The Doctor Who Cured the Democratic Party

posted by John Nichols on 11/10/2008 @ 10:34pm

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When Howard Dean, fresh off a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination that ended with a scream, announced that he would seek the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, the right-wing echo chamber exploded with delight.

Asserting that Dean would forever consign Democrats to also-ran status, radio ranter Rush Limbaugh shouted: "Please, make him chairman. Please! Please! Please!"

Political strategist turned Fox News blowhard Dick Morris was pithier, declaring that: "In choosing their new national leader, the Democratic Party is publishing a... succinct suicide note. It reads 'Chairman Howard Dean.'"

That was in early 2005, when Republicans controlled the presidency, enjoyed solid majorities in both chambers of the Congress and were on the march at the local and state government levels. Democrats seemed directionless and dysfunctional, and White House political czar Karl Rove was talking about how America was realigning as a permanently conservative nation.

While other Democratic leaders talked tactics and considered compromises, Dean promised to "show up and fight."

"The Democratic Party will not win elections or build a lasting majority solely by changing its rhetoric, nor will we win by adopting the other side's positions," the former governor of Vermont said when he announced his candidacy for the party job. "We must say what we mean -- and mean real change when we say it."

That scared some folks. But not the 477 members of the Democratic National Committee. The DNC members refused to accept the counsel of Limbaugh and Morris, or that of the Washington-insider Democrats who feared Dean's edgy approach and swore that the party could not sustain a 50-state strategy.

Dean was elected, and he immediately began throwing punches.

In his first weeks as DNC chair, Dean dismissed Republicans as "evil," "corrupt" and -- while the Terri Schiavo case was making headlines -- "brain-dead." He referred to his radio nemesis as "drug-snorting Rush Limbaugh" and, which other top Democrats shied away from saying George Bush and his aides lied about the reasons for attacking Iraq, the DNC chair told television interviewers that: "I think the Downing Street Memos and other pieces of evidence, including the 9/11 Commission, have indicated that the administration was not truthful to the American people about how we got to Iraq. I think that's a fact."

Dean did not play the game of politics in the way that White House political czar Karl Rove and his media expected. In fact, Dean did not treat politics as a game.

When the DNC chair said, "I hate what the Republicans are doing to this country, I really do," everyone knew he meant it. And, as it turned out, Americans were coming around to the same conclusion.

How do we know?

These are the last days of 2008, when Democrats control the White House, Congress and the majority of statehouses. Now that Democrats have won 53 percent of the popular vote in the race for the presidency -- the best total for the party since 1964 -- and 69 percent of the Electoral College (with votes from formerly red states such as Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia), andnow that the party has picked up once-Republican House seats in Mississippi and Louisiana and once-Republican Senate seats in North Carolina and Virginia (and, come December, perhaps Georgia), Dean's 50-state strategy is looking pretty smart. And his edgy style seems to have been the right fit for a nation that has since 2005 grown steadily angrier over Republican misrule.

Dean is now preparing to step down as DNC chair, as he always said he would after one term.

Dean is no fool; he understand that DNC chairs do not call their own shots when the party controls the White House and he is not inclined to take political direction from others -- especially his sometimes nemesis, 50-state-strategy critic and incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. (Although, it should be noted, Dean might be inclined to cooperate on policy matters with Emanuel, should Obama decide to make the good doctor secretary of Health and Human Services.)

The fact is that Dean's work is done. He was an essential player in the transformation of the Democratic Party from what former Labor Secretary Robert Reich described back in 2005 -- "essentially a glorified fund-raising mechanism" -- into the clearly-defined "movement" party that Barack Obama would lead in 2008.

With that 50-state strategy, his full embrace of netroots activism and, above all, his refusal to pull punches, Dean made being a Democrat mean something. That turned out to be the cure for what ailed a party that has benefited immeasurably from the doctor's able treatment of its condition.

Comments (84)

California's a big, blue state. Democratic candidates for national office make a few quick stops in LA to fund-raise but no one spends any time in the mostly Republican, nether-regions of SoCal - not even our Senators. It's always an uphill battle getting Dem voters out for our local contests, for Congressional candidates and for the state propositions. In 2004 during the Kerry campaign, after he'd already dropped out of the race, Dr. Dean made two trips 50 miles east to Redlands and spoke to us. We'd all been working very hard for our local candidates but it was like working forgotten on a desert island until Dr. Dean showed up. We'll never forget how he so kindly remembered us and acknowledged the work we were doing.

Posted by MujerAlta at 11/10/2008 @ 11:15pm
I think that there is one quote that shows the damage done to the Republican party.

"This is Karl Rove's legacy."

