If I were Howard Dean, I'd wrap myself in Norman Rockwell's flag

[Armstead]

Vermont gets a lot of bashing as a hippie paradise. And Dean as the Peter Pan emissary of that la-la land of granola and the "McGovernite wing" of the Democratic Party.

But in reality, this corner of New England has long had another reputation -- as Norman Rockwell's America. Millions flock to this part of the world to visit (or live)evey year to recapture what they lost when they screwed up their own cities and suburbs and countryside.

They come here faster and more desperatly as the Corporate Megapolis ruins their own communities and countryside with increasing ferocity. They come because they live in alienating, awful places where the neighborhood lunch counter has been replaced by McDonald's and 7-11. They see the USA losing its soul, and they want it back.

They come here because they know in their hearts that we are on the wrong track in this goddamn nation. We are fouling out nest and pulling out the rug from under the interests of all real Americans.

And so they come to visit. If they can afford it, they buy weekend homes in places like the Vermont of Howard Dean and Bernie Sanders and Jim Jeffords.

Those three politicians do not share the exact same views -- but they do share the fact that they are products of a culture of tradition of small towns, community ties and politics that actually connects with people.

And it's a set of values and a type of politics that people want to return to.

Americans made a mistake in the 1980's. Many of them turned to the right-wing GOP, because that's what the spinmasters propaganda promised them. Reagan's "Morning in America." Today GW is doing the same thing when he poses as jest another Texas cowpoke...The American flags that the American Facist Media sticks all over the screen also stands in people's minds for what Norman Rickwell reflected.

However, in reality, the conservative Corporate Facists want to destroy the idealistic American Qualities that most people want to restore. Abd the balance of individualism and sense of community that most people long to return to.

Those idealistic American Qualities are also the values of progressives and liberals.

Norman Rockwell -- who lived in Vermont and nearby Massachusetts -- painted that world and the idealistic side of America. Many conservatives embrace Rockwell today, while clutching their flags. "Now he was a real patriot," they say. But Rockwell was also a Liberal.

That's what "the swing voters" want. And the positive aspects are the same values as liberals and progressives. If Howard Dean can honesty convey the fact that he is Mainstream America (regardless of what part of the map he comes from)that, IMO is something the centrists, the liberals and the progressives could all get behind.

[RandomKoolzip]

1. What we're really talkin' about here is North VS. South...

The media just doesn't believe that a Northerner can run for president and win. It's pathetic. Why the fuck does every president have to be a redneck?

[Armstead]

6. It shouldn't be

The values of Vermonters are the same basic values of southerners and westerners.

Yes there are issues of culture and history that divide them. But on a deeper level there is a common value system.

[RandomKoolzip]

11. Yeah, obviously it SHOULDN'T be

but it is- There is an ingrown and inbred distrust of Yankees in the south. You are intelligent enough to realize that there are similarities. Most people don't care about common value systems, they care about whether the president is a good ol' boy. It's fucking sad, but I believe it's true.

Bridging that gap will take A LOT of hard work.

[Armstead]

12. Two points

1)Anyone who is so rigid and narrow minded as that should be written off. They are usless Bush/GOP zombies anyway. WE should be going for those with brains enough to see their interests, regardless of such labels.

2)As more Yankees invade the "sunbelt" to live, that aspect of southern culture will become more diluted politically.

It's good news and bad news I suppose. It reflects the homogenization of America, where everyplace is increasingly like every other place. Makes us into a bunch of rootless nomads.

But the good news is that it also opens up places to other influences. Some ex-New Englander may prefer the weather or have an economic opportunity in Georgia -- but s/he will also not automatically dismiss someone or an idea because they are some damn Yankee.

[tjdee]

2. Sounds like John Edwards already did that.

I'm biased, but John Edwards has already reached out to the small towns, the rural areas, 'regular people'.....

I agree that it would help Howard Dean, though. New England gets a bad rap in politics, but as you mentoned, that's where many of the Rockwell-ish images of this country come from.

[TheBigGuy]

4. New England is really terra incognita to me.

I think parts of it, like New Hampshire and Maine, still do go Republican.

Edwards might be talking a good populist campaign, but he doesnt seem t be gaining the same level of support Dean is.

[tjdee]

8. I'm not sure what is up with him.

He's still sitting on the most cash, and he's doing a different approach than Kerry and Dean. I think he's waiting to rev up his campaign going into the fall. He strikes me almost as the turtle of the race, and he's been real quiet.

The only one who's been doing a lot of moving is Dean. He's been in the press, on tv, his whole announcement thing...Everyone else is hanging back and waiting, IMO. I think they're hoping that Dean burns out/uses up a lot of resources so they can neutralize him that way.

[Armstead]

13. If Edwards is going to do something...

he needs to do it soon.

I like Edwards in some ways, but he's falling back in the pack of "also rans." At some point if you get too far behind the leaders, you can't ever catch up.

[tjdee]

14. That's the thing, though, they all are.

Compared to Dean, they all are kind of treading water. Lieberman, Kerry, and Gephardt enjoy name recognition in NH/Iowa polls, but they've not been all over the place like Dean, especially in that last week of the 2nd quarter. The polls are fairly static, no one's doing any major movement....

[TheBigGuy]

3. I really agree with this.

We are already seeing early-warning signs of how the GOP will spin Dean...

,,,,so I think Dean needs to sort of get a makeover on the lines you suggested.

[Armstead]

5. I don't think it's a makeover -- Just the truth

Dean is what he is. Vermont is what it is.

He is a perfectly acceptable mainstream politician who represents a part of the country that is a perfectly acceptable part of Mainstream America.

Anything said to the contrary is just Beltway Spin and GOP lies.

[LuminousX]

7. Vermonter's Should Do This

This is more than a Dean issue, the GOP is painting all of Vermont as if it were Whacko Nation.

[wtmusic]

9. Wrap himself in the American flag

need to reappropriate it from *

[Armstead]

10. Norman Rockwell's version of it

The flag that also stands for civil rights and honest patriotism.

[soupkitchen]

15. I like the idea, but how does he do this?

?

[Armstead]

16. He could start by saying it

He's done pretty well so far at coming up with snappy phrases to position himself. Like borrowing Wellstone's the "democratic wing of the Democratic Party."

He could do likewise by simply saying it and directly addressing this "too liberal for America" crap. Maybe even say "I'm from the Norman Rockwell wing".....Oh okay, maybe not.

But he can clearly remind people that Vermont is the state of Norman Rockwell style American values. Hell, he would also be helping clear away the crap surrounding liberalism, by explaining how thoseRockwell-type values people cherish are rooted in liberal and progressive politics.

[janx]

17. He already has!

Read again his Restoration Speech. He wants his country back.

[Armstead]

18. I'm just saying he should take on the critics head on

I know he's done a great job at that on one level.

I'm just suggesting he's in a great position to really fight back for liberal (progressive) values as a part of the American tradition. That ultimately is the most important goal, IMO, no matter who is nomination.