Nation-Building

Adam Nagourney is not my favorite New York Times reporter. That would be Judith Miller (just kidding!) His political analysis often just echoes the latest spin put out by the Bush administration or the DLC. His article today, however, says some accurate things about Dean, so before I get to the sardonic ridicule, let us praise the following excerpts from the article:

The unorthodox character of Dr. Dean's candidacy — and the nature of his support from men and women who have been drawn into politics for the first time by his candidacy — has turned Dr. Dean into a difficult target for conventional political attacks.
....
What is increasingly clear, several Democrats said, is that primary voters are not likely to choose someone who is promising to run a nuanced campaign against Mr. Bush. Dr. Dean has set the tone on that, as he made clear again today.

"John Ashcroft is not a patriot," he said, referring to the attorney general's advocacy of the Patriot Act. "John Ashcroft is a descendant of Joseph McCarthy."

Harsh or not, Dr. Dean's attacks on Mr. Bush have heartened Democratic audience, and the pitch of attacks on Mr. Bush by other Democrats has increased with each new sign of Dr. Dean's success.

OK, time for ridicule. Here's the thesis of the article:

The race for the Democratic presidential nomination shifts into a more intense phase this Labor Day weekend, with some party leaders worried about the strength of their field of candidates and fearful of what they view as President Bush's huge advantage going into next year's election.

Lo and behold, through the miracle of Nexis, we find that Nagourney has previously written many articles about how tremendously difficult it will be for the Democrats to defeat President Bush ... in 1992. A few choice bits from his 1991 articles in USA Today:

March 22 --

Battered and facing a bleak future, Democratic Party leaders meet in Washington today in search of a way to shift voters' attention from the Persian Gulf to the economy.

State party leaders say their only hope for defeating President Bush in 1992 rests on a continued deterioration of the economy.
....
Still, the signs do not bode well for the party that has won just one of the past six presidential elections.

Bush's popularity has soared to record levels because of the war.

August 8 --

What once was shrugged off by Democrats as a passing gust of the political winds - the absence of heavyweight challengers to President Bush - is now looming as a major political embarrassment.
....
The way things are shaping up, the Democrats could easily end up with only two viable candidates: Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, both little-known outside their states. The third, and only announced candidate, is ex-Massachusetts senator Paul Tsongas, whose campaign has yet to catch on.
....
Still, the lack of interest only reinforces the notion that Bush is unbeatable.

August 21 --

During times of international turmoil, voters are reluctant to turn out presidents. Further, Democrats acknowledge that Bush is now in his element - viewed as a strong president needed to stand up to a renewed Soviet menace.
....
To make matters worse, the turmoil spotlights the holes in the foreign policy resumes of Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder, New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and former Masschuasetts senator Paul Tsongas.

It must be easy being a political reporter these days--you don't have to come up with any new story ideas, since you just can just pull up those articles from Bush I's re-election campaign and search-and-replace the Democrats' names. You don't even have to change the incumbent president's name. What a cushy gig!

Continue reading/discuss Deja vu ...

This one's hot off the email presses. *smile* Texas state volunteer coordinator Glen Maxey conveys some good news to our wonderful Texas volunteers:

At the LBJ Birthday BBQ sponsored by the Hays County Democratic Party, Dean swept the first Texas straw poll organized by an official Party organization.
(If you're out of state, this is the County between Austin and San Antonio where LBJ went to college and taught. For those who lived through Monday's Sleepless Tour, it's where Dean switched buses!)
What's so great about this: We didn't EVEN try to pack the meeting. This was ALL local San Marcos and Hays County folks!!!
Dean 62%
Kucinich 12%
Clark 6%
Edwards 5%
Undecided 4%
Gephardt 4%
Kerry 4%
Lieberman 2%
Graham 2%

Continue reading/discuss Dean sweeps first Texas straw poll ...

AFSCME, the public employees union of over 1.4 million members, has a new Presidential Straw Poll up on its website:

http://www.afscme.org/vote/index.html

Head over now to vote for Howard Dean, and be sure and pass the link along to friends!

Continue reading/discuss New Straw Poll ...