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 11/10/2008 @ 11:17pm
Thank you, Gov. Dean, for putting together the means by which "our long national nightmare" has come to an end.

Posted by jmusolino at 11/10/2008 @ 11:42pm
Thank you so much for this -- I couldn't have said it better myself!

I am glowing with pride that the *nation* -- not just the Democrats -- elected Barack Obama. You don't have to say "I am a uniter, not a divider" if it's clear in every action you take, authentic, and full of integrity.

Dr. Dean was deep sixed by a cynical press pool of piranha last election cycle, but he didn't let that discourage him or make him abandon his transformational message. Enough of us at the rank and file saw this, and voted him into the chairmanship of the DNC.

If you couldn't see the difference between Hillary and Barack on the issues, you were ignoring the method, and just absorbing the content.

The Clintons were the core of the rising DLC, the "New Democrats," who cynically declared a progressive platform and then pursued a "mini-max" strategy of chasing swing voters ever farther right. They were power brokers, and did what they needed to, to seize influence.

It is no wonder that the Republicans turned to a vote counting, spin-meister money changer like Karl Rove to counter them.

John Kerry is a good man, and by the time his handlers coached him on how to carry the election by the numbers, every ounce of authenticity had drained from his heart -- and Gore before him. Authentic leaders in an intimate or professional setting, but both turned into cardboard cut-outs by the DLC puppeteers.

Hillary Clinton didn't really need handlers. She knew the game inside out. She had turned from the younger, seemingly idealistic pepperpot for whom I wore a "Give 'em Hell, Hillary!" button in Clinton's first race -- to a deconstructed and calculating bird of prey. A power broker. She didn't care about *reaching* the rank and file so much as *retaining* them.

Dean made Obama possible.

Posted by shava at 11/11/2008 @ 02:39am
Have to give Dean credit...

while Karl Rove talked about "permanent majorities", the Good Doctor was plotting the end of 12 years of GOP control of Congress and his "50 state plan" influenced Obama into a campaign that sought out places like North Carolina and Indiana.

As usual, Limbaugh and Morris were wrong...and had blinders on.

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 07:12am
Regardless of how much help Dean was in getting Obama elected, I for one am glad he's gone, or has at least been relegated to a position of harmlessness in our political arena. Dean represents the all that was bad about the democrats in the '90's and the first half of this decade", angry, deceitful, intolerant, a social engineer. And, as we found out after the gubenatorial and congressional elections a few years ago, a bit of a "plantation liberal:" His comment about making sure the Dems don't have "a Michael Steel problem" again (read "a black guy who doesn't need us") spoke volumes about his REAL mentality. One of the nice things about Obama's election: We get rid of Bush, but we get rid of Clintonesque elitists, which guys like Dean exemplefied, as well.

Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 11/11/2008 @ 07:26am
Regardless of how much help Dean was in getting Obama elected, I for one am glad he's gone, or has at least been relegated to a position of harmlessness in our political arena. Dean represents the all that was bad about the democrats in the '90's and the first half of this decade", angry, deceitful, intolerant, a social engineer. And, as we found out after the gubenatorial and congressional elections a few years ago, a bit of a "plantation liberal:" His comment about making sure the Dems don't have "a Michael Steel problem" again (read "a black guy who doesn't need us") spoke volumes about his REAL mentality. One of the nice things about Obama's election: We get rid of Bush, but we get rid of Clintonesque elitists, which guys like Dean exemplefied, as well.

Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 11/11/2008 @ 07:26am
Howard Dean and his 2004 campaign remade the Democratic party by empowering grassroots politics. Dean blazed the trail for Obama. Hopefully, Emanuel doesn't screw it up

Posted by Bill31648 at 11/11/2008 @ 08:54am
If Dean blazed a trail, Obama was smart enough not to follow it. He's new blood for the Dems, nothing like Dean, and Thank God for that.

Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 11/11/2008 @ 09:10am
I'm a Vermonter. Dean was a really good governor here, and I was sorry to see him go down in 2004. He has been vindicated in spades!!

artie

Posted by artridge at 11/11/2008 @ 09:20am
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 08:24am

Most of which is attributable to policies enacted by Bush and the GOP Congress....

ergo the Dems won because the Repubs failed. And not "failed from incompetence" as Gingrich, Limbaugh, etc. are trying to spin...

but failed because their ideology failed.

It wasn't JUST about Abramoff or "bridges to nowhere"...how about Terri Schiavo for the rabid "pro-life" fringe with Bill Frist "diagnosing her" over a video?!??!?

or appointing people like "Brownie" to FEMA, because of an inherent belief that government is so bad, that you shouldn't put competent, caring professionals in charge of it.

or de-regulating in an era which had already seen Enron....or cutting taxes as deficits mounted?

