Link to Chairman Dean on Christian Broadcasting Network....

[liberaliraqvet26]

http://www.cbn.com/vod/index.aspx?s=/vod/HowardDeanIntv_051006

Just press play.

A very level headed interview. I don't know what all the fuss is about.

[madfloridian]

1. Thanks, listening now.

Very calm and sensible so far.

[liberaliraqvet26]

2. he did seem a little nervous though...

should have talked a lot more about economics

[madfloridian]

3. I think he should just get out of the DNC, go back to DFA and

work there and give speeches. And then run again. That was a nice interview.

[Rose Siding]

4. Thanks- that was a good interview

measured, reasonable, and he looks great.

Something I didn't realize before from the media coverage- his erroneous remark about marriage and the dnc platform wasn't expressed as a personal opinion.

[Dunvegan]

5. Watching the video is much different than reading the transcript.

I'd still like Dean to check back in with his constituents in the GLBT community, because some are hurting or confused by this move on his part.

[madfloridian]

6. How many times must he apologize?

I feel like throwing things. What a nice intervew. No wonder my "fundie" neighbor liked him. You know, one of the "evil" 700 club bunch.

[liberaliraqvet26]

7. he doesn't he did nothing wrong...

he articulated a position.

[madfloridian]

8. I am going to recommend this. I think people should watch it.

I feel like all this week has been something unreal. I think some manipulation was going on behind the scenes in our party or some party or the other.

[liberaliraqvet26]

9. I agree....

I hope others can see it too

[Charlie Brown]

10. I watched it, and Dean made some mistakes

He used the dreaded buzz words: "Family Planning." No fundie Christian is going to affiliate themselves with Dean after hearing those words, which mean pro-choice. He did not mention that the Sep. of Church and State benefits religion as much as it benefits the government, as it leaves religion free to pursue it's own aims, and I still cannot forgive Dean for stating that the Democratic Platform states a Republican talking point. Surely the party chair knows what the platform says.

He deserves credit for trying to build bridges, but not for pandering with inaccurate selling points.

[madfloridian]

11. Renee has a post up about all of this.

http://howardempowered.blogspot.com/2006/05/howard-dean-on-values-and-reaching-out.html

[Solon]

12. Why he even went on the KKKBN I will never understand. n/t

[madfloridian]

13. Not playing the insult game with you.

Not any more. A lot of people are seeing a very hateful side of DU, the side that doesn't have any understanding that not all evangelicals are bad people.

My parents watched that channel for years before their deaths. They were good, kind people, active in the church.

I had someone tonight get me to ask to have a thread locked because I did not stand up for what I believed. I should have said no, I won't. Someone in the same thread said I was having a pity party for the religious right, or something like that.

DU is looking pretty bad on the religious stuff right now.

[Solon]

14. Let me see if I can be clear yet again...

Not ALL Evangelicals WATCH CBN, CBN itself is a HATE network, look at their site if you don't believe me, the link is up above, just cut off the slack from the video link. The 700 club is a hate driven show, it makes itself obvious in the person of Pat Robertson who hosts that show. A few years ago, some pagans were getting harrassed after they opened a store in a strip mall, so many pagan organizations banded together and rallied at the store to support it. In response, several churches, in addition to the CBN bussed their congregations in carrying ROCKS. The confrontation that would have occured(mass stoning), was interrupted by the police. So forgive me if I'm not sympathetic.

[madfloridian]

15. You are judging many by a few.

Most of the people who watch that channel are good people.

[Solon]

16. Doesn't change the characterization of the channel itself...

Look, I'll give you that some good people may watch the channel for religious reasons only, and either ignore or simply turn it off when the hatefest starts, but that doesn't excuse the channel itself from participating in some atrocious behavior that some would say is "unchristian".

[liberaliraqvet26]

17. If you can get through to even a handful of them....

it is worth the appearance.

[bklyncowgirl]

18. You do not win converts by preaching to the choir.

Dean did the right thing by going on that show just as Wes Clark is doing the right thing by appearing as an analyst on Fox News. If you want to reach Christian Voters then you have to go where the Christians are. CBN is enemy territory but it was a surprisingly respectful interview on both sides. I was struck on the edited version that most of the imagery actually supported many of Dean's statements--I thought they'd turn it into a hatchet job.

He certainly screwed up by stating that the Democratic platform says that marriage is between a man and a woman. I don't know whether Howard was deliberately going for a "Sistah Soljah" moment by dissing the gay community, saying something he thought the Evangelical Community wanted to hear and hoped that they wouldn't look it up or whether he just made a mistake. Personally, I think it was a mistake. Howard Dean has many virtures and a few faults. One of his faults is that he occaisionally misstates facts or says things wrong. Remember the time he said his favorite New Testament book was the Book of Job--or that Bush was playing "Hide the Salami" with Harriet Meirs? Many of us like Dean's straightforward, shoot from the hip speaking style but the flip side of that is that he sometimes suffers from a brain to mouth disconnect that is pretty embarrasing. He'd avoid embarrasment if he'd stick to the talking points but then he wouldn't be Howard Dean.

On the whole, however, this was a very good interview. He came of as intelligent, plain-spoken and sincere. Will this appearance sway vast numbers of Evangelical Christians? Probably not, but if 10% of the people watching that interview gain a somewhat better opinion of Democrats by seeing one of the most demonized of all Democratic leaders in his true colors, then it was certainly worth it. Maybe they won't vote for Democrats but maybe also they won't feel compelled to go to the polls to prevent a Democrat from getting in to office.

[madfloridian]

19. Let's kick this back from page 2 for now...while video is still up.

:hi:

[madfloridian]

20. Interesting part.

"When I ran for president I quickly realized that the wisdom in this country
is not in Washington....it's outside the beltway. I also realized there are
very few votes in Washington so I correspondingly pay more attention to what
goes on outside Washington.

The currency is Washington is criticism. The currency out in America is
doing something. There are serious problems in this country that need to be
fixed. We need everybody in this country, left, right, or middle to
contribute to that fixing."