Little new information for Deanyboppers in this impressionistic first-person, all-about-me-the-journalist profile in the LA Weekly, and it's too steeped in political details to be good reading for the Dean neophyte. One bit is notable:

When I ask Dean about Clark, his response is characteristically two-fold. He praises him with sincere fervor: “I know Wes Clark, he’s a very good human being, and he’s got an enormous amount of integrity.” At the same time, on the subject of Clark entering the race, he shows more than a glint of steel. “It’s going to be very hard to start late,” he says, “and think you’re going to do well in Iowa and New Hampshire. It’s going to be incredibly hard. I mean, we’ve already got 39,000 people working for us all around the country . . . I really do believe — and I think about this — I want to get this nomination, and if I don’t . . . these kids are not transferrable. I can’t just go out and say, ‘Okay, so I didn’t win the nomination, so go ahead and vote for the Democrats.’ They’re not going to suddenly just go away. That’s not gonna happen.”

So will Clark run? Like many Dean enthusiasts, I like many things about Clark, chiefly the fact that his positions on the major issues mirror Dean's. However, I have deep concerns about a Clark candidacy.

First, unlike Dean, Clark is an unproven campaigner. He has zero experience in the world of electoral politics. He has never run for office or raised money for a campaign. While he might do fine at these tasks, we just don't know.

Dean's comment in the LA Weekly article points to another concern--that the passion he's generated won't be transferable to another candidate. This is certainly true for the other current candidates for the Democratic nomination. But I think many Dean supporters would embrace Clark with enthusiasm in the main election.

What is most worrisome is the danger that Clark could draw some energy away from Dean's campaign without generating enough to achieve lift-off himself. It's possible to imagine scenarios under which Clark enters the race, neither Dean or Clark win Iowa and New Hampshire, and then Kerry ends up getting the nomination. While I'd certainly support Kerry in the general election, I think he would be a weak candidate against Bush.

Despite rumors to the contrary, I'd wager Clark won't enter the race. He's a smart guy. He won't risk a nearly guaranteed VP or Cabinet spot for a gamble at the presidency. He can run in 2012.

I also doubt the speculation that Dean will declare Clark his VP choice before the primaries. While Dean would have everything to gain from such a move, Clark would have everything to lose. Like the methodical military man he is, he'll keep his options open. That's my read of the tea leaves. How do you see it?

Continue reading/discuss LA Weekly Profile & Clark ...

Highlights:

There's not a lot of magic on Howard Dean's plane. For the crowds at the rallies, it's all excitement and energy and red meat. For those of us on the plane--reporters and campaign staffers alike--it's all cramped airline seats, bag lunches, warm sodas, and uncomfortable bus rides to the rallies. When we do make it to a hotel, we only score about three or four hours of sleep before we board Dean's chartered 1960s-era 737, dubbed the "Grassroots Express." It is a grueling pace. On the plane, Dean admits the schedule is tiring. He's able to draw energy from his growing throngs of energized supporters. Unfortunately, I'm not.

Still, there is some fun to be had on the Grassroots Express. As the already bedraggled press corps is being checked through security on the tarmac of Portland International Airport on Saturday after- noon, twenty four hours and four cities into into the tour, Dean stands off to the side mimicking his most distinctive stump-speech gestures for one of the photographers who now chronicle his every public move. He raises his arms from his side into a two-thumbs-up pose while mouthing, "You have the power," the signature slogan he shouts repeatedly to close many of his campaign appearances. The rest of the press waiting to board the chartered 737 watches the spectacle and titters. Then Dean stops, chuckling at the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
....
The Grassroots Express carries a rotating cast of roughly 30 members of the media at any given time. There are reporters from major newspapers, Eleanor Clift from Newsweek, and a guy from Time, a slew of television people, and a woman making a documentary for HBO about the presidential candidates. A guy from Rolling Stone hops on board part way through the tour, as does one from the New Yorker. There are three alt-weekly guys, including myself, on the trip.
....
"Seeing all those people out there [in Seattle]," Dean said. "The enormity of it all really struck me. For the first time I realized what it really means to be President of the United States--seeing all those people out there, counting on you."