None of which is "incompetence", but ideology.

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 10:00am
Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 11/11/2008 @ 09:10am

CHIP, Dean promoted a "50 state" strategy that gave up on the old idea of just "surrendering the South and Midwest, concentrate on base states and a few battlegrounds"...

so did Obama and both won.

Your venom against Dean is simply based on two things-

1. He came out first against the Iraq War and was proven right (Check out today's news on what downtown Baghdad is like....soem "Surge"!)

2. He eventually won...both in 2006 and in 2008.

Mr Nichols is right, Limbaugh was sarcastically begging the DNC to make Dean Chairman, hoping that he was the caricature that Rush created of "Dr. Scream"...and he wasn't. He was wrong and Dean was right.

and maybe THAT's what really burns your bisquits???

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 10:05am
I was initially skeptical about his appointment, but once I saw what he was up to, I got it.

What may be his most enduring legacy, something not mentioned explicitly in Nichols's story, is his effort to disengage the DNC, with its populist approach, from the DLC, with it's elite, centrist approach of appeasement and its bland, middle-of-the-road political gestures.

Bravo, Dr. Dean.

Posted by jackwells at 11/11/2008 @ 10:29am
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 10:17am

You know Darin, for somebody who is parrotting the Limbaugh/O'Reilly "all them libs are Kool-aid drinkers" line....

it isn't that surprising that all you offered up were "either/or" situations...then accusing ME of attacking YOU for being too black or white about your ideology.

How about REASONABLE tax policy? Or REASONABLE government solutions? Or ignoring silliness like intervening in the decision to end the life of a (later PROVEN) mindless woman with no possibility of recovery? Or believing that smaller government is better...but not appointing HORSE LAWYERS to run it???

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 11:45am
What a lame article. The author praises Dean without mentioning one thing that Dean did as DNC Chairman (other than calling Republicans "evil" and "corrupt.") Just because Obama won and the Democrats increased their majorities does not mean that Dean did anything to help. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. But Mr. Nichols' article is useless since it fails to mention anything that Dean might have actually done. Once again, more shoddy "journalism" from the Nation.

Posted by GBGB at 11/11/2008 @ 11:46am
Mr. Nichols, you forget to mention how well Dr. Dean handled Michigan and Florida during the primary. Or would that be gloating too much?!

Dean was a joke and I'm glad he's gone.

Posted by ACook at 11/11/2008 @ 12:00pm
Dean has been shown to be a fine administrator, both as governor and as head of the DNC. He probably would have made a decent president, certainly better than the current occupant.

Chip, you seem to have a simulcrum of yourself lodged on your shoulder. Dean ran a good Organizational campaign for the dems, he balanced his state budget and by accounts he is a good doctor. He would be a good pick for the head of HHS.

Darin, it is laughable for you to talk about "changing the constitution every other day" when you have sat and applauded 750 signing statements, the illegal wiretapping of US citizens, a "unitary executive", "free speech zones", and all the other damage that Chimpy has done to the countries image and basic legal structure. Like your ability to blind yourself to the election fraud in 200 and 2004, the myopia of your views on this subject is really, really amusing.

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 12:01pm
Dean was a joke and I'm glad he's gone.

Posted by ACook at 11/11/2008 @ 12:00

Would you like to play for the Detroit Lions? Your tone and accuracy since last Tuesday would fit right in in place of Matt Millen.

Dean helped put Obama in the WH. Not so funny now, is he? Why is it that you cons talk about balanced budgets and values, but when a guy balances his state budget and does it with compassion you get your knickers all twisted up?

you really, really are having a problem with Obama aren't you? To quote one of your crazies... "the con crack-up is a beautiful sight to behold".

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 12:05pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 10:56am

"My ideology says that one should be skeptical of government solutions."

...if only you (and those subscribing to a so-called "conservative" ideology) were equally skeptical of "market", corporate solutions and were willing to recognize that government has an obvious role to play in administering justice, education, research and in other ways that feature other values such as fairness, accessibility, discovery or the public good that trump profit as a motive.

Posted by srjenkins at 11/11/2008 @ 12:06pm
Liberals (or Progressives) want "progress" that is, positive change. Conservatives want to "conserve" that which is good about the current status quo. Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 10:56am

My point exactly.

If the DLC hacks had been running the campaign, we'd be looking at a McCain/Palin administration in January.

Plus, given the exigencies of the current state of the nation, what is required is rapid response, not incrementalism.

'Nuff said.

Posted by jackwells at 11/11/2008 @ 12:07pm
What flavor of socialism does The Nation champion?

Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 12:02pm

Something along the lines of Papa Christmas of AK or Prophet Warren Jeffs little villages in Utah, Arizona, Canada and Mexico? Oh, wait, those are Christians.

Meanwhile, manifest destiny wiped out millions of native americans. What kind of capitalism do you champion? Isn't this fun? Lets see what other rampant ideologies we can find and accuse each other of following with zero evidence.

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 12:11pm
Dean motivated the Democratic base & gave many a vision of what the old time Demos were all about. We owe him & his tremendous motivating talents more than a tepid, transient response. His strategy was by example as much as by aim. He belongs in the Cabinet.

Posted by Sorelish at 11/11/2008 @ 12:13pm
Darin, Obama is opening Re-education camps as we speak. Have you registered yet? As you and Ponti have pointed out, Obama must be just like Pol Pot or Jim Jones, there is no middle ground. Just because he surrounds himself with DLC types, wall street CEO's and Isrealis does not mean he will not start rounding up free marketeers on Jan 21.

If I am following you.

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 12:16pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 12:02pm

As the kids say, "Duh"....YES, Darin, it dates back to Jim Jones and the People's Temple...

but the MOST RECENT utilization of it is by Loufa Bill and El Oxybo as a psychological projection.

Oddly, it more aptly fits the 26% of those who still support Dubya (like your friend SJCHERMAK) or those who think "We didn't REALLY lose in 2006 and 2008...just bad breaks".

Which might work if you had just lost "by a little"... a squeaker with one or two battlegrounds going to the Dems....but...

Bev Perdue

Kay Hagen

Barack Obama?

Besides being Democrats, what do those three people share in common?

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 12:19pm
And really Darin, do YOU want to get into who drank what after the last years of you accepting the word of Scott McClellan, Karen Hughes, Ari FLeischer and GWB in the areas of

wmd's

Doj hiring and firing practices

dirty bombers

Katrina

etc etc etc

Because that would be a debate us lefties could win with larger margins than Obamas electoral college wins.

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 12:20pm
What flavor of socialism does The Nation champion? Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 12:02pm

Funny coming from a member of the party who championed a 700 billion dollar bail out for corporations. Last I checked that IS socialism.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 11/11/2008 @ 12:22pm
Petty, MaryBret - so petty.

----------------------

I was pro-Dean's appointment from the start but claim no foresight regarding the 50 state strategy.

In my view, Dean began with the assumption that reality trumps bullshit. Then learned the hard way that the corporate media chews and spits out reality as it wills.

This became his new reality, and he took it on like an eager, smart, competitive med student!

Posted by winyahn at 11/11/2008 @ 12:22pm
"A "unitary executive" is a meaningless diatribe invented by some bitter lefty. "-Darin

[Justice Scalia in his solitary dissent in Morrison v. Olson argued for an unlimited presidential removal power of all persons exercising executive branch powers, which he argued included the independent counsel.

The Justice Department has used the unitary executive theory to decide that the Environmental Protection Agency may not bring a legal suit against the U.S. military, since there would be only one party in the suit: the president.

...The Bush administration has interpreted the theory more expansively than previous administrations. As for what specific constitutional limitations on the judicial power President George W. Bush may have in mind, the argument used by the President and his supporters is widely regarded as consistent with legal positions promulgated by John Yoo, particularly as recorded in several of his legal memoranda while working at the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel under Bush. Yoo's positions include that the use of military force is, like presidential vetoes and pardons, an unreviewable matter.

The Yoo position is supported by David Addington, former counsel and current chief of staff to the Vice President, who advocates a new paradigm, involving extreme flexibility of Presidential power.[2]

President Bush has applied the theory of the "unitary executive" in a wide range of substantive issues, often issuing signing statements detailing how the executive branch will construe legislation.

Of the 132 signing statements by President Bush, 110 of them have addressed specific constitutional issues, typically regarding attempts by Congress to infringe upon Constitutional powers specifically delegated to the Executive Branch.]-WIK

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 12:28pm
Could we please not join Rove, Limbaugh, et al in calling it the "democrat" party? They started doing that as a sign of disrespect, and somehow it's gotten into the general vocabulary.

Democrats belong to the *Democratic* party.

Elise in NH a left-leaning Independent with a LOT of Dem pals!!!

Posted by drband36 at 11/11/2008 @ 12:28pm
you could have put George W Bush in charge of the DNC and Obama would have still won.

Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 12:21pm

Are you implying that the POTUS is not capable? The guy you voted for twice?

WTF Darin? Are you now trying to extricate yourself from the 29% Club? Watching you guys throw Chimpy overboard now would be funny if you had not allowed him free run for the last 8 years. I seem to remember most of you claiming that history would treat O'l Geworgy Boy better than his contemporaries.

