Howard Dean's 50-state strategy has failed

[Cali_Democrat]

No point recruiting conservative Dems if they're basically Republican-lite.

What has the 50-state strategy achieved since 2006? Sure, we gained many seats in Congress, but nothing had really changed. Bush was still able to cary out his illegal activities with impunity.

We have overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress and health care reform legislation is becoming a farce.

Nothing will change.

The 50-state strategy has failed.

[Arkana]

1. ...

:eyes:

[cali]

2. dumbest GD-P post of the day. Congrats!

[Cali_Democrat]

4. Thank you for the honor!

:hi:

[madfloridian]

3. Dean did not recruit them. Rahm did.

Dean refused to let the DNC mess around in primaries.

Rahm controlled the primaries for the DCCC, so did Chuck Schumer for the DSCC.

[TheWraith]

12. Sorry, but that's simply not the case.

Dean was the originating point for the entire strategy of running conservative Dems in marginal districts. You can't ignore that in order to foist off the blame on Emanuel.

[madfloridian]

15. You are way off base about that.

Dean's idea was to compete in all the states. He strictly kept hands off when he was with the DNC...he did not pick candidates and criticized those that did.

Rahm hurt many districts with his picks.

He totally controlled the House candidates and Schumer controlled the Senate candidates.

Dean had an idea to compete, but to compete as who we are...Democrats.

[fadedrose]

37. My Howard Dean

I'm not sending any more of my small contributions to the DNC, haven't since Dr. Dean left.

I still send small contributions to Dr. Dean's DFA and HOPE that he will support candidates who are REAL Dems and run them against the DNC's dubious candidates in the primaries.

Might not work, but it's my plan...

He's the one who first cried out against the war(s), and beat the drums for universal health care (before Rahm figured out what that was) and how much it meant to us all and gave us the faith to believe it was attainable. And he's got the good taste to never talk bad about the President...classy guy.

[wyldwolf]

36. Hey, Wraith - I was no fan of the 50 state strategy in 2006 but I've never heard what you contend

Any link you can give me to read up on it?

[tekisui]

5. Dean didn't fail. Reid has failed.

Dean got us the majority, Reid doesn't know how to bust knuckles, threaten funding and access to make the Democrats act like Democrats.

Pelosi to a lesser extent. Dean delivered.

[Cali_Democrat]

8. A team is only as strong as its weakest link

We have too many weak links within the Democratic Party and it doesn't really matter who the "leader" is.

[MadMaddie]

44. Ding!! Ding!! Ding!!

Harry Reid should step aside for the sake of the party. He is spineless.

[blm]

6. Dean had some strong picks - you're confusing Rahm's more centrist candidates with Dean's.

I've seen good stuff from Dean's picks.

[Cali_Democrat]

18. Many of Dean's picks were fine and it was Rahm that recruited some of the conservative Dems

But it's Howard Deans strategy that has failed to deliver.

Now we need to direct money to more liberal candidates.

[blm]

38. That's ridiculous - the 50state strategy won 06 and 08 by rebuilding party INFRASTRUCTURE in states

that had been left to collapse by previous chairs. Your conclusion that his work then is failing NOW is absurd.

[WI_DEM]

7. No, he didn't fail. Many of those blue dogs do vote with dems on most issues

(believe it or not), but its the leadership that needs to get tough on them when it comes to a crucial issue like Health Care.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

9. .

[TheWraith]

10. Yes, because what we REALLY need is total ideological purity, just like the Repubs.

After all, what good is it having a Democrat you can agree with 50% of the time when you can have a Republican you agree with 0% of the time? Let's purge all the moderates from our party, then maybe come 2016 we can be the ones struggling to hold on to a fringe of the electorate.

[Uben]

11. Our crystal balls must be on different channels.......

....funny how everyone is writing healthcare reform off. Some people watch too much television. Let's wait and see what the final bill that PASSES looks like before we start all the gloom and doom crap. If it were going to be easy, it would have been done years ago. Just like the SSI shortfall issue that has been dodged for decades, at least we have a president and congress that are addressing the problem now. No congressman wants to be the one to bring up bills on these controversial and expensive issues because taxes will have to be raised and benefits will have to be cut. It's much easier to just do nothing, but it has now become an issue that needs immediate attention, just like the SSI issue. I am proud that the democrats are the ones stepping up to the plate. I hope they do SSI next. It'll be tough, and very unpopular, but essential to the health of the American economy.

