I’ve been hesitant to weigh in on Howard Dean and his more colorful comments of late, but the problem doesn’t seem to be going away and I want to add my two cents. I’m not prepared to blame Dean, but I believe it’s up to him to make this situation better before it becomes an even greater distraction.
As all of you know, Dean’s caused something of an uproar by offering some, shall we say, intemperate remarks about Republicans. Late last week, he said “a lot” of Republicans “have never made an honest living.” Yesterday, with the media spotlight shining brighter, Dean told a California audience that Republicans are “a pretty monolithic party. They all behave the same. They all look the same. It’s pretty much a white Christian party.”
If anyone’s surprised that Dean has a proclivity for provocative remarks about Republicans, they haven’t been paying attention. His passion is what led so many people to like him in the Dem primaries in late 2003, and his aggressive style is exactly what helped him get the DNC chairmanship’s job in the first place. We hired a pugilist; it’s foolish to ask him to refrain from taking a swing now and then.
The question, of course, is how Dean should target those punches and what other Dems are going to do when a stray punch lands below the belt.
Following Dean’s most recent round of controversial remarks, high-profile Dems like John Edwards, Joe Biden, and Bill Richardson all publicly distanced themselves from the remarks. Their “anti-Dean” responses were blown way out of proportion, but a simple fact remains: they were asked about Dean’s comments and they weren’t anxious to stand behind them.
This, naturally, sparked a multi-tiered debate. Was Dean out of line? Were Edwards/Biden/Richardson going after their own? Was the substance of Dean’s attacks accurate? For what it’s worth, I don’t care — because it’s not the debate I want to see right now.
I didn’t support Dean during the Dem primaries, but I like a lot of what I’ve seen of him as DNC chair. I want him to be aggressive. I want him to go after the GOP with all he’s got, even if that means going over the top on occasion. I just want him to be a little smarter about it with regards to message discipline.
Some Republicans don’t “make an honest living”? They’re a bunch of “white Christians”? It’s not the exaggerated rhetoric that bothers me; it’s that this doesn’t help Dems or Dean in any kind of strategic way. Dean is getting all kinds of media attention, but it’s not as productive as it could be.
If Dean wants to attack the president, I’m delighted, but focus on the points Dems are desperately trying to make right now. Go over the top on Bush’s indefensible opposition to stem-cell research, or his catastrophic mistakes in Iraq, or his complete inability to create a private-sector job in this country, or his penchant for poisoning the environment, or one of the many scandals surrounding his presidency.
The problem isn’t necessarily that Edwards/Biden/Richardson were bashing Dean; the problem is reporters insisted on getting each of their reactions to Dean’s latest outburst. They each wanted to talk about something else, but Dean’s so-called controversy kept getting in the way. And because Dean’s remarks were off-message, they didn’t have anywhere to go but backwards.
Say, hypothetically, that Dean said Bush’s stem-cell position was “pro-death.” It’s rude and controversial, but if reporters went to Bill Richardson for a reaction, he could say, “Those aren’t the words I’d choose, but the president’s position is a real problem for millions of Americans seeking advances from this research and Bush is wrong to stand in the way.” This is a discussion we want to have; whether Republicans work for their money is not.
The controversial parts of Dean’s recent speeches are probably about 2% of what is an otherwise great message. Is it fair that reporters will focus in on one intemperate sentence in a much longer speech? No, but that’s the environment Dean is dealing with right now. He has to appreciate those circumstances and act accordingly.
Every time he opens his mouth, reporters are waiting with baited breath to write down something incendiary. It’s a problem, but also an opportunity. Dean can and should use this media exposure to deliver a powerful but disciplined, aggressive but focused message.
For better of worse, Dean’s fiery side has put him in the spotlight. With just a little restraint and targeting, Dean can use it to his — and the party’s — advantage.