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 12:32pm
Vulgar, MaryBret - unimaginative and not funny.

Posted by winyahn at 11/11/2008 @ 12:34pm
Maybe the Middle East gets credit for the Middle East. China for China. And now thanks to enough rednecks being broke and desperate, Obama and like-minded citizens will save this country.

Posted by winyahn at 11/11/2008 @ 12:39pm
Posted by drband36 at 11/11/2008 @ 12:28pm

Excellent point on "DEMOCRATIC". Noone else picked this up! You're right.

Posted by winyahn at 11/11/2008 @ 12:41pm
I had the pleasure of seeing Dean speak in October 2004. He was charismatic, intelligent, calm, reasonable, and anything but extreme. I was so mad at the way the media wrote him off as crazy.

He took questions from the audience. One person began criticizing him and the audience booed. Dean asked the audience to allow this person to speak his mind. He wanted to hear other viewpoints. This was at the time when people were getting arrested at Bush rallies for not having the right sign.

Dean would be a good candidate for a cabinet position.

Posted by ecr111 at 11/11/2008 @ 12:52pm
MASK,

Look at the bigger picture MASK. The guy's a bum, and I'm glad he's gone. My "biscuits" couldn't be happier.

Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 11/11/2008 @ 1:00pm
Nope, I'm still a proud member of the 29% club. Earlier I asked Mask how fifty years from now he was going to prevent Bush from getting the credit for a much more deomcratic Middle East.

Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 12:35p

Maybe by living in reality? I can see the ME jumping on the Iraqi bandwagon as we write!Yep, they have clamored to join the New Democratic ME. Let's list the newly formed open societies that have functioning governments:

1: ?

2: ?

3: ?

Saudi Arbia- nope

Iraq- not functioning

Afghanistan- not functioning

Egypt- nope

Iran- barely, but no thanks to Chimpy. He caused a lurch to the right/theocracy.

UAE- nope

Uzbekistan- eh, not really

Tajikistan- you must be joking.

Who am I leaving out Darin? Which ME country has established a functioning democracy since 2003?

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 1:05pm
Saved from what? Do you mean like when the Baptists ask if you've been saved?

Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 1:01

Bimper sticker seen:

"Born OK the first time"

Darn America Haters!!

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 1:07pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 12:36pm

Nope, if it was FUNNY and relevant, maybe.

But it looked like some lame-ass post we'd get from a high schooler, Darin. And really shows how now that the election is over and your side got a stomping (especially down home in North Carolina...Jesse Helms' old stomping ground)...

you're out of material (or Rush/Sean/Glenn/etc. are out).

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 1:07pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 12:35p

BTW, yes. CRAB gave my answer on "Bush named the Saviour of the Middle East in 50 years" (Hmmm..."saviour"?..."messiah"?..."kool-aid drinkers"????)

What's the latest out of downtown Baghdad today, Darin?

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 1:11pm
Going by DarinLogic, how many people does the free mkt kill each year?

Automobile indudtry- 40k

Tobacco industry- 200k?

Help me out here Actuary.

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 1:12pm
Yes, I see how listing countries that have made little to no progress towards democracy makes your point for you.

History of the 20th century includes the Soviet Empire, the collapse of such and the advent of the Putin Oligarchy; your friends Pol, Castro and Haus Saud, followed by Communist Vietnam, Raul and Haus Saud. Eastern Europe has fared much better, but if you are comparing UAE to Poland, well....

????

Refreshing sugary flavored drink?

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 1:19pm
I thought Socialism was taking from the rich and giving to the poor. I didn't know it also included giving to rich corporations. And they didn't give them $700B. They purchased $700 billion in assets from the companies that will return cash flow. The cash flow might be worth $200 billion or it might be worth $1 trillion. At this point we don't know and we won't know until the underlying mortages are paid off or forclosed. Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 12:45pm

Nah. Socialism is taking the money of the whole and spreading it about. It doesn't have to come from the rich. In a socialistic government EVERYONE pays taxes not just the rich. It's just that right now all of our money is going to the people who need it the least. Why give it to WAMU when we can give it to all those people losing their homes. Why is it Republicans are so quick to say let the middle class sink but lets give our money to the corporations who were a apart of that deal.

So you are ok with a little bit of socialism Darin?

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 11/11/2008 @ 1:22pm
Dean helped put Obama in the WH. Not so funny now, is he? Why is it that you cons talk about balanced budgets and values, but when a guy balances his state budget and does it with compassion you get your knickers all twisted up?

you really, really are having a problem with Obama aren't you? To quote one of your crazies... "the con crack-up is a beautiful sight to behold".

