Certain Democrats are glad Dean quit

[kskiska]

Drag on congressional races feared

WASHINGTON Howard Dean's decision to abandon his campaign was met with relief by some congressional Democrats who feared that he could have been a drag on the party's House and Senate candidates.

"Howard Dean was the only one who could have really hurt us," said a senior Democrat involved in party political operations. The lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the prospect of John Kerry or John Edwards heading the national Democratic ticket was not troubling to incumbents.

Of course, since Democrats in Congress were on the receiving end of some of the harsh criticism of the Washington establishment culture by Dean, a former governor of Vermont, it is not surprising to hear them celebrate his departure.

But Dean's candidacy was viewed with real trepidation on Capitol Hill, where some Democrats feared that his Washington-bashing could play well with a significant segment of the public but fall flat with the swing voters crucial to Democratic House and Senate candidates in states where President George W. Bush is popular.

The flip side of that argument is that Dean was bringing in new voters and contributors who could help lift others in his party, but his ability to transfer that support was in doubt in Democratic circles.

more…
http://www.iht.com/articles/130401.html

[grab bag]

1. Dean won't be missed.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

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

[For PaisAn]

3. He certainly will be.

It's our loss, you included, whether you realize it or not.

[EXE619K]

4. Welcome grab bag!

We'll see you in Boston!

[MercutioATC]

18. By you, maybe, but he IS missed by many of us.

[Darth_Kitten]

25. He obviously is.....he was a threat and is feared....

:D Those with a vision often are.

[leesa]

34. I miss him because he might have brought change to the corrupt

government. I guess that is what they are afraid of, that their place at the trough might be gone. Kucinich, of course is the biggest threat because he would have made sure it was gone. Kerry will keep the hogs well fed per status quo.

[lcordero]

5. As much as I don't like Dean

I'm going to have to defend him yet again. He was the only one that I saw say anything about helping other Democrats get elected and his supporters were the only ones that I saw actively talking about using his network to help other Democrats get elected.

[Jim Sagle]

8. And most of us still are!

[KissMyAsscroft]

6. Yeah....

If not for Dean, our "candidates" would all be dropping to their knees to kiss Bush's ring.

Fuck this "unnamed" asshole...probably McCauliffe

[Anwen]

7. I'm sure they are thrilled.

Now those unnamed sources can go back to their safe little worlds and stop worrying about real change.

[DustMolecule]

9. Dr. Dean ....

...wherever you are 'out there'. Thank you for ALL that you have done - it's been a lot!!! :-)

[Chicago Democrat]

10. I love Dean,

but am glad he is not the nominee. I am glad that all the other Demo-hippo-crats have co-opted his message. That'll learn em. Politics, is Hollywood for ugly people, they need to learn what is on our mind and they will fall over backwards to pander to us.

It is the way of things.

God Bless The Democratic Party.

[xxqqqzme]

11. if these whiners hadn't

supported squatter in the 1st place, they wouldn't be this relieved. Sorry 'source, but we're still here and WE VOTE!

[Athame]

12. You know, I had not quite made up my mind yet, but

I am disgusted with the way the Democratic party has treated Dean. I just feel in my bones there were some back room shenanigans in this whole thing. The power of the people--young people, angry people, active people--it was obviously very scary to the established set. Well, it looks like the old guard will get their wish.

I just can't help thinking, be careful what you wish for.

[Art_from_Ark]

22. No doubt therre were back room shenanigans

just like the kind that kept Al Gore out of this year's race

[Voltaire99]

23. Wise words, Ma (n/t)

[slinkerwink]

13. well, I say to them-----be careful for what you get in Kerry

he might not be the "safe" person they'll want to win the general election.

[Zhade]

14. Sure. They're called "keepers of the status quo".

No change to see here, move it along people!

[Emillereid]

15. Dean's still got my vote and my loyalty!

I still want my country and my party back.

[4dsc]

24. I 2nd that emotion

and still support Dean and his ideal's.

Sound like these congressional types are nothing more than rubber stamps that like congressional perks and say f*ck everybody else..

[Borgnine]

16. These are probably the same SOB's...

...who didn't want Gore to run again.

All I care about is getting Bush out of office, and I'll proudly vote for Kerry to do that. However, once we safely put the neocons in their place, we must start reforming our own party... what happened to the forward thinkers like RFK? Oh, that's right. They get no support from our party, even when the voice of the people demand change.

Thank you, Dr. Dean. Hopefully your message will be able to get through someday.

[janx]

29. You are assuming that Kerry can beat Bush.

I agree with all that you say except that I wonder if Kerry can do it. He was not the safest bet on that score, no matter how many people felt he was "safe."

[reprobate]

33. What happened to RFK? They killed him, remember?

And the same will happen to anyone who threatens the status quo. Dean is lucky he dropped out now, or the same would happen to him.

