Dean’s reward

November 10, 2006

Howard Dean made some risky moves over the last two years, but after the election results were in, he looked pretty smart. As Joe Conason noted in Salon today, the DNC chairman is “enjoying vindication.”

As well he should. Though I’ve been hard on Dean on occasion, his strategy helped the party in the short term, and has positioned the party well for the long term. I can appreciate the fact that there’s some kind of mortal struggle to the death to determine who, exactly, deserves the credit for Dems’ success this week, but at an absolute minimum, Dean deserves a pat on the back for a job well done.

What he does not deserve is a pink slip.

Some big name Democrats want to oust DNC Chairman Howard Dean, arguing that his stubborn commitment to the 50-state strategy and his stinginess with funds for House races cost the Democrats several pickup opportunities.

The candidate being floated to replace Dean? Harold Ford.

Says James Carville, one of the anti-Deaniacs, “Suppose Harold Ford became chairman of the DNC? How much more money do you think we could raise? Just think of the difference it could make in one day. Now probably Harold Ford wants to stay in Tennessee. I just appointed myself his campaign manager.”

Now, I’m not reflexively anti-Ford, but we’re talking about a congressman who ran to the far-right on social issues, voted for torture, and blew a lead to lose a closely-watched Senate race. He’s a talented pol, and I hope he stays around, but DNC chair? Ousting the current chair after a wildly successful cycle?

I’m not one for instinctively bashing the establishment, but this kind of anti-Dean talk just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Yeah, I don’t know why James Carville thinks that but it sounds to me like he’s in error.

  • Would that mean the going through another election for DNC chair? I’m sure Carville and Rahm Emmanuel are chomping at the bit to ditch Dean, but it’s hard to believe state parties and their delegates would be ready to do the same.

    Reward failure (Ford), punish success (Dean). It sounds an awful lot like business as usual for establishment Democrats. Hopefully this doesn’t fly.

  • Geezus, you’d think they’d at least wait a couple days before taking out the long knives against Dean. His strategy worked, give him a weekend to enjoy it, for crying out loud. Very low-class move to my way of thinking.

  • Carville, political mercenary for hire, should eat a nice bowl of

    Shut the fuck up!!!!

    Dean’s 50 state strategy is exactly what won DEMS many seats that were previosuly thought out of reach (midwest and northwest states come to mind)…and to replace him with a candiate (who I incidentally like) who ran just short of right of center does not do the DEM party any good especially in the post Repub congresional era where Gods, Gays, and Guns does not seem to resonate to a majority of the country…..

    DLC hit men like Carville need to read the tea leaves b/c after him and his DLC buddies LOST EVERY MAJOR ELECTION since 1996…they have absolutely no room to talk……

    go home and bang your Cheney apologist wife and STFU Carville….

  • Hear, hear.

    The 50-state strategy sounded smart from the get-go. It was risky because of the possibility of forgoing gains in the current cycle to reap them later.

    But we got the “future growth” and caught the wave. Dean bet big, beg bold and it paid off. Screw any “business as usual” beltway naysayers.

    I’m an irate moderate, and I vote.

  • Nevertheless, I was very impressed with Ford when I saw him on TV. Saw him just for a few seconds, answering questions, one time, but he’s sharp, shapr, sharp. Much better at it than a lot of other people. Quite a bit different than when I see some Democrats get talked in a circle by Tim Russert, of all people.

    That doesn’t mean he’d be any good at strategy, but definitely a lot better than some of our people at answering questions.

  • Think of this as the revenge of the consultants. They lost a lot of credibility in this election as a lot of Dem dark horses who ignored the DLCC’s talk of run to the center won or put up a strong fight in “Red” states.

    For a long time, I’ve never understood why the Dems were so inept till I saw their consultants being interviewed. Kick them to the curb. Going to these consultants is like the New York Yankees asking for advice on winning from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

  • Okay I’ve had to carry Ford’s water for a couple of months because I thought he was our best hope in Tennessee but now I’m liberated. Ford strikes me as a Lieberman Democrat–pro-war and moralistic. If you look at Raum’s and Schumer’s candidate picks during this election cycle, you’ll find that their instincts were quite bad in terms of winning. Keep Dean. He cares.