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 12:05pm

Oh please! Dean was about as useful as a wooden dime.

Dean balanced a budget? Oh yeah, that's right! I guess when you live in a state that barely has a noticeable population, I guess it would be easy do.

You only wish I had a problem with Obama winning.

Posted by ACook at 11/11/2008 @ 1:26pm
I would like to quote Dr. Dean in his own words that Chris Matthews dubbed as "that man is insane" and I paraphrase "yyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"!

Posted by lachatte at 11/11/2008 @ 1:39pm
"Oh please! Dean was about as useful as a wooden dime. "

Lets see, dems picked the WH, how many in the Senate and House? I guess your wooden dime spends well in post Bush era.

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 1:46pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 1:23pm

I appreciate the humor Darin.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 11/11/2008 @ 2:03pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 1:23pm

Kind of like how I will defend certain policy proposals and discuss homosexuality and it's impact on the American psyche, or non-impact and then call Obama and America hating terrorist and tell you to hide your white children before they are gobbled up.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 11/11/2008 @ 2:06pm
Darin, what color is starboard for you today?

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 2:08pm
It is a statistical certainty that fraud is occurring to help Franken. Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 2:14pm

Funny. I can make the same arguments for Bush, yet you would reject them readily.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 11/11/2008 @ 2:18pm
It is a statistical certainty that fraud is occurring to help Franken. Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 2:14pm

Funny how when it's a Democrat getting the recount it's all of a sudden a statistical fact that they are cheating, when it's a Republican it's dismissed out of hand.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 11/11/2008 @ 2:20pm
Darin,let us know how many dems get sentenced for criminal activities related to the vote last week.

Then we can compare apples to apples. 2000-2008, 2004-2008

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 2:33pm
I think Darin is channeling Pontificus today.

Out Damn Spot!

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 2:38pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 1:25pm

BY ROBERT H. REID • ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 11, 2008

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A suicide bomber struck a crowd rushing to help schoolgirls trapped in a bus by an earlier bombing Monday, killing at least 31 people -- the deadliest in a string of blasts that raise doubts about Iraqi security forces as the United States prepares to reduce troops.

The Interior Ministry, which provided casualty figures, said another 71 people were wounded in the twin blasts, the deadliest attack in Baghdad in six weeks. A third bomb exploded several hundred yards from the scene in the mostly Shi'ite Kasrah section of north Baghdad but caused no casualties, police said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks during the morning rush hour. But suspicion fell on Al Qaeda in Iraq, which has made suicide bombings against Shi'ite civilians its signature attack.

In recent weeks, there has been an uptick in small-scale bombings in Baghdad. An Associated Press tally showed at least 19 bombings in the city this month as of Sunday, compared with 28 for all of October and 22 in September.

At least 44 people were killed in Baghdad bombings between Nov. 1 and Sunday, compared with 95 for October and 96 in September, the AP count showed.

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 2:48pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 2:46pm

Sort of interesting that when the Dems win it's "stealing the election" with you...

not so much when the Repub wins, huh?

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 2:50pm
Yes Darin, I am interested. But, I will wait to see how it plays out with the final total. Then, Coleman can appeal as law allows. If then there are discrepancies we can discuss it. If anybody is convicted of voter fraud, your case will be made. Like our case was made 4 and 8 years ago.

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 2:55pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 2:53pm

Ohio has examples of this in 2000. But those don't count, do they?

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 2:58pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 2:53pm

So Darin, you trust Fox News?

Wait....

remember Carl Cameron and "Palin didn't know Africa was a continent"!!!!!

LOL

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 3:21pm
At least 44 people were killed in Baghdad bombings between Nov. 1 and Sunday, compared with 95 for October and 96 in September, the AP count showed.

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 2:48pm

Sounds just like Indiana!

Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 3:24pm
Posted by crabwalk at 11/11/2008 @ 3:24pm

Oh, but see, CRAB....in "50 years"...Baghdad will be Singapore or Vienna....and everybody will be hailing Dubya as a combination of Churchill and Nelson Mandela!

Guarenteed....absolutely....positively....no doubt....impossible to deny...

just like American would never elect a "socialist probably Muslim probably not a US citizen radical who pals around with terrorists"!!!

Guarenteed!

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 3:35pm
I get a chuckle out of all Darin's trite and typical Right-Wing expressions, starting with the really overused "drinking the Kool Aid" shtick. It is really hard to admit a landslide defeat, isn't it? It is ludicrous that the Republicans came up with the ACORN voter registration fraud distraction to cover up the real Right-Wing voter suppression of minorities in the major swing states, including 8-hour waiting lines and attempts to purge voters who had lost their homes to foreclosure. This time it didn't work! So, Darin, get OVER it. It is a new day for America and the World. YAHOOOOOOO!