Continue reading/discuss Profile in The Stranger, a Seattle weekly ...

by way of Tacitus, is this article on the continuing oppression in Cuba of political dissidents:

Another important Cuban economist that Fidel has sentenced to his gulag is 58-year-old Marta Beatriz Roque. This courageous woman has already done years in the slammer for authoring, with three others, a paper discussing Cuba's economic problems. She is gravely ill with a heart condition and has lost more than 40 pounds.

Oscar Elias Biscet is a devout Christian and a pacifist whose work to teach Cubans about the Universal Human Rights Declaration riles Castro. He was arrested in March and no one has been allowed to see him since April. In a June 1 letter to his family he described his first 37 days in jail: "They took away all my personal belongings including my underwear and led me to a dark and dirty cell with the only ventilation consisting of the soot and petroleum smoke coming from the prison kitchen."

Librado Linares lived in the province of Villa Clara and became a threat to Castro because he had such success in organizing intellectuals and activists. He also led humanitarian efforts like lunch programs for the elderly. He has played an important role in the national dissident movement. He was the first person arrested in March and is in solitary confinement.

Roberto De Miranda is the head of Cuba's Association of Independent Teachers, which seeks to provide education without ideology. He is also "guilty" of involvement in Cuba's grass-roots democracy movement known as the Varela Project. Mr. De Miranda has a very serious heart condition and has suffered at least one heart attack in prison. As with the others, his living conditions are not fit for an animal.

Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva, a blind human-rights lawyer and a Christian, has been in prison without trial since March 2001. The regime now accuses him of self-mutilation. In a letter he corrects the record and appeals to the U.N. Human Rights Commission. "In the 16 months I have been confined in this dreadful place, I have suffered the most savage physical and psychological tortures . . . to force me to become a collaborator of the State Security," including, he says, attacks by the common criminal prisoners.

Dean's position on Cuba has evolved, but is still consistent with his unvarying principle, that foreign policy should have a moral component:

I will not divide the world into us versus them. Rather, I will rally the world around fundamental principles of decency, responsibility, freedom, and mutual respect. Our foreign and military policy must be about the notion of America leading the world not America against the world.

In that context, his initial support for lifting the Cuban embargo was based on the assumption that increased flow of American goods would allow increased flow of American values to Cuba - and generate a pressure upon Castro to increase freedom (much as has been occurring in Iran, where the transmitters of our cultural freedoms is largely the Internet and satellite TV).

However, in the wake of Castro's recent crackdowns, it is clear that a hard line is needed in the short term. I personally disagree with Dean and I think that the embargo should be lifted regardless, but I respect the position Dean has adopted because it is not black and white.

Characterizing Dean's stance as a flip-flop, however, is a gross mischaracterization. The underlying principle is the same: fostering liberty in Cuba. And our trade and foreign policy must be used as instruments of that goal. These levers are not monotonic - they can be applied and they can be lessenned, much as the Fed can both raise or lower interest rates as needed to adapt to a changing economy. Being wedded to embargo or wedded to its abolishment is to limit our freedom of action, and ultimately serves domestic political needs rather than foreign policy and the promotion of freedom and our values abroad.

The Cubans in Cuba should not be held hostage to the whims and demands of the Cubans in Miami.

Continue reading/discuss Cuba: moral litmus test ...

Tacitus defends Dean:

A phrase I thought I'd never write, there. But seriously, what's the big deal in shifting some positions during a race? The positions in question, according to Jim VandeHei's WaPo piece, don't even seem to be particularly central ones: The Cuba embargo? The Social Security retirement age? Don't get me wrong, I care about the former (it's a moral litmus test of American foreign policy), and rather less about the latter; but neither are driving questions of the age. God help me for sounding like Atrios, but this does seem like a press-concocted issue.

It's hardly an endorsement, and his assertion that Dean has never been a straight-shooter is probably based on misinformation than anything else, but it's still a nice gesture.