    It’s kind of a shame for all this Democratic passion and excitement to have be filtered through the entrenched Dem leadership.

  • Is the establishment so entrenched that winning even disturbs the Democrats because it disrupts the status quo? Bring in a guy who came up just short! That, we feel comfortable with!

    Perhaps the corporate contributors from K Street, recognizing they might need to give money to the Dems, let it be known that getting rid of Dean would go a long way. As Carville said, think of how much money they’d raise the day Dean left!

    You know who would bring in even more money? Tom DeLay! Bring in Tom DeLay!

  • Ha, sounds like business as usually with the Democrats. Don’t even know how to accept a win. Carville needs to shut the fuck up and go back to the candy factory and make sure no one steals their secrets.

  • I guess that Carville’s basic point is that Ford is a lot more charasmatic than Dean, and on that point, we’re in agreement.

  • CB:

    Ford ran a great campaign. He was 50K votes too short. Kerry lost in TN to Shrubya by close to 500K votes.

    Don’t sell him short by saying he blew a lead. This turf is very Red.

    My personal opinion is that Dean has not commited a fireable offense and that this should be a non-issue. I’d like to see some more time for the 50 state strategy (i.e., a decade or so) to be implemented.

    Ford will resurface somewhere. And he’ll do well.

  • No good deed will go unpunished.

    Dean deserves credit for his stewardship of the Democratic Party and keeping his policies in place will strengthen the party in the long run.

  • What a load. What arrogance. The Democratic Party, now and in years ahead, owes Howard Dean more than we can say for bucking “the wise ones” and going all out in all fifty states. We owe Harold Ford … what, exactly? He blew his race while others were overcoming much greater odds to win theirs. We shouldn’t reward losers, especially by having them replace our winners. I’m hoping we’ll declare the “Dean Scream” (the version doctored to make him sound insane) to be our party’s anthem, second only to “Happy Days Are Here Again”. Think “black is beautiful” or “we’re queer, get used to it”. Quit trying to be so goddam safe.

  • So Carville, the man who had a fundraiser for Scooter Libby in his own home thinks Dean should go? That’s rich.

  • ‘It’s the scoreboard, stupid.’

    Carville guided the Congressional lambs to the slaughter for over a decade. Maybe it’s well past time we just stopped listening to him.

  • Taking the long view was the prudent course. Short term, Dean got some help from the self-destructing Rs, so his approach didn’t carry the price many expected. Still, Dean should be allowed to continue the work he started.

  • Dean’s 50-state strategy, not Dean the person, is what gave me hope for the future of our party. Regardless of my personal feelings about Dean the person, I believe that rewarding success is the best way to encourage more success. Dean’s fundraising rocked and he put Democrats on the map in places where we used to clear out by sundown. I’m sorry if some people don’t like him but his job is to encourage participation, not to make you wish you could have a beer with him.

    I recently committed to the “Democracy Bond” with a monthly payment. I was very clear that while no one’s efforts should be dismissed, this subscription was a gesture of support for Dean and his strategy. If Dean goes, so does my support.

  • the consultants

    What if those consultants were writing comments on the Capretbagger Report, ha ha.

    Then only very few of the comments on this blog would be ones that are actually helpful, and the rest of them would just be a bunch of bullshit, ha ha.

  • Comment 16 “We owe Harold Ford … what, exactly? He blew his race while others were overcoming much greater odds to win theirs. We shouldn’t reward losers”

    Hey Ed, take it that you are not from around here (down south). Harold did not blow this race. This was a tough pick opportunity. I don’t know of a tougher targeted seat this cycle.

    And I’d trade Ford for Frist any day.

    As for Dean, he’s earned his stripes. It’s time to play offense now.