Posted by vlhamilton at 11/11/2008 @ 3:57pm
Good article, Mr. Nichols, as usual! I was a bit turned off by Dr. Dean initially, but as a Liberal Democrat and Political Activist with MoveOn.Org, I applaud all his hard work and "50 state strategy" and mega-internet fund raising expertise that helped make this important Obama victory possible. My hat's off to you, Howard. You did a good job! I know how very hard organizing is, and you didn't give up! THANKS.

Posted by vlhamilton at 11/11/2008 @ 4:04pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 3:38pm

So after 3/4ths of a TRILLION dollars and 4100+ dead American GIs...Iraq will be "Messy, and corrupt" 50 years later...

but people will be hailing Bush for bringing that to fruition?

I see.

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 4:28pm
Posted by lvliberty1 at 11/11/2008 @ 4:14pm

I'm suggesting that the talk of "how much safer it is in Baghdad since the Surge"....was bullshit.

Which I BELIEVE was a key component of the Republican/neo-con talking point leading upto this election season, no?

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 4:29pm
I love his "take no prisoners" style. It was always refreshing to see him on the cable shows, blasting away at rightwingers, as opposed to many of the kiss-ass people the Dems. usually put on shows. He'll sorely missed.

Posted by shag11 at 11/11/2008 @ 5:15pm
Great job Doc.. You make me proud..

Posted by leodeleonjr at 11/11/2008 @ 7:31pm
Bravo Dr. Dean. Job well done. Take a break, you deserve it.

Posted by boing007 at 11/11/2008 @ 8:01pm
"So the talks of improvement were not the BS you claim."

Posted by lvliberty1 at 11/11/2008 @ 5:47pm

"It is important to place the events of 2007 in context. Levels of violence reached an all-time high in the last six months of 2006. Only in comparison to that could the first half of 2007 be regarded as an improvement. Despite any efforts put into the surge, the first six months of 2007 was still the most deadly first six months for civilians of any year since the invasion"

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/analysis/numbers/baghdad-surge/

Posted by Malcontent at 11/11/2008 @ 8:12pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 5:05pm

Okay, Darin....and how many Iraqis civilians have died in the war/occupation?

Pick your MOST conservative number. (and source for it)

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 8:36pm
Dr. Dean is to be thanked and remembered for his ability to frame a much wider view of the possible voting public and instigate a truer conversation more meaningful and accessible to that public.

Posted by structurequity at 11/11/2008 @ 9:08pm
Anyone currently experiencing food poisoning and in need of a way to induce vomiting would do well to read some of the comments in this thread. This, for example, from lost-in-thrall, jmusolino:

"Thank you, Gov. Dean, for putting together the means by which "our long national nightmare" has come to an end."

That during a week in which the blessed messiah put AIPAC acolyte Rahm Emanuel in charge of the chicken coop and made unsupported accusations that Iran was seeking the build a nuclear weapon. Familiar? Sounds like the continuation of "our long national nightmare" to me. And with Nancy Pelosi running interference for GM, who needs Denny Hastert?

Posted by john lowell at 11/11/2008 @ 10:59pm
Huge, huge thanks to Dr. Dean. Before his election as DNC Chair, the Democrats had all of the characteristics of an abused spouse. ("If I cower even more, I just know he'll stop hitting me.") It took Dean to show that standing up for yourself and calling bullshit when it's deserved is how you get respect and results!

Posted by mark_proulx at 11/11/2008 @ 11:31pm
Fifty years from now, the Mid-east will be far more democratic than it is today. Given the spread of communication technology, there is no way that my prediction will not come true.

So, how are you going to prevent Bush from getting the credit for a more democratic Mid-east when he will be viewed as the catalyst that started the democratic movement?

Fifty years from now, will you still be claiming that President Obama proved that Bush's freedom ideology was tragically flawed?

Posted by Darin_the_Troll

Actually, wouldn't you say that the Middle East was far more democratic 50 years ago. Iran had instituted a democracy with Mosaddeq as Prime Minister and all was well until he tried to nationalize their oil industry.

Also, if "planting the seed of democracy" was the reason for Bush to invade Iraq, that makes him a bald faced liar. The case for war was presented as necessary due to Iraq possessing WMD's.

As far as George Bush will be vindicated as time passes and his actions are viewed in a historical perspective, Stalin said the same thing about how he would be judged by history.

