Bell Curve The Law Talking Guy Raised by Republicans U.S. West
Well, he's kind of had it in for me ever since I accidentally ran over his dog. Actually, replace "accidentally" with "repeatedly," and replace "dog" with "son."

Friday, February 11, 2005

Howard Dean Redux

From today's Washington Post:
"The real message of my campaign was stand up for what you believe in and pursue the politics of conviction," Dean said. "That's frankly why George Bush was successful, because he gave the appearance that he had some deep-seated convictions. If you want to excite people in politics . . . you've got to be a party of convictions."

That's why Dean is a good leader for the Democratic party. The problem is not (anymore) money or seeming too liberal. It's seeming to stand for nothing at all. It's not being able to call out the Republicans from a solid place. If he does his job, the 2008 nominee will have an energized party with a solid message able to (1) ride the Republicans hard for their broken promises and (2) show that Republicans' "message" and "convictions" are too far to the right for the American people, and (3) show the American people that the Democrats represent their real values.

1 comment:

Raised By Republicans said...

I really hope that is what Howard Dean does. If he presides over a march to the left (which I don't see as neccessarily related to the "stand for something and stand up for your beliefs" agenda), it will be a disaster.

Dean has made a lot of comments about standing for things. But the only time I heard him talk about what things he stands for it involved giving more power to activists within the party. Since activists are usually more extreme in their positions than the voters who support the party, that is code for "march to the left."