I resisted writing this for the past 24 hrs, Dean was NOT strong on MTP

[Nimrod2005]

It was not his performance, it was the message, the overall content, here is what I mean:

Howard Dean clearly is not speaking for the party, and that's unfortunate. He could not speak to Kerry's vote to support the war, he could not speak for Senator Clinton, and he could not speak for John Edwards' positive recent article...So the bottom line is Dean does not represent the party and it showed.

We need to ask why?

we need to demand that the party rallies behind him, our selfish Democratic political leaders need to speak out if they don't approve of him, and try to remove him if this is the right move for the Dems. I hated what I saw. Kerry, Biden, Clinton, Reid...etc. are all singing their own tunes for their own gains, they don't really care about Dean or what he says.

In sharp contrast, Ken Mehlman was clear, very direct, and knew what he wanted to say and said it (I know it was all lies). He is obviously EMPOWERED by the Nazi party to speak for all, more importantly, to speak for the President himself. This kind of synchronization of message for their party showed in his interview, he was forceful and knew what needed to be said.

Don't get me wrong. I love Dr. Dean.

If the so called top Democrats all think he is too left for their taste or political careers, they need to say so. Dr. Dean was right when they were all wrong before the war, and still is now. He knows what the party stands for and he says it EVERYTIME!!!

All the rest of them, are just politicians, the kind you love to hate! These guys will never deliver for us.

[WI_DEM]

1. I watched MTP

and I thought he was wonderful at refuting blowhard Russert on a variety of issues from fundraising to Russerts argument that Republicans supported Clinton's SC nominees.

[MADem]

18. I thought he did GREAT--he speaks PLAINLY, in SHORT SENTENCES

We are so used to hearing bullshitspeak, that when we hear the real thing, conversation the way people really talk, with a bit of edge, it doesn't fit the "pattern." I say it is time the people start hearing the NEW PATTERN, which is to call a lying Pretzeldunce a lying Pretzeldunce.

[occuserpens]

2. I don't get it

So, what is exactly wrong with Dean? I think that Clintons are the real problem.

[David Dunham]

4. I thought Dean did fine.

[mattclearing]

3. I begrudgingly agree.

And once again, he seems to have said something really stupid (confusing the NY R-Chair with the MD R-Chair who called him an anti-semite, prompting a call for a retraction, though I'm not sure of this, as that's stuff I read at right-wing sites).

I like Dean, and have always defended him, but if it's true that he dodged a one-on-one segment with Mehlman AND couldn't remember which Republican state party chairman slandered him, that's just weak.

[NYCGirl]

13. You are mistaken...he said the MD chair...

from the transcript:

DR. DEAN: I don't like that stuff, and I--now, look, the Republicans have a long history of saying that those things happened. And they may or may not have. So if that happened, it's not right. But I didn't hear Ken condemning the chairman of the Maryland party when he called me an anti-Semite. So let's try to up--speaking of moral values, let's have a better tone in our political campaigns. Because the truth is, the other thing that Time Kaine's race showed is that the person with the better tone and the more positive agenda won, and I like to see voters exercising their rights in that way.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9967566/

Edited to add: But that's what you get for believing right wing sites, isn't it?

[formernaderite]

21. I live in Maryland and have never heard this before

I agree, he must have mixed states up.

[Mass]

5. I have to disagree with you

If anything, we are beginning to hear a cohesive message between many Democrats these days, using the same points. Dean, Reid, Durbin, Kennedy, Kerry, ... are talking the same language and it is a huge progress.

He was able to speak for Kerry. He knew that he had said recently he would not vote for the war again. He also graciously got Clinton's statement out.

But the problem is the following: Dean is chair and the chair typically does not make the policies. Melhman does not make the policy. He follows what Bush tells him.

Dean organizes the grassroots, which he does extremely well. He does fundraising, and it seems to go well as well. He is extremely helpful.

So hate the other ones if that make you feel better, but Dean was just fine. He did what his job was: party chair.

[blm]

6. What do you want delivered?

A withdrawal plan for Iraq?

There are a few threads about the Senate plan already posted here.

A fight against government corruption?

The congressional record shows that Kerry has racked up the most investigations and exposes of government corruption than any lawmaker in modern history. Surely you must be aware of that by now?

So.....What do you want delivered?

[tinfoilinfor2005]

7. I don't care for the 'Repeat everything a million times until it sticks'

method. I know that is how the repugs do it, and they swear it is the reason they've won the last two elections, but I just don't care for it. I would rather see an intelligent person like Dean discussing issues in an intelligent thoughtful way instead of pounding sound bites over and over. Other than that, he held his own.

[Child_Of_Isis]

8. I think Dean did quite well.

He speaks the truth without fear of repercussions. My feeling is if we are to get out of this mess, he will be the one to get us out. He's fearless. I think the right is afraid of him due to his straight talking truth. Why else the "scream" on the tele every 5 minutes during the campaign? He doesn't come across as a politician who talks in circles, but someone the average Joe can relate to.