  • I certainly agree with lib4’s comment above, but I would like to do something more than vent my anger at the conservative, Beltway establishment of the Democratic Party. Other than give money to the DNC and withhold it from the DCCC and DSCC, what specifically can Democrats like me, who neither hold official positions in the party nor have a lot of money yet contribute time and some money to candidates, do to see that Howard Dean remains the head of DNC? This is not a rhetorical question but a sincere request for suggestions from those readers who know more about the workings and power struggles within the party than I do.

  • Well, yeah, this talk makes sense…if you’re a Repug or a soon-to-be-down-on-his-luck DC consultant! Of course, James Carville wants Dean out of there…nobody likes competition, especially if that competition just made you look foolish in front of the home folks (to borrow from an earlier example, think Devil Rays 19, Yankees 0).

    Maybe we need to borrow one (and only one) element of No Child Left Behind: Testing. And the test is the election. You win, you get to stay in charge of the party. You lose, you go home and agree to keep your mouth shut! Tell me, James, where would you be right now (or in other words, what have you won lately)?

  • I just read the following on MyDD:
    “Here’s the DNC Charter. The answer to ‘how Dean could be removed’ is if a majority of the Democratic National Committee members vote to remove him. If anyone wants to get a majority of DNC members to voice public support of Dean, that would be the way to tell Carville and co. to STFU.”
    If this is true, can anyone tell the rest of us whether most DNC members appreciate the 50-state strategy that Dean promoted, or do they have an inside-the-Beltway mentality where they are likely to follow the lead of Carville and the other assholes he keeps company with?

  • “Reward failure (Ford), punish success (Dean). It sounds an awful lot like business as usual for establishment Democrats. Hopefully this doesn’t fly. ” -brainiac

    Great, now the Democrats are taking tips from the Bush administration.

    “dumber than a bag of hammers”

  • This is pretty transparent.

    (1) Carville is an old-time establishment consultant — exactly the breed Dean is the biggest threat to.

    (2) Carville and Mudcat are both reverse snobs, with an absolute knee-jerk hatred of New England progressives. If they can spin this in a way to drive one out, that is what they want — who cares that the NE just became our version of the “solid south.”

    (3) Carville and Emmanuel are Clintonistas. HRC and Dean have no great love. The Clintonistas want to stack the deck by putting an unambiguously pro-HRC person in as DNC chair.

    This is very simple: Dean’s strategy is the right one, and would have been whether it helped in this cycle or not. The state parties love the guy. He has improved as a spokesperson. He can raise money – while we still trailed the R’s, we set new records for the D’s. I am shocked that some in this thread have said things like “. . . still, I dont think he’s done anything to lose his job.” Why be so equivocating? All he has done is presided over a royal ass-kicking.

    Ford may be good, Ford may have run well in a red state, but Ford is still to the right of most Ds, and Ford is from a suspect-at-best, corrupt-at-worst political family in a time when we are trying to achieve reforms and own the corruption issue. I dont see how this issue even gets traction. If they try and remove Dean the netroots and grassroots should rise up in open revolt.

  • Howard Dean is the reason we’re where we are today. On the Daily Show, he made a statement that was so rich for the future.

    He said – and I’m not exactly quoting here – that we went in to the Red States and asked for their votes. People like to be asked for their votes.

    Dean is building for the future and those losers from the DLC have to be stopped in their tracks.

    Keep Howard Dean exactly where he is and doing what he’s doing.

  • It would be kinda nice if Democrats had a little more say in their leadership selection. Eliminate the middle men and vote for the leaders.

  • I am sure my comment will echo those above. I did not support Dean in the 04 primary, for a number of reasons. However, Dean has done a fantastic job as the DNC chairman. But more than just doing a fantastic job, he did what he did without coming out of it looking like a sleazy, pandering jackal. Can’t say the same for the DNC’s last chairman, nor the last two RNC chairs. If Dean is run out of the DNC I will never send that organization money ever again, nor to any of the folks behind it (or their candidates).

  • Where Dean’s straight-talking, principled, money-for-something, Vermont-style works the best is in the small towns and far reaches of the west and midwest which have been neglected by the party for years. When finally–politely–asked for their vote, they responded like a spinster to a square-dance invitation.

