the debate.
If Dean really wanted to woo southern moderates and conservatives at the expense of urban liberals, he could have said something substantive about an issue they cared about (e.g. something pro-gun. He's got a decent NRA rating, and Vermont has a combination of loose gun laws and low crime that could be used to great rhetorical effect. Then the others could claim it only works because of Vermont's low population density, and off they'd go, talking about something real for a change)
But instead they're having an argument about cultural markers, like what sticker you have on your vehicle. The party has become so obsessed with identity politics and the culture wars that they've completely forgotten how to talk about policy.
And then there's the sight of Al Sharpton, slanderer and inciter of deadly race riots, complaining about someone else's words hurting his feelings. Gawd!!!!!
Posted by: ralph phelan at November 5, 2003 11:50 PM