Chairman Dean on Politically Direct

[CarolNYC]

I know it's so much more fun to bash Dean for what he said about Republicans or to bash Edwards and Biden for what they said about Dean but, in case anyone's interested, I happened to hear Chairman Dean in a short interview on Politically Direct on AAR this afternoon.

Nice little interview. He spoke about election reform and what we can specifically do to ensure that all machines have paper trails in states where Democrats have enough power. He said it's a lot tougher in states like Ohio where there are hostile Secs of State. I really liked what he had to say on this. Seems an issue they will concentrate on. He also stressed that this is NOT a partisan issue. How can election reform, an attempt to make sure everyone gets a fair chance to vote, be a partisan issue, or a bad thing? So true, so true. Nice to hear him say it.

He was asked about the memo and what he said might not make people too happy but I think I agree with him. He said that it was one more proof that Bush lied (not sure he used the word lied but it basically was what he was saying) to get us into the war with Iraq but that people knew Bush wasn't on the level and they still voted for him so we had to do more than just get involved in a mudslinging match. I know people want Dem leadership to take this issue and run hard with it but I thought what Dean said made a lot of sense.

He discussed media reform and said that the DNC will hold a meeting or maybe two a year outside of Washignton DC. That sounded good to me also.

Oh, and they didn't mention the Republican remark once.

(BTW, my take on the whole Dean/Edwards/Biden thing is that I don't think everyone has to agree with everything the Chairman says but would it kill these people to at least give the impression that they support and stand behind the Chairman of our party?? If they didn't know the exact quote or the context or Dean's clarification of the remark, why just accept the media's interpretation and try to run as fast and as far from Dean's remarks as they could? They are experienced enough to know how to handle the media with a situation like that where the media is obviously trying to sow some division...or at least they should be. As for Dean, it's inevitable that he's going to stick his foot in his mouth every once in a while with his off the cuff, take no prisoners speaking style...but, boy, is it nice to see someone with some balls out there representing us for a change, someone who won't back down when challenged! :)

[realFedUp]

1. he's a sticker....nt

[WI_DEM]

2. the media has it in for Dean

but he has to be who he is and the Howard Dean I've grown to love. They (the media) will rip him apart and take anything out of context and take any mild criticism by anybody and blow it out of proportions. But the facts remain, the Chairman of the Democratic Party, Howard Dean, represents me and millions of Democrats like me who want a chairman who will take on the Republicans. Go Howard Dean!!

[Bluzmann57]

7. Not the biggest Dean fan but...

He does say what's on his mind and I think you may be correct when you say the media has it in for him, at least a little bit. Most likely because of his directness. When he was (endlessly) campaigning here in Iowa, I flat out asked him what he intended to do about the imbalanced media in this country. He said he would reinstate the fairness doctrine and see to it that all people got to air their beliefs. Not a bad answer. I also believe that you are correct when you say that mild criticism is taken out of context. Hell, who among us hasn't been questioned about one or more things we have said? None of, that's who. So Mr. Edwards and Senator Biden critiqued Dean? They are Americans who are allowed to do that. See, that's what makes us better than them, we still have freedom to say what we want, even if we disagree with something or someone.

[FreedomAngel82]

8. Yep

Of course they have it out for Dean. I love when Dean does press conferences with MSM people like Tim Russert for example. He doesn't apologize for what he says to believe is true and his comments and he doesn't take any shit from them either. I love that about Mr. Dean. I think he's the best person for this job. McAullife was good about raising money and we're doing fine now but Dean does the job that counts. :) Is there an archive of the show?

[CarolNYC]

10. Archive

I don't know. I looked online but don't find it yet...Maybe it will be up eventually?? I'd never actually heard the show before and kind of tuned in by accident.

[CarolNYC]

11. Oh, he also said that Terry

left the Party in good financial shape andthat the new building is great. :)

[sasquatch]

3. The only problem we hava is that guys like Biden still exist

We need to strenthen our party and kick his ass out.

[AntiCoup2K4]

4. Secretary of State should be an elected position.

The problem with Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004 is that the Secretary of States were both partisan hacks accountable not to the people of their state, but to the governor who appointed them. Both also happenned to be state chairs of the Bush Campaign, which is a blatant conflict of interest.

Contrast those situations with our STILL disputed Governor's race in Washington state. A lot of partisan Repuke hacks are cheering Dino Rossi on. One who has NOT done so is the Secretary of State Sam Reed. I'm no fan of Sam's, basically because he liked electronic voting even before it was "cool" (at least in his party) to do so. But that all aside, the man has done his job, and for that, has been attacked by his own party, as have his assistants, in court. I have no doubt that Sam would probably prefer Rossi as governor, but he's not going to risk his own ass by being involved in the fraud. Because at the end of the day (or the four year term) he's the one who has to save his job.

Unfortunately this might involve changing individual state constitutions, and the state legislatures might not go for that. Especially the ones with a Republican majority. But at the very least, NO elected official - and certainly not one in a position to directly impact election results - should be allowed to chair a campaign for any candidate.

[CarolNYC]

5. Good luck with your Governor's race...

Those guys don't back down easy, huh? Yes, I applaud Reed for actually doing the right thing...Too bad that has to be something to be applauded for. It should be expected.

Dean was talking about a law in Oregon and that we should work to get that law on the books in whatever states we can. I don't know, but listening to him talk about it actually gave me hope that something could be done.

[FreedomAngel82]

9. They're STILL doing that in Washington?

Wow. I'm surprised. If this guy was doing any fighting like that in Ohio we'd go a lot faster. Of course there was no fraud in Ohio (ha!). I agree about the Secretary of State. I think they should be appointed too.

[BrklynLiberal]

6. I heard the interview as well and your synopsis was perfect, as is your

comment on Biden's remark. If he could not say something supportive, Biden could have said nothing at all. There would have been no shame in that.
I like Dean and I like what he is doing for the local Dems around the country. He has no plans to allow any Repuke run unchallenged anywhere, as was allowed to happen under Gillespie. That was disgusting...just handing seats to Repukes without even a whimper!
Dean is the best thing to happen to the Democratic party in a long time. Unity would be a nice change of pace!!`

[LizW]

12. Thanks for the synopsis

I'm sorry I missed the interview.

I do disagree with Dean about the DSM. He's right it is one more proof that Bush lied, but it is much harder proof. What Dean says comes close to what Bush claimed: that the election was an affirmative referendum on everything Bush did before the election. That assumes, first of all, a clean and fair election, which we didn't have. Second, it assumes that the press honestly informed the voters of Bush's actions before the election. That didn't happen either.

I think it has to be possible that enough lies are revealed and proven that the election-day approval of the 51% must be questioned because it was obtained fraudulently.

And the lies we are talking about aren't small lies. They go to the heart of the confidence the people may have in their President. Remember how much was made of Clinton's looking into the camera and shaking his finger and saying "I did NOT have sexual relations with that woman..."? I was even offended by that, and it was about something that did not affect my life one iota.

George Bush has looked in the camera dozens of times and lied to me. And his lies have the potential to cost my sons their futures, or maybe even their lives.

Sorry for the rant. It is not directed at you personally. I just got on a roll for a minute. Again, thanks for the interview synopsis.