How Beltway Democrats Sank Dean for America

[donsu]

http://www.counterpunch.com/frank06042005.html

The DNC Hated the Deaniacs, But Wanted Their Money

Evidently, Howard Dean's movement scared the money-hungry Democrats right out of their thousand-dollar suits. McAuliffe, Reed, Kerry, Gephardt, and the Clintons were terrified of what he could do to the party they worked so hard to build during the 1990s. It didn't matter that Dean was ideologically aligned with these centrist Democrats -- his grassroots cash was a genuine threat to party brass.

-snip-

Al Gore and later Bill Bradley grasped their chances of taking on the Clinton-controlled DLC to which they once belonged, hoping to turn power over to the new iconic liberalism represented by the pro-Dean movement. To reassert the centrality of the party line, David Jones was brought on, albeit at a comfortable distance from the Kerry and Gephardt camps, to crush Dean's rebellious candidacy.

-snip-

Some in the Dean campaign saw what was happening. The AP quoted his spokesman, Jay Carson, as characterizing Jones' anti-Dean commercials as "some of the nastiest smear ads" in the history of the Democratic Party.

"The Washington establishment put this group together just to try to stop Gov. Dean," claimed Carson. Jones pompously bragged, "We did more with $600,000 than Howard Dean did with $41 million."

-snip-

Media Killed the Political Star

-snip-

Once Trippi derailed Dean's ability to propagate his campaign platform, defeat was a near-certainty. Jones' PR machine was already in high gear, putting together their anti-Dean barrage. But the first negative ad that aired in Iowa was an advertisement developed by Trippi's firm, which depicted Dean berating Gephardt for his stance on the Iraq war.
-snip-
---------------------------------------

hey citizens of Iowa, see how the bushgang media played with you?!

the fight is on.

[candy331]

1. Ok so what is this all about? The Titanic is sinking, Dean is getting

in the life boat but the band is still playing on the ship/have I misread the intentions of this post?

[Warpy]

2. Well, we know the cherrypicked "scream" video was an inside job.

The DLC Democrats were terrified of Dean, not for his ideology, but because he was an outsider who was proving their constant whoring to corporations wasn't the only effective way to raise cash and that it was leaving them in debt to the same men who are our enemies through the GOP.

They had to get rid of Dean any way they could, and that cherrypicked video and sound clip from an isolation mike did it for them. Now they've got him as head of the party, and they're working on coopting him and getting him to abandon the DFA movement.

Those old fools are not going to go away quietly. The grassroots will have to keep organizing at the local level to throw them out. It's the only way to get our party back from the corporations and the flunkies who serve them so well.

[wyldwolf]

4. how do "we" "know " this?

[zalinda]

11. Get a grip !

The scream was broadcast on the media, it had NOTHING to do with any other dem. The media thought it was funny, and played it for all it was worth. How can you blast the media about being RW, and then say that the dems some how took hold of it just to blast Dean?

No matter what, Dean or any other dem was not going to win the election. PERIOD !!! I think Dean is exactly where he should be and where he can do the most good. He's an idealist, and hopefully some of his enthusiasm will rub off on some of the more staid dems.

zalinda

[donsu]

9. I don't know, have you?

I posted this because in the recent past DU has discussed what happened at the primaries. we know something happened. this article refers to that.

[lyonn]

28. And thanks Don as I am one of those

asking, "what happened." Dean was so damn popular on the campaign trail it appeared even he was surprised. He spoke out on issues that sooo many out there in the country side were concerned over. He didn't play all the predictable games and soft peddling.

This article seems to answer some of these questions. The part about Dean vs. Gephardt tv adds didn't seem to fit Dean's style.

[barbaraann]

3. The DC insiders destroyed Jimmy Carter's Presidency.

And those insiders were both Republicans and Democrats.

http://jameswolcott.com/archives/2005/03/the_vampires_de.php

[wyldwolf]

7. ...and Ted Kennedy helped finish it off

[barbaraann]

13. It's heartbreaking, isn't it?

If we had had the internet when Carter was President, we might have been able to help him.