    Where Dean is least effective is in south and beltway, where gentility holds more value, and where Carville’s sensibilities are strongest.

    Dean promised to give Democrats everywhere the ability to hold their heads high. Listening to Montanan’s proudly elect Tester, and watching Idaho nearly elect a Dem was due to Dean. And his plan has only begun. To fire him now would be a ghastly mistake.

  • his stubborn commitment to the 50-state strategy and his stinginess with funds for House races

    And it always could be that the Dems’ success owes much more to Foleygate/Haggardgate/Limbaughgate, etc., than it does to this strategy.

  • What Zeitgeist said.

    And, Howard Dean is good spokesman for Democrats. It doesn’t take much – in my book- to be better than Carville and Begala (Carville so often comes appended to his wife and the two of them are a double dip of disgusting). Dean is a lightening rod, so any gaffe he may make gets maginified. Ken Mehlman can lie to anyone and everyone and he gets none of the going over that Dean does. The media does not like Dean. They like Daddy Carville and Mama Matalin.

    What – of substance – has James Carville contributed since his (over) vaunted “It’s the economy, stupid!” tag line? I find him to be an embarassment much of the time. But, then, I grew up in New England and so perhaps Dean’s lack of “folksiness” resonates with me while Colonel Q Ball just looks like a buffoon.

    At this point I naively believe Howard Dean’s ambitions are geared to growing a Democratic party that gains both its strength and its ideas from the roots up. Carville is a “control from the top” boy. Harold Ford may be an appealing candidate for many. He’s a bit too conservative and a bit too smooth, and a bit too ready to invoke his faith to grab my attention. But, he is first, and foremost about Harold Ford. He wants to run for office, so give him support and let him do so. I don’t think someone who is focused on his next campaign is the best person to grow the national party. Carville an Co probably just want a front man. We all have plenty experience with the handing over of important strategy and power to a front man.

  • The DLC and Carville have become less important to the Democratic Party as it’s become obvious that we no longer have to try and woo the old Dixiecrat South. That’s the DLC political theory and also the rationalization behind Nixon’s Southern Strategy that worked for the GOP until Tuesday.

    2006 has shown that a winning coalition can be built around classic Northeast Democrats, Midwest Populists and Western Libertarians. And you know what? I’m a lot happier with this coalition than trying to appeal to the social conservatives of the old Confederacy. How about you?

  • his stubborn commitment to the 50-state strategy and his stinginess with funds for House races

    Or at least Dean could be a little bit more flexible if the overall strategy was good but he should’ve recognized where he could have and needed to stray from it a little.

  • Swan, you are right that those issue were factors. Major factors even, in the make or break us sense. But no matter how ugly the scandal, the simple fact is that you can’t win in a district where you didn’t run a candidate. One of the strengths of Dean’s strategy is that it puts us in the right place at the right time so that when something like this happens we can take advantage of it.

  • Another strength of the 50 state strategy is that even if some of our candidates lose, which they will, the broader Dem message will reach many, many people who would not otherwise hear it. This will help immensly in presidential campaigns.

  • Stubborness is the only way to make the strategy work. Otherwise it gets chewed up around the edges by people who want to put all of the eggs in the present cycle. We are already a decade behind on this strategy, you cant let the short-view folks keep us from ever getting around to it. Did Dean “benefit” from broader trends? Certainly — which is why this was the perfect year to start a strategy that took cash away from current cycle gains.

    What Dean has done with this approach is, frankly, brilliant.

  • I agree with post #37 Swan, even if I disagreed with what you said earlier. Yes, Dean could have been more adaptive, especially in the final phase of the election. I expect him to learn from that, and if he doesn’t my assessment will probably be more harsh the next time around. In comparing him to his predecessors or the DLC though, this week he is the golden child so far as I am concerned. He has improved our processes immensely and I am not hearing any suggestions from high up that would do the same or even come close.