It would be nice to have a debate with a principled conservative about trade issue, the Cuba embargo, and other topics. Tacitus' comment boards are reknowned for their civility, research, and intelligence. I encourage Dean Nationites to head over to Tac and engage him in discussion, but trolls be forewarned: you'll be banned from Dean Nation if you try to screw with him.

Continue reading/discuss Tacitus defends Dean ...

The Washington Post's Jim VandeHei is jumping on the bandwagon of Dean's opponents, charging that now that Dean is the "frontrunner" he is changing his positions on the issues. The article specifically cites three key items: 1) the public financing issue; 2) Social Security; and 3) the trade embargo in Cuba.

I think it's fair to say that most of us realize this has the fingerprints of rival campaigns all over it. They're trying to tear into Dean's straight-talking image.

"He has sold himself as the straight-shooting candidate, the truth-teller, the one who will say what's hard and unpopular," said Jim Jordan, campaign manager for presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.). "In truth, he's a very crafty politician, very calculating."

Thanks, Jim. We know you think he's crafty (he's leading you guys by 21 points in NH!).

It serves to remind the other campaigns AND the pundits, that Dean has not made a final decision on this issue. The attempt to raise the issue now is a red herring in a vain attempt to discredit Dean. However, were he to change his position, it is simply in light of a) the reality of the Bush fundraising juggernaut, and b) the power of the American people to reclaim the broken political financing systemt through small, individual donations.

The reality is that six months ago none of the candidates could have imagined they would be in a position to forego public financing through small contributions and individual donors - without accepting big money from special interests. Kerry's team is angry because they could do it only by tapping the Heinz fortune and funding the campaign himself - hardly a legitimate show of strength - in an attempt to buy the election outright. And, isn't that what public financing is really all about? It's about not buying elections through individual and special interest wealth. Dean is now in a position to demonstrate that individual Americans still have an important role in American politics. That small contributions count, and can offset advantages to incumbency and the vastly disproportionate amount of influence that wealth begets. That is the point, folks. This is not a "flip-flop" so much as it is a door opening for everyday Americans to exercise some control over politics again. And, let's not forget that George W. Bush has already declared he will circumvent the public finance system in order to ensure his fundraising advantage. It makes sense that the Democratic nominee would factor that into their decision about whether or not to accept public financing.

On Social Security, Dean made a mistake by engaging Kucinich in a debate and denying that he ever considered raising the age requirement for Social Security benefits. He did... as Governor of Vermont about 6-8 years ago! Big deal... back then we did have to consider everything from means testing, to the age requirements, and it was not a radical idea at that time. However, as Dean points out, Clinton showed that budgets can be balanced and Social Security can remain solvent through other, fiscally responsible means (LIKE A SOUND TAX POLICY!). Thus, he has been saying in this campaign that the Social Security age requirements should remain where they are. Makes sense to me, and his consistent message on this during this campaign is probably why he slipped during the debate in responding to Kucinich. Note to the campaign: stop responding to Kucinich. He's not a viable candidate, and his role at this point is to try to cut into Dean (although, at this point, I suppose that's everyone's role!).

Finally, on Cuba. Dean has been saying that he favors lifting aspects of the embago for humanitarian aid, etc. Due to recent events and some of Castro's recent "trials" for political opponents, Dean wants to look carefully at that before taking any action. Sounds reasonable to me... where's the beef with not wanting to reward dictators for bad behavior? This is also consistent with his recent positions on holding nations responsible for violating human rights when it comes to trade agreements and/or MFN status. This position is clearly compatible with Democratic values.

A few well-placed letters to editors on any or all of these issues would be timely, take the initiative away from Dean's opponents, and help set the record straight.

Continue reading/discuss Dean Opponents Taking Aim... ...

WASHINGTON--President Bush's campaign--expected to dwarf Democratic hopefuls by raising $200 million or more for the primaries, with no GOP rival--is appealing for donations by portraying Bush as a fund-raising underdog who won't have enough cash to defend himself against Democratic attacks.

''Democrats and their allies will have more money to spend attacking the president during the nomination battle than we will have to defend him,'' campaign chairman Marc Racicot wrote in the fund-raising e-mail sent Wednesday night. ''If you need more convincing the president needs your help, consider what the Democrats are saying. The race is just starting, but their rhetoric is already red-hot.''