[skipos]

13. I agree

Dean shouldn't have ever recruited Baucus, Lincoln, Conrad, Nelson, etc in 2006. What a mistake. :eyes:

[Cali_Democrat]

16. I know Howard Dean did not recruit those Senators

But you cannot deny the fact that the 50-state strategy has achieved nothing of note.

The Democratic Party has failed to deliver the goods to its supporters.

What's the point of embarking on a new strategy if it doesn't achieve anything?

We need a new strategy like running more liberal Dems against existing Blue Dogs (Baucus, Conrad, Nelson etc.)

Run them on a platform of health care reform and real change.

[kenfrequed]

23. THIS IS BS

Look Dean only pushed to compete in all states and that part worked. The part that failed was the meddling and the running of DLC scum and conservadems. These candidates were choosen by Rahm and other DLC/corporate Dems. Please get your facts straight on this.

Dean had nothing to do with that part. The 50 state strategy succeeded, the DCCC meddling in the candidates that were chosen and interfering in state primaries, caucuses, and convetions with absurdly DLC corporate friendly candidates was the part that failed.

[hileeopnyn8d]

22. LOL!

Good point!


Assumed office:

Baucus - 1978

Conrad - 1987

Lincoln - 1999

Nelson - 2001 (his primary challenger had run as a Republican in 1996)

Now maybe we're guilty of not looking critically at "safe seats" like theirs, but I wouldn't say the 50 state strategy was a failure.

[Phx_Dem]

14. That's pretty ignorant and shortsighted.

We have the majority because of those blue dog states. Dean's strategy gave us the majority. You, and I for that matter, may not like how they vote most of the time, but they give us the majority which means WE decide which bills get a vote, and when they get a vote, if anything gets investigated or, more importantly, not investigated.

If the Republicans had the majority, they would be holding investigations into Obama's birth certificate in their attempts to delegitmize him, investigating him in a pathetic attemp to tie him to ACORN and God knows what else. Sonya Sotomayor would almost certainly not be on the Supreme Court. She would either have been shot down in committee, or still languishing with no vote on the horizon while they investigate her. There would have been no stimulus package, the tax cut for the middle-class would have been amended to go to the rich, and health care reform would probably not even be on the table right now.

Primaring these blue dogs,]i]if they vote against the final health care bill, is one thing, but throwing any of these seats, and possibly our majority, to Republicans in a fit of anger is suicide and beyond stupid.

[scheming daemons]

17. Yeah... because "success" was when the GOP controlled all branches of gov't

It was so much better then.


:eyes:

[Raine1967]

19. I don't think it failed.. but --

We did end up with some DINO representatives -- That said, Things have changed. Not all things are 'the same as the old boss'. Sorry -- it did not fail. it was a step further toward getting more progressive officials. This wasn't going to happen overnite.

I have said that the only thing I disagree with Dean was that we got a lot of conservative Dems in order to get a majority, do I understand what you are saying. That said, you cannot expect this to turn around -- a 30 year march towards a conservative permanent majority --- in just 3 years?

This is a weak point in Deans strategy -- but what was the alternative?

And -- things HAVE changed. A LOT.

[madfloridian]

21. The alternative was for Rahm and Chuck to butt out and let the voters decide.

[kenfrequed]

20. Uhm Dean didn't meddle

The DCCC and Rahm sort of went around playing kingmaker and pushed people out of various races to make the way for a bunch of sychophantic blue dogs. Your post is incredibly off base and is complete DLC/blue dog spin.

[Claire Beth]

24. The 50 state strategy hasn't failed...

the dem's in conservative areas must vote that way (for the most part) to STAY in office. It gives the Dem's the majority which in turn gives them power over all those committees. about the only democrats you're going to get in the south and states such as Oklahoma will be centrist or conservative democrats.

[Umbram]

25. Think before you type. Thanks! (nt)

[Cha]

26. No, you can't blame Dean for

DINOs. No way No how.

[Cali_Democrat]

29. I'm not blaming Dean for the DINOs

Most of the ones in the Senate were already there.

I'm blaming him for a failed strategy that hasn't really paid off at this point and I doubt it will pay off in the future.