  • Perhaps they are just trying to provide balance to the RNC’s offer to Steel. I think it would be a shame to take Ford off the market as a candidate when his career is still young. It’s probably more about professional jealousy. Egos in DC are pretty big…

  • Carville needs to pull their heads out of his a**. As one of millions of “Democracy Bond” democrats [ie, making an automatic monthly contribution], I’ll guarentee you an insurrection if they try to oust the Doctor. I live in a formerly “red” state, Indiana, thank you very much. He and the DLC can go to hell.

  • Dean has my unmitigated support. I will email my state’s senators and my representative to tell them that. If we don’t tell them, then they might listen to Carville. Carville is amusing – his accent is cute, but Dean is productive. Without viable candidates running in all 50 states, the Dems would not have won regardless of scandals.

  • Yeah, I heard that shit first thing Wednesday morning, Doyle McManus talking to Bob Edwards on XM. It infuriated me.

    Sniff the panties of that idea, see if you detect l’air d’Hillary.

  • A plea from a Southerner.

    First of all, don’t assume Dean is looked at negatively by all Southerners. I like the guy even though I disagree with him sometimes.

    Second of all, don’t assume we all love good old Southern Carville. I find him obnoxious even when he is right (I am sure he has been at one point or another).

    No, exactly the things people have said about Dean appealing to New Englanders and Midwesterners are what makes him appealing to some of us in the South as well. Plain-spoken, common-sense talking, honest even when it is not popular. There is really nothing against Southern mores in these qualities.

    But the real point of my post (finally): please don’t give up on the South. I don’t live there anymore myself, but I have friends and family that do. And they are dying for help from well run, intelligent, compassionate Democratic party. It may not be the low-hanging fruit of the NE, but with a long term vision there is hope.

    I am not sure what the right strategy is down there, but there has to be something better that Republican Lite candidates like, I have to say it, Ford. That is not a real choice. I do think that the Deanesque concept of getting on the ground and talking to people where they live is a damn good way to start. If not for in lifetime, for the sake of my kids and theirs.

  • As usual, I think Zeitgeist (#28) has it right. These Beltway asshats want to stack the deck for Our Lady of Perpetual Triangulation.

    Screw her, screw them–and keep Dean. Like others, I admired but did not support his 2004 run, and while I cheered his DNC victory as a triumph for the netroots, I honestly didn’t know how good of a job he’d do. (Simon Rosenberg was my top choice.)

    But his 50-State strategy was brave, visionary and successful. Dean forced the bastards to play defense across the country, and he’s begun the extremely important long-term task of redeeming the long-smeared Democratic brand. Replacing him with Ford–who seemed almost ashamed of being a Democrat in his race–would be a terrible mistake.

  • Another advantage to the 50 state strategy is increased ability to raise money. It’s very difficult to get money from areas where there is no organized Democratic party. Even a modest presence brings in additional money.

  • Come on people, this is ridiculous, if they get rid of Dean they will be even more out of touch than the Reps.

  • When can we send Snakehead back to the Louisiana swamps? The guy gives away Democratic secrets in his pillow talk to Matalin, was wrong about “31,000 uncounted votes for Webb in Northern Virginia” Tuesday night and has generally had his head up his ass for the past ten years, at least.

    Harold Ford for DNC makes about as much sense as Michael Steele for RNC.

    When do we get to take the Pinstriped DC Pimps of the Democratic Party out and hang them from the nearest lamp post? These losers were what we had to fight to get where we are today!

    Democratic Party to James Carville: shut the fuck up!!!!

  • For Colorado:
    Chris Gates 777 Santa Fe Denver, CO 80204
    Julia Hicks 8300 Sheridan Blvd. Arvada, CO 80003
    Debbie Marquez PO Box 2829 Edwards, CO 81632
    Jonathan W. Postal 7843 E. 8th Pl. Denver, CO 80230
    Mannie Rodriguez 1435 Kokai Circle Denver, CO 80221
    Hon. Ramona Martinez 10064 W. Vassar Pl. Denver, CO 80227

    Julie DeWoody (Colorado Democratic Party Chair)
    Denver, CO 80204 777 Santa Fe Drive

  • TuMei # 36 makes a lot of sense. Carville’s other slogan besides, “It’s the economy, stupid” is “It’s the charisma, stupid.” Carville is looking for another charismatic pony to ride inte political races. Clinton was his moment of glory and he’s like a tick trying to attach to the next thoroughbred.