Posted by koroviev at 11/12/2008 @ 02:16am
I have always like Dr. Dean. I remember making calls from home during his run and I was impressed by his use of technology. I was disappointed to see his run end because of a shout. Think about it-just how ridiculous is that? A man's chance for the Presidency ended because he showed spontaneous excitement. At that time I wondered what they really said about us as Americans.

But things worked out and Democrats should be thankful that he had the fortitude to withstand all the naysayers in the party who hassled him over his 50 state strategy. Dean and Barack-steady in his path, focused, unafraid, and unwavering in their beliefs that sometimes someone has to be the one to say what we might not want to hear. I wish Dr. Dean the best.

Posted by Resilience at 11/12/2008 @ 08:22am
Darin, maybe you missed this....

Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/11/2008 @ 5:05pm

Okay, Darin....and how many Iraqis civilians have died in the war/occupation?

Pick your MOST conservative number. (and source for it)

Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 8:36pm

Posted by Mask at 11/12/2008 @ 09:42am
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/12/2008 @ 11:11am

Didn't say WHO killed them, Darin....but even YOU must admit they were killed AFTER we overthrew Saddam (no friend of Al Qaeda).

So...how many?

Posted by Mask at 11/12/2008 @ 11:54am
Darin-Palin was not put down because she is anti abortion since McCain and many democrats are,also,anti abortion.No one put down Palin for graduating from a state university.She was put down for going to several schools for more years than it is supposed to take in order to graduate.Her accent is fake and changes depending upon the situation she is in.If you believe that Palin is intelligent then that does not say much for you and your rant is way off base.The reason Palin was losing women supporters is because women can see through her use of looks and sex in order to get what she wants,but many of you right wing males can't see through it and think with the wrong brain.

Posted by i'm nobody at 11/12/2008 @ 12:03pm
"...the Democrat party", huh?

On the Nation, no less. It is, "the Democratic party" and what an obvious example of a successful Republican strategy to shift the terminology--so subtle that even the Nation adopted it--obviously unconsciously.

Posted by Lil at 11/12/2008 @ 12:51pm
We should blame America first.

Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/12/2008 @ 1:01pm

Why would we blame the folks who invaded and destablized the place.

What were we thinking?

Damn, a-rabs, can't even get their shit together during an invasion/occupation.

"Then I will wager that 90% of them were killed by Al Queda and 10% or less kill by allied forces"... w/o any sort of evidence. 'Cause that's how I roll.

Posted by Malcontent at 11/12/2008 @ 1:05pm
Posted by drband36 at 11/11/2008 @ 12:28pm Excellent point on "DEMOCRATIC". Noone else picked this up! You're right. Posted by winyahn at 11/11/2008 @ 12:41pm | ignore this person | warn this person

have you considered IRONY?

Posted by emile duBois at 11/12/2008 @ 1:47pm
Darin-It's best to blame those responsible for creating a situation where AQ and others could engage in such activities.The idea is to cut back on the number of terrorists and terrorist acts and not to create situations where you create more terrorists and increase the number of terrorist acts.Guess that explains why you guys can't win wars in a timely and less costly fashion.You create enemies faster than you kill them.You'll never win any wars that way.

Posted by i'm nobody at 11/12/2008 @ 1:53pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 11/12/2008 @ 1:01pm

You're "pretty sure" it was less than 100,000?

Okay, how about you find out FOR SURE and get back to me.

And I never blamed America for the deaths...I blamed BUSH for the deaths. I know this is hard for you to accept (but WILL HAVE TO REAL SOON), but George W. Bush is not "America".

BTW, you DON'T want any objective sources for the number of Iraqis who have died in the war/occupation....because it will just ruin your "numbers game". Maybe after 50 years of revisionist history from "The Weekly Standard" and Rush....you can get the numbers to equate!

Posted by Mask at 11/12/2008 @ 2:27pm
I am a die-hard Deaniac, from early 2003 to present.

Dean is still the best pit bull/Harry Truman/bully pulpit T.R. we've got, and we still need him, somehow, somewhere. And surely Obama knows how much Dean's campaign innovations and calls for real change contributed to his election success 11/04/08. If Dean wants it, then yes, by all means, Secretary of Human Health and Services: the doctor is in again!

Meanwhile, thanks to Mr. Nichols for so prominently giving Dean the credit he deserves.

Lawrence Walker

Posted by LawrenceWalker at 11/12/2008 @ 4:30pm
It is true the republicans failed - but they had failed before and there had been nothing there to take their place. Dean allowed the nation to see there was a choice.

Posted by waiteman at 11/12/2008 @ 9:23pm
Pleasant Sign on the door of ther DNC:

THE DOCTOR IS OUT.

Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 11/13/2008 @ 4:03pm