[movonne]

9. Yeah right...

[JaneQPublic]

10. Will Dems ever be "synchronized," under any party chairman?

Bottom line, the issue is more about the difference between Repugs Vs. Dems: They're sheep who mindlessly follow the leader in lock-step, and we're the cats who can't be hearded. (Maybe those should be the party animals instead of the elephant and donkey!)

The situation would be pretty much the same regardless of who the chairman is.

However, Dr. Dean has given us reason to be optimistic that he will eventually alleviate the situation. He wants to get talking points disseminated via e-mail to all segments of the party, he's working on short answers to the question, "what do Democrats stand for?" etc.

But before that can happen, the Dems in elective office have to come to some kind of an agreement as to what our talking points and positions should be. And so far, I don't see that happening on many fundamental issues, such as Iraq.

[ladjf]

11. I thought that Dean did about as well as could be done under

the circumstances. The problem is that Russert frames the programs by asking a continuous stream of self-assuming questions, i.e. "do you still beat your wife". So, the interviewee has no choice but to spend all the time refuting Russert's attacks. The result is that it ends up more or less a draw, the Pubs did or said this, the Dems did or said that. But, in reality, it's not a draw, the Pubs are doing one criminal act after another while the Dems are caught in the position of waiting to find out what's next.

[welshTerrier2]

12. Dean: pretty good overall but he blew it badly on these two questions ...

i thought Dean made some excellent points ... but this exchange tainted the interview ...

1. asked for the Democratic Party's position on Iraq, Dean stated: "We have plenty of time to show Americans what our agenda is and we will long before the '06 elections."

First of all, we SHOULD have an official Party position on Iraq ... the fact that NO PROGRESS is being made to negotiate our internal differences on the issue is no excuse ... and secondly, suggesting the Party will issue a position before the midterm elections (i.e. for political considerations) is worse than awful ... the focus should be on the policy; not the politics ... and saying that "we have plenty of time" while Americans are dying everyday is just not a very good answer ... not very good at all ...

2. asked about the Party's specific plan on key issues like Social Security, the deficit and health care, Dean said "Right now it's not our job to give out specifics" ...

well, i disagree ... i'd like to see some leadership on these key issues ... a real dialog with the American people should not depend on "political timing" ... we need to have an ongoing dialog; we need to lead and we need to do it each and every day ... to accept the idea that positions should only be issued as a component of a political campaign seems like bad policy and bad politics too ... Democrats should clearly state where they stand and fight like hell to convince the American people that their ideas are right ... placing platform planks in the sewer pipes of political campaigns demeans their credibility because positions taken are tainted with political opportunism ...

Dean made many excellent points in the interview and did a good job shutting up Big Mouth Russert ... but on the above key questions, Dean should have done a much better job ...

here is the excerpt from the interview discussed above:

MR. RUSSERT: But those are words that will appeal to people. But when you go behind them, for example, what is the Democratic position on Iraq? Should we withdraw troops now? What do the Democrats stand for?

DR. DEAN: Tim, first of all, we don't control the House, the Senate or the White House. We have plenty of time to show Americans what our agenda is and we will long before the '06 elections.

MR. RUSSERT: But there's no Democratic plan on Social Security. There's no Democratic plan on the deficit problem. There's no specifics. They say, "Well, we want a strong Social Security. We want to reduce the deficit. We want health care for everyone," but there's no plan how to pay for it.

DR. DEAN: Right now it's not our job to give out specifics.

[Nimrod2005]

14. Bingo!!! Maybe you said it better than I did...

He could not say we the Democrates are for _______!

Can't because he doesn't represent the elected others/politicians of the party.

I think Dean should run for office in 2008!!!

[Rainscents]

15. How many more times you need to bash Dean? Tell me, who do suppose

will do better job as DNC chair??? I am so sick and tired of people bashing Dean! Dean didn't create fucking mess DLC and GOP created for past 25 years, you can't fix anything over night that was created for past 25 years. Dean is doing good job and he is finally getting Dem's on same homepage, this process take time to organize and take action. Dame, he only been Chair for 10 months... Give me a fucking break!

[leetrisck]

16. He does speak well for the Party and he shouldn't

approve or disapprove of each individual in the Party. Mehlman can say what he says because they are in complete control and he will spout anything bush puts in his mouth. I think Dean is doing a fantastic job. I don't think Democrats think he's too far left.

[madfloridian]

17. I think you should have resisted a lot longer.

He was outstanding.

[MADem]

19. I'm with you--tell 'em, tell 'em what you said, and tell 'em AGAIN

for the dopes who either didn't get it the first two times, or tuned in late. Dean did superbly.

[flpoljunkie]

20. Resisted altogether, is more like it.

Dean is not perfect, but he did a damn fine job, and I really do question why you would post this.