[annagull]

17. Well. well well. Look who showed up to the party: DLC

"speaking on condition of anonymity".
The calling card of the DLC Dems. They were too chicken to stand up to the little Napoleon, now they claim the credit in defeating him. Dear God, if I were not a cynical person I would go insane.

[TheWhitneyBrown]

19. Dean would have sunk us like a Titanic.

I didn't start paying any attention to this election until August, and that's when I found out about the Dean phenom. The first time I saw him, going only on what I've learned from being a Democrat since I first went around hanging up signs for LBJ, I knew he would lose to Bush and lose huge.
The Congressman were worried because a candidate like Dean, McGovern, and to a lesser extent Dukakis, can depress turnout to the extent that they can lose their seats in the tailwind of the vacuum.
It may feel great to back a renegade, you think, even if we go down in flames at least we were right, but it's easy to forget just how many really great congressmen and women and senators, and governors, and state legislators, and on and on, can be replaced by conservative assholes because of what happens at the top of the ticket.
Dean had a coalition of supporters that were young, or idealistic, or pissed off to the point they couldn't care less.
All admirable qualities in their own way, but I've seen where it ends too many times. There are no miracles in national politics.
I can't be so unkind as to say it was amateur hour, but I will say that naivete can be as deadly as apathy. There were moments I thought I was watching a Nader rally from 4 years ago. Scared the hell out of me.
I supported the Draft Clark movement because the goal was to stop Dean with all urgency. It was an emergency for the party of the first order.
Wes was an awkward candidate, it was obvious the first time I saw him speak, but he wouldn't have depressed turnout and he did stop Dean, gave time for Kerry and Edwards to get on their feet, brought some gravitas to the process, and went out with a lot of dignity.
Dean did a lot, too, and I'm not one who subscribes to the fact that he tanked. His support never dropped off so much as he just got swamped when the more experienced Democrats showed up.
His greatest contribution was to scare the hell out of the rest of us Democrats and make us work our butts off to stop him. But don't ever doubt this; he would have been a disaster. I mean losing every state, with Republicans in control of the courts and both houses of Congress for a generation.
That's why we have an 'establishment'. It wasn't 'the establishment' that showed up in Iowa and NH. Just Democrats who have been around, and gotten beat a few times, and know what it's like and what's at stake.
These are my thoughts.

[JNelson6563]

20. Interesting

You knew Dean wouldn't win so you supported Clark? <snarf>

Now there's a sixth sense!! ;-)

Julie

[salin]

27. Interesting that you add Dukakis... because in "red state" Indiana

with Dukakis on the top of the ticket... we elected our first democratice governor in eons. And have had a democratic governor ever since.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

28. Nice bit of historical perspective there

thanks. It's so rare to hear 'Duke' connected with anything good.
Re: Dean- I always thought he was a big risk.

[salin]

31. We don't have to agree on all things

hadn't cast Dean as savior or the source of ruination... and can see his role as having possibly gone either way in terms of "down ticket." (e.g., there seems to be, at least, face validity for both perspectives/arguments.)

As to the Duke phenom... keep in mind that this is Indiana... and another Hoosier was in the number two slot at the top of the ticket (good ole dannyboy quayle)... and we still started electing statewide democrats (including setting the stage for the state House of Reps to first split power and then to go democrat - and stay democratic majority (though very narrowly).)

[janx]

30. A Nader rally? Hardly. The media painted Dean's campaign

as one composed of young people, and he did have the standard share of young idealists working for him. But those people made up only one quarter of his supporters.

Dean could not stand empty idealism and was a centrist pragmatist at heart. Seventy five percent of his supporters were over thirty; at most Dean gatherings and meet-ups that I experienced, most ranged from thirty-five to seventy years of age. So it was a campaign fueled by the enthusiasm of some thoughtful and enterprising young people, but the demographics of the campaign were really fairly typical of any successful one.

Wes Clark said recently that he joined the race because Kerry wasn't gaining any traction. If you supported Clark to stop Dean, then yes, you probably helped to fulfill that goal, but the goal itself was a grave mistake on the part of the Democratic party. It helped those Democrats who are in control to retain that control, but it won't necessarily help anyone to oust Bush in November.

[JNelson6563]

21. Yes, happily for politics-as-usual

Dean is out of the race. Thankfully the journey to taking the country and party back has just begun.

Don't get too comfortable fans of status quo, we're not letting up and change is a'comin'.

:toast:

Julie

[mhr]

26. Proof Positive That The DLC Controls The Party And Our Efforts Are Futile

eom

[Sean Reynolds]

32. So the DNC wants Dean and his supporters to support them...

When it's clear that they didn't support Dean or his supporters?

Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent.