What the press doesn't get about Howard Dean, via the American Prospect
An interesting op-ed from TAP states that Dean's appeal is mainly emotional:
"But to see Dean's appeal to hard-shell Democrats as chiefly ideological is to miss entirely what's important about his presence in this race. His appeal is mainly emotional. He is telling beleaguered party loyalists -- sick to death of counting up their party leaders' wretched misjudgments and capitulations over the last two years -- that here is one Democrat who wasn't a part of that train wreck and who just isn't afraid of Republicans. This is why Dean matters. When he says, "I'm here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party," there is, to be sure, an ideological element to it; but it's a phrase laced with far more electricity than ideology."
While I'll admit that Dean's passion is what drew me to support him in the first place, I don't think that is all there is to it. Once you get past the fiery rhetoric and actually start investigating his record and his positions, you realise there is a lot more to this candidate than meets the eye. Dr. Dean has a proven record in Vermont, both fiscally and socially. He carries none of the Washington baggage that is dragging down most of the other Democratic contenders. And when he speaks, you get the sense that he is an honest, forthright man. All those things are what draws me to support him. What is it about Dean that gets you fired up?
"But to see Dean's appeal to hard-shell Democrats as chiefly ideological is to miss entirely what's important about his presence in this race. His appeal is mainly emotional. He is telling beleaguered party loyalists -- sick to death of counting up their party leaders' wretched misjudgments and capitulations over the last two years -- that here is one Democrat who wasn't a part of that train wreck and who just isn't afraid of Republicans. This is why Dean matters. When he says, "I'm here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party," there is, to be sure, an ideological element to it; but it's a phrase laced with far more electricity than ideology."
While I'll admit that Dean's passion is what drew me to support him in the first place, I don't think that is all there is to it. Once you get past the fiery rhetoric and actually start investigating his record and his positions, you realise there is a lot more to this candidate than meets the eye. Dr. Dean has a proven record in Vermont, both fiscally and socially. He carries none of the Washington baggage that is dragging down most of the other Democratic contenders. And when he speaks, you get the sense that he is an honest, forthright man. All those things are what draws me to support him. What is it about Dean that gets you fired up?
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