    Harold Ford may have a great future, especially if he’s not forced by his oponent to be so far to the right. But he’s not there today. Dean has paid his dues.

    Is this a Democratic flaw? Always looking for the next star, John Kennedy or Bill Clinton? The Repubs have a system they can plug any old compliant buffoon into for the presidential run. Democrats seem to be looking for a savior.

  • The Dem leadership is a lot like the principals of a big-budget movie. They’re all trying to position themselves to take the credit for a hit. And they second guess the script and try to stick their own nephews into the production. They kiss ass, backstab and glad-hand as necessary.

    To be fair and balanced, the Republicans are hyenas trying to steal the kill and presenting their submissiveness to the bigger jackals.

    Like the Onion said: Politicians Sweep the Elections

  • Swan @ 12. I don’t find Ford more charismatic than Dean. Only slicker, more consciously marketed. I would compare Dean with the Senator-elect of Montana–the real thing. This is Hillary and the DLC and pre-emptive war. I am an indie, will become a Dem ONLY if Hillary is not the nominee in 2008 but will not vote Dem if it is she. Nota bene: Ford ran contrary to many of the issues we have wrung our collective hands over, especially the war, torture, and loss of civil liberties, and he LOST!

  • This kind of backstabbing “reward” is one of the reasons why I no longer give any money to DLC but only to the candidates directly (and to my local party “cell”, now that we have one) .

    Carville and his like (including Emanuel) have a “siege mentality” — they want to defend what we already hold. That’s a passive attitude and good enough only if one’s happy with being minority party permanently. Dean is a poacher and a succesful one 🙂

    If it hadn’t been for Dean and his careful cultivation of all fields; there’d have been no Dem runners in VA (as it is, there was no Dem candidate for House from my district). So OK, we hadn’t done all that well in our House challenges. But the entire state had been energised, for the first time in years. Because, for the first time in years, we haven’t been brushed off as not being able to get anywhere; we got a chance to try. Several of the challengers will probably run again and do better in ’08, having acquired experience and name recognition (as well as issues recognition)

    “2006 has shown that a winning coalition can be built around classic Northeast Democrats, Midwest Populists and Western Libertarians. And you know what? I’m a lot happier with this coalition than trying to appeal to the social conservatives of the old Confederacy. How about you?” — Ed, @36

    Well… I, for one, am glad that Dean didn’t agree with you. If he had, VA would have never been able to field Webb, even with the changing demographics in the northern part. Webb may be a tad more to the right than I like but he’s *honest*. And he had more appeal than someone more “polished as a politician” *because* he’s a redneck-born and somewhat conservative (and the military experience didn’t hurt either, in this particular situation)

    But, without him, the Senate would have been in a worse pickle than it is now — you can bet your bottom dollar that his votes will be more dependable than Lieberman’s. But it was Schumer who got Webb where he is now; it was Dean and his netroots who spread the “infection” of enthusiasm.

    I second Henry Mueller (@46): do not throw us, in the South, under the bus yet. All we need is a *chance* to grow.

    Second try; now, even the orange is wild ….

  • Swan @ 12. I don’t find Ford more charismatic than Dean. Only slicker, more consciously marketed — naschkatze, @55

    What has charisma to do with anything in this particular instance? I don’t even know what dean looks like, much less how he behaves. But, as a VA Dem, I *deeply* grateful/ indebted/what have you to his vision and his stubborness. He’s “sine qua non”, as far as I’m concerned.

    Ford, I did see once, during one of his debates. Looked to me like something out of the Tales of Hoffman. If that’s “charisma”, you can keep it (he did look cute in the church ad, though)

  • Those of you who worry about the rest of the party abandoning “The South” need to know our definition of that term:

    “the South” that the rest of the country detests is the good ol’ boy, racist, white supremacist, aggressive, boorish, reactionary, snake-handling, militarist, piratical, neo-Confederate, “South.” In other words, the “unreconstructed” South that wrecked FDRs coalition, to which we said “good riddance” in the 1960s, and which the Republicans embraced so closely that they are now The Southernist Party of Trent Lott, looking longingly back to the days of Jim Crow.

    There was always another South, the South of the 150,000 Southerners who fought for the Union, the South of the 1st Alabama Cavalry, US Volunteers, the first racially-integrated American Army unit; the South of “the Great State of Nickajack;” the South of the union movements in the mills that were racially inclusionary; the South of a guy like Grover Hall who began as a reporter writing “the common southern wisdom” of the first Scottsboro Boys Trial and received his first Pulitzer nomination for his in-depth truthful coverage of the third trial and his exposure of the corruption and collusion of the Southern legal establishment in the trial, who went on to finally win his Pulitzer as Editor of the Montgomery Advertiser for his coverage of the Montgomery Bus Boycott; the South of our lawyer when I was at The Oleo Strut Coffeehouse in Killeen, Davis Bragg, whose house was well back from the county road, and when I asked about that replied “Yes, it’s out of range.”

    Southern progressives like the brave folks who are my friends down there now are always going to have a home in the Democratic Party. But looking at the history of that region going back to the arrival of the Barbadian Pirates in 1715 and the creation of “Southernist culture”, you folks have little hope of transforming that swamp, outside of some sort of disease coming along that genetically targets “Southernists.”

    There’s a lot good in southern culture – food, the blues, jazz, the tradition of the “honorable man” (in practice) – but the Southernist culture the rest of the country detests when we have to look at it is what has to go, and we in the Democratic Party need to stop pandering to those snake-handling morons.

  • I sure can’t claim to understand the dynamics of Democratic Party power struggles. But my impression is that Emmanuel and Carville are about power first whereas Dean is most sincerely concerned about how to build a better America. Results don’t come without power but the power shouldn’t be an end in itself. When I listen to Pelosi, Reid and Dean, I get the impression that I’m listening to people who want a shot at finally getting America on track for the 21st Century. The Democratic party just got a huge infusion of fresh, energetic mental energy in no small part due to Howard Dean. I am sick of these stupid ass games the insiders want to play to win top dog status while the rest of the country twists slowly in the breeze.

    Howard Dean is right where he ought to be. And rather than having to watch his back, he should be free to contemplate the next two years and continue strategizing for melding Dem goals with upcoming Dem candidates. This country needs forward thinking imagination. It doesn’t need old repackaged as new. Dean has helped provide this country with an opportunity it more than desperately needed. It’s just wrong and very bad karma to subject him to this bullshit.

  • Zeitgeist and Jeany nail it: this isn’t the Beltway talking, though they’ll root it on.

    Carville only speaks when someone pulls his string. And that someone’s in New York.

    The struggle is between the populist of the 21st century who’s been right on Iraq, and the great campaigner of the Nineties, whose spouse got Iraq wrong. Carville’s just their poolboy.

  • Let me explain a few things about Harold Ford Jr that the national Democrats need to know.

    In addition to spending the past ten years positioning himself to the right in order to appeal to the same East Tennessee conservatives who rejected him this week (at the expense of his constituency in Memphis and the issues that matter to progressive Democrats), he showed an appalling lack of political acumen and basic ethics when it came to his role in the Memphis/TN Democratic party.

    In the campaign to replace him in the 9th Congressional District, State Senator Steve Cohen, a white jew with 24 years in the TN Legislature, defeated 12 other candidates in the Democratic primary, including Jr’s cousin and his younger brother, Jake Ford.

    After Cohen won the primary, he tried to reach out to Ford Jr as they both prepared to shift racial attitudes – Cohen was the first white candidate to have a shot at the 9th district in 30 years, and Jr was the first black candidate to have a shot in a Senatorial race in TN.

    Jr rebuffed Cohen, and instead supported his brother Jake, who was running as an independent, in the 9th district.

