Seattle Weekly: Watch Howard Dean
Jonathan Raban, a British writer living in Seattle has an entire column in Seattle's largest weekly on the war in Iraq and the peculiar nature of the pacific northwest's "emerald city." He makes some interesting observations, and then takes off on Gov. Howard Dean:
"There is also much anger with the Democrats for failing to provide any articulate leadership in the war on (not with) Iraq. To many of its traditional supporters, the party appears to have been gutlessly complaisant in its bipartisan stance. But something interesting happened on Feb. 21, when the present crop of presidential hopefuls paraded in front of the Democratic National Committee in what several reporters likened to a beauty pageant. Joe Lieberman made a speech so flat that his candidacy may well have died in that moment. Richard Gephardt boasted of making common cause with the Bush administration on Iraq, and was met with cries of “Shame!” but went on to outline his domestic policy and won a series of standing ovations. Then came Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont."
“I’m Howard Dean, and I’m here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. . . . What I want to know is why in the world the Democratic Party leadership is supporting the president’s unilateral attack on Iraq.”
We've all seen and heard the line by now, but he goes on to insist that Seattle (and by default, Washington State) is Dean country. He concludes with one sentence: "Watch Howard Dean."
This kind of column is terrific. It fires up the activists and should help contributions from that part of the country.
"There is also much anger with the Democrats for failing to provide any articulate leadership in the war on (not with) Iraq. To many of its traditional supporters, the party appears to have been gutlessly complaisant in its bipartisan stance. But something interesting happened on Feb. 21, when the present crop of presidential hopefuls paraded in front of the Democratic National Committee in what several reporters likened to a beauty pageant. Joe Lieberman made a speech so flat that his candidacy may well have died in that moment. Richard Gephardt boasted of making common cause with the Bush administration on Iraq, and was met with cries of “Shame!” but went on to outline his domestic policy and won a series of standing ovations. Then came Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont."
“I’m Howard Dean, and I’m here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. . . . What I want to know is why in the world the Democratic Party leadership is supporting the president’s unilateral attack on Iraq.”
We've all seen and heard the line by now, but he goes on to insist that Seattle (and by default, Washington State) is Dean country. He concludes with one sentence: "Watch Howard Dean."
This kind of column is terrific. It fires up the activists and should help contributions from that part of the country.
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