[wyldwolf]

15. yes. Not sure if we would have been happy

Carter wasn't all that great as a president. Did a few things that would make the more progressive of us here cringe. But would have been better than Reagan for sure.

[barbaraann]

17. Have you read any of Walter Karp's books about Carter?

Karp really gave me a new perspective on the Carter administration and why he seemed so ineffective.

[wyldwolf]

19. No, but I'm sure Karp is correct

Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's National Security Adviser, claims that Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the Mujahadeen even before the Soviets envaded Afghanistan.

This is something we demonize Reagan for doing but in fact Carter began it.

There was also the El Salvadore situation and the Iranian hostage ordeal which many claim happened because Carter took the Shah in.

Carter has been a very effective ex-president but his foreign policy (and domestic policy) weren't very effective as president.

[barbaraann]

20. Brezezinski was a big part of the problem.

He's not on our side. Unfortunately, Carter and a lot of other people didn't realize it at the time. That's one of the things I learned from reading Karp.

[wyldwolf]

5. Another "Dean is a victim" post

Another "Dean is a victim" post dirived from the left's verion of NewsMax.

DFA is dead? Could have fooled me. Has their membership decreased? Influenced dwindled? Fundraising diminished?

How often does a PAC get favored attention from the DNC chair?

[DaveinMD]

6. Dean's campaign

was done before the scream. He spent all that money in Iowa and came in third. People have free will to vote the way they want. Dean didn't get the job done.

[Dr Ron]

14. Agreed

There were many reasons Dean didn't make it and most of them involve Howard Dean. I guess there's no point in saying too much on this. Those who will understand already understand this. Otherwise there's no point in reviving old battles with people who are not going to accept this.

[comsymp]

39. If you're implying that Dean was DOA by Iowa, keep in mind that

Clinton didn't make a particularly impressive start in '92:

Schedule of 1992 primaries from Congressional Quarterly’s Presidential Elections, 1789-1996

February 10: Iowa
February 18: New Hampshire
February 25: South Dakota
March 3: Colorado, Georgia, Maryland; also Minnesota, Idaho caucuses
March 7: South Carolina
March 10: Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, plus caucuses in Hawaii, Missouri, Delaware
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/8088/Dem1992.html

/just sayin'

[cestpaspossible]

8. No new information, and no new insights

:boring:

[Gyre]

10. Which is another reason to be confused about contributing.

1) I absolutely don't want to contribute to the machine that took Dean out based on their fear, conservatism, and jealousy.

On the other hand

2) I want to support Dean getting in the repiglican's faces.

Conundrum pour moi.:(

Gyre

[ultraist]

12. So...what is your point? Kerry was coronated AND???

We should expect an attempt to coronate Hillary in 08.

[wyldwolf]

16. how was Kerry coronated?

[AntiCoup2K4]

27. The Hillary coronation is obvious.

If they have to mandate Diebold machines in every Primary that's what they'll do.

But then, all you really have to do is rig Iowa and New Hampshire, and the WhoreMedia takes care of the rest.

[Zhade]

18. Regardless of your view on Dean's candidacy...

...it is clear, to me at least, that the party establishment prefers corporate contributions over grassroots.

I hope this is changing.

[justgamma]

21. My view as an Iowan

I hadn't heard of Dean before the campaign. I don't listen to attack ads. I don't even remember any(not that there weren't any)
What turned me off of Dean were all the front page articles practically declaring him the winner. I kid you not. Every day, it would be about his fundraising and his grassroots campaign.
Maybe I'm just an ornery old cuss, but it made me look harder at the other candidates. I liked what Kerry had to say.
Maybe Iowans are too independent to pick the front runners. I don't know.
After the Dean scream, I took a second look at him. That was when I became a huge fan.

[XemaSab]

22. Heck yeah!

Thanks for the laugh.

"After the Dean scream, I took a second look at him. That was when I became a huge fan."

:+

I was one of the volunteers in Iowa, and I thought that what Dean did wrong is he had too many people and didn't use us very effectively. He had us doing what all the other campaigns were doing, like making phone calls, but there were so many of us that people felt hassled. Would you say that this is a fair analysis?