    Jake, who has a GED and a police record (not mudslinging – these are facts which matter to the electorate), was wholly unqualified for the position, and embarrassed himself in three debates (“I haven’t read the Patriot Act, but I know it’s important that we support it.” and “I don’t know the answer, but if you send me to Washington I can learn on the job” were some of his better moments). Not only that, he told flat out lies about Cohen that all discredited by the local journalists, ranging from Cohen hitting a black woman to Cohen saying on the floor of the TN Senate that “poor people don’t deserve to go to college” (Cohen almost single handedly passed the TN Lottery legislation, which has made more money available for TN schoolchildren than any other source in decades).

    As the campaign progressed, Cohen received the endorsement of the (black) County and City Mayors and important leaders from across the community, black and white, moderate, liberal, and conservative.

    Ford Jr never supported Cohen at all. To this extent, he had the DNC issue “TN Democrats” brochures showing the “major” candidates for this election, leaving Steve off the brochures. Ford called “impromptu” press events and rallies at times when his campaign knew Cohen was having pre-anounced rallies. At the last such, Cohen had hundreds of supporters, while Jr had his staff and the media.

    Worse, Harold Ford Sr had the same “machine” pushing for Jake as he did for Jr, inlcuding sample “Democratic” ballots which showed Jake instead of Cohen. Jake even put out material saying “as a lifelong Democrat”.

    This angered a LOT of Democrats in Memphis. This behavior, on top of the past 30 years of corruption in the Ford family, which Jr has never even tried to distance himself from (to the extent of dubious legislation benefitting his father’s lobbying firm), was the final straw for many Memphis Democrats.

    Did we want the Senate? Yes. Did we want Jr rewarded? No. Our dream, which did come true, miraculously enough, was that the Democrats would regain the Senate *without Jr*.

    So how can anyone push Jr as a candidate for DNC Chairman when he has shown such an inability to rally support for his fellow Democrats, instead choosing his corrupt family – again.

    BTW, Steve Cohen won that election with almost 60% of the vote. Despite Harold Ford, Jr’s best efforts.

    Don’t call us, Harold, we’ll call you.

  • In plain words, James Carville must be completely sidetracked because he is the pillow-talk partner of the high Republican operative Mary Matalin of White House Iraq Group fame, the small bunch of administration (read Cheney) insiders who packaged the Iraq war for mass-consumption. Isn’t it nice to know that everything he knows she knows too. Please don’t make the mistake of thinking the reverse is also true. From the Democratic point of view, this is a political union (sorry, marriage) forged in hell. In fact, there is now talk that she might succeed Ken Mehlman. Believe it! Not so long ago she held a fund raiser in their house for Libby’s defense costs.

  • I was born in Tennessee and have lived in Alabama for decades, but I have to say the last thing the Democratic party needs right now is leadership from the South. Democrats are poorly represented around here, there are few liberals to be found, and it is time for the party to ignore the South for a decade or two and drag this region kicking and screaming back from the reactionary cliff. I see no indication that Ford would do anything other than drive the Democratic party back towards its recent loser past. In a power struggle between Dean and Emmanuel, the choice of who is best for the party is very clear. We need to look into primary opposition for Rahm next cycle, he’s getting full of himself.

  • I remember Carville in 2000 and 2002 Election Night—he was wearing a garbage pail over his head because he was so embarrassed by the trouncing we got under McAulliffe’s completely feeble performance.

    I vote we keep Dean around as long as we can— he’s first the guy to produce tangible results since, well Carville. In my mind, Carville’s over—someone here said it, ‘what has he won lately?’

    Lastly, I don’t understand why the top brass of both parties want to give high-ranking jobs to candidates who LOST elections. Can someone explain that?

  • It is really time Mr. Carville became silent. He is the kind of knee-jerk liberal who gives the Democratic party a bad name. Howard Dean is infinitely more valuable to the party than the likes of Carville. I hope we have the privilege of supporting him as the candidate in 2008 and that this time the Democratic establishment will recognize his great potential.

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