The next election cycles we need to focus on running more liberal candidates against people like Baucus and Nelson.

Just because those Senators have D's attached to their names, it doesn't mean they are friendly to the overall goals of the Democratic Party.

[polichick]

27. As a big Dean fan, I hope the bad choices were someone else's contribution. nt

[quantass]

28. Dean set up things Brilliantly ... it was OTHERS that Failed it

Rahm and the two houses for one.

[freddie mertz]

30. Nope. Rahm screwed it up. And he still is doing it today.

From a big chair in the White House.

I wonder how he got there?

:shrug: :thumbsdown: :hi: :sarcasm: :patriot:

[invictus]

33. +1

[Third Doctor]

31. I disagree

Dean's strategy worked and performed well in accomplishing it's aim. The problem is weak leadership mainly in the senate and the geographical areas of some of the conservadems. To be honest imo the healthcare issue is one of the most important bills they will ever vote on and a lot of the conservadems have chosen to vote with the repubs. If they can't fall in line for the heavy lifting and only can be counted on for the lesser bills why have them at all?

Plus most of these people have received a ton of cash from the med insurance industry over the years. Some of these conservadems such as Blanche Lincoln, has put herself in a pickle. LA is increasing leaning to having a bonafide repub with a R in front of his name instead of a somewhat realiable Dem. The only people that could have helped her were the liberal dems but she has pretty much stabbed them in the back.

[rucky]

32. Rahm wanted the credit - and from this standpoint, he deserves it.

[lumberjack_jeff]

34. Idiotic.

Look at the house. The progressive caucus has real power over policy because of Dean.

Look at the Senate. Look at guys like Tester, do you think he would have stood a chance were it not for the 50 state strategy? He's no Kennedy, but he's no Lieberman either.

Speaking of which, Lieberman, Baucus and their ilk are the problem, and they were not brought in by the strategy.

[bunkerbuster1]

35. James Carville?

That you?

see also:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/11/17/15142.aspx

[brentspeak]

39. Was Dean responsible for Rahm's disasterous handpicked candidates?

[jesus_of_suburbia]

40. Howard Dean is one of the best we have. He knows how to kick ass.

I hope he can be President one day.

[harmonicon]

41. Having a Democratic president is proof that the 50 state strategy works (nt)

[mvd]

53. Exactly

Obama won in states like North Carolina, Indiana, and Virginia.

[SpartanDem]

42. Yeah let's go the GOP route remove the unpure

that worked out well for them.

[BlooInBloo]

43. (facepalm)

[Peacetrain]

51. Can I second that!

(facepalm)

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

52. Let me double that.

[Malikshah]

45. Breaking News for DLC Stockholm Syndrome types: Dean's strategy worked.

DLC (read Rahm et al), however, have done a job on it...

[ShadowLiberal]

46. Fact is a conservative democrat is better then a republican

Look at the percentage of the time the most liberal GOPer in each house of congress votes with us on all issues. Now look at the percentage of times the most conservative democrat votes with the GOP. You'll find that the most conservative democrat is still more liberal then even a moderate conservative. Sure a conservative democrat can frustrate us more at times, like Ben Nelson of Nebraska, but we make out better in the end with Ben Nelson representing Nebraska rather then another Grassley for example. I mean look at the Stimulus vote, no republicans voted for it, and all but like 9 democrats out of like I don't know almost 300 in all of congress voted for it, including most of the blue dogs.

[mikekohr]

47. You are right! We would be far better off with Republicans controlling Congress, the Supreme Court,

and McCain/Palin the executive branch.

WTF

[Romulox]

48. "50 state strategy" = rightwingers control BOTH parties.

We won! We won! We won! (now why do the Republicans still control the agenda?)

[SidneyCarton]

49. Absolutely right!

So much easier to maintain ideological purity in the minority. It also absolves us of the responsibility to achieve anything, leaving us plenty of time to do what we excel at, making broad ideological pronouncements, and criticizing the Republicans.

By all means, let's give control of Congress back to the Republicans in 2010, all this responsibility is harming my calm. :smoke:


For those who are irony impaired... this post is meant as: :sarcasm:

[tritsofme]

50. No no no, you don't understand Dean = Good, Rahm = Evil

That's how these discussions are supposed to go.