[justgamma]

29. Not sure if hassled is the right word.

It just seemed that he was getting a lot of publicity the other candidates weren't getting at first.
Frankly, I wanted to hear what everyone had to say. To try to get to know them all not just Dean.
I wish that Clark had come to Iowa. Would have loved to know more about him.
Our very small caucus turned out 11 votes for Gebhart, 11 for Kerry, 11 for Dean, 10 for Edwards and 2 for Kuchinich(sp) To say we were split is an understatement. LOL

[XemaSab]

30. To change the subject slightly,

what do you think of the caucus system versus straight voting or instant runoff voting?

It looked to us on election night like a bit of a mess, with more aggressive representatives herding the non-viable delegates into their camps. It seems like you'd have to be informed on all the candidates, in case your first choice wasn't viable out of the gate.

[justgamma]

31. You would have to be informed , yes.

there was no pressure anywhere. Since we were all neighbors, there was some good natured ribbing. Kucinich had already informed his voters which candidate to switch his votes to.
I went in with 2 choices just in case.
After the voting, we all caucused about what we wanted on the platform. Our biggest concerns. Then we elected delegates to the state convention. It's more personal than just going to vote.

[XemaSab]

32. Cool!

thanks for the info...

[bklyncowgirl]

33. Sounds like me

I wasn't sure about Dean before the Iowa caucuses.

What impressed me was that after that loss, the guy just picked himself up, refocused and came back in a way that struck me as thoughtful and intelligent.

Politicians are like race horses--sometimes you don't really see the class they have until they lose.

[XemaSab]

23. The problem I have with this article

is that it goes back to the old "Dean is angry" crap.

We joked about this in Iowa. "I'm for Dean because I'm angry."

It's a bunch of crap.

I am for Dean because he actually has a vision (unlike some folks) and the courage to tell it like it is.

[Debi]

36. Yes, but is he 'Electable'?

Sorry, had to say it. I caucused for Dean (our precinct ended up with 22 in attendance - we usually have 5-6) Kerry got a delegate, Dean got a delegate and after realignment Edwards got a delegate (all the Clark and Kucinich supporters went to Edwards), Gephart had one supporter who went to Kerry after realignment.

[markus]

24. In the end, it's not about Mr. Dean

It's about who will control the party: the careerist and pro-corporate forces that effectively run Washington, tolerating the relgious right as "useful idiots"? Or the people in the party.

Dean just happened to catch onto a wave that was ready to break. If Dean is marginalized and ultimately tossed out of the DNC, that will only exacerbate the problem, and really piss off those of us who believe we need real change at all levels.

Once again, they take us for granted because they think we have nowhere to go come election time.

[Larkspur]

34. Dean won't get tossed out of the DNC. The DLC and Clintonistas

could not stop him from winning the DNC chair. Dean earned that chair by meeting one-on-one with each DNC rep and by advocating more control to the states, which is what the DNC reps and members wanted.

The DLC and Clintonistas are for centralized control of the Dem Party inside the Washington beltway. They don't care if the Dem Party languishes or dies outside of their small world.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

26. Ah, the Golden Years of the Democratic party of the 90's.

Where a Dem could vote with the corporations and not get too much grief from his/her constituency.

To think, all that "hard work" gone to waste.

Spare me.

[Zhade]

40. Infuckingdeed, my friend.

NT!

[NoPasaran]

35. I've always believed

That the reason the Kerry won in Iowa is that his people on the ground actually understood how the caucus system worked which gave them a huge advantage over the enthusiastic but inexperienced Dean enthusiasts. And it sure looked like a lot of the young people whose support Dean counted on didn't actually turn out. Edwards I assume was aided by Kucinich's deal. Like the saying goes, "Age and treachery beat youth and enthusiasm." And seeing how handily our campaign was destroyed by Kerry in the next few weeks, I really doubt that we would fared very well against Bush.

[Debi]

37. I'd agree with your assesment at least in my precinct

We expected more Dean people there than attended, and Kucinich and Clark supporters went to Edwards. Kerry supporters (some who I'd never seen at a caucus or Democratic function) showed up and were organized.

[Jacobin]

38. Yep. Republican Lites fucked Dean

Its very very difficult to live with that.