NOTE: Oh, Please. What a load of crap is this! -- and ya --- get worried, Mark, worry Dude, worry, Dude. (Thanks to Wayne Alvarez (again) in Santa Barbara, CA for the link.)

Continue reading/discuss Ridiculous Bush-Crap Again ...

We've got a few additions to the Deanroll this week.
First, there's Expats4Dean. They're working hard to publicise Dean meetups being held abroad, and I'm told they'll be helping Americans abroad obtain their absentee ballots.
Second, we've got a Song for America. You might have seen Bryan's post over on the O-Blog comments section, but if not, there you go. Oh, and there's also People-Powered Howard, sent in by Marcus Ehrlander.
And I was cleaning out my email box (currently I have over 1100 messages in there) and found an old email with a link I need to plug. Please allow me to apologize for not posting One Student, One Vote for Dean earlier than today.
Next, I'd like to spotlight the First Primary Blog. They bill themselves as "news, views, rumors, humor and analysis ahead of the nations first primary".
We've also got The Moderate Republican, who is affiliated with Republicans for Dean.
And now for a humorous link. "America's Best Christian", Betty Bowers, is hawking Dean merchandise on her site.
I'll update the template over the weekend to include all these links. If anyone else has a new Dean site, leave it in the comments section.

update: ARG! Too much email... Here's one more: Seniors for Dean.

Continue reading/discuss New additions to the Deanroll ...

The Democrats' unhappiness is even more evident when contrasted with the positive feelings Republicans have for their party. Fully 57% of Republicans believe the GOP is doing an excellent or good job of advocating traditional party positions like cutting taxes and promoting conservative social values. In May 2002, 55% of Republicans gave the party high marks for standing up for core principles.

Among Democrats, liberals have become especially unhappy with the party's performance in standing up for traditional principles, and this has led to a large ideological gap within the party over this issue. In May 2001, near the beginning of Bush's term, roughly the same numbers of liberal and conservative Democrats expressed satisfaction with how well the party was doing in this area (48% of liberals, 45% of conservatives). But today, just 31% of liberal Democrats say the party has done an excellent or good job of advocating traditional positions. [...]

Since July, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has made somewhat larger gains than the other candidates. His name recognition is up nine points (from 37% to 46%), and among those who have heard of Dean, 41% say there is a "good" or "some" chance they would vote for him, up from 32% in July. But Dean continues to trail Sen. Joe Lieberman (50%), Sen. John Kerry (47%) and Rep. Dick Gephardt (45%) in terms of potential support. Most voters (54%), including 55% of Democrats and Democratic leaners, have still not heard of Dean.Lieberman, Gephardt and Kerry have much greater name recognition, among all voters and among Democrats. Candidate visibility and support - as well as other opinions measured in this survey - did not change significantly over the course of the polling period.

NOTE: We got some work to do! Thanks to Dean National Patience for the link.

Continue reading/discuss Hey-Hey ...

Slate covers the draft-dodger allegation today. I think William and Ben did a pretty good job of presenting Dean's side of the case, so I won't go on the attack here. The story in a nutshell is that Dean received a 1-Y deferrment, meaning that he could only be called up as a last resort recruit. Dean's unfused vertebrae prevent him from running long distances, especially while packing a heavy load (military gear can weigh upwards of 50 pounds). Obviously this condition - which is congenital - would prevent him from participating in combat operations. The bottom line is that the US Government gave him that classification. Dean's family didn't pull any strings. It is what it is and it's a non-story as far as I'm concerned. And if this is the "worst of Howard Dean" then I think we're doing pretty good.
But what pundits keep bringing up is the ski trip and Dean's summer job pouring concrete. Let's be frank here. None of that matters. Dean was called in for the physical and received the deferrment. He didn't dodge the draft or use his daddy's connections to get a sweet spot in the National Guard. In addition, he didn't go AWOL or desert his post in Alabama like our current "Commander" in Chief. I find it hypocritical of the So-Called-Liberal-Media to be making such hay out of Dean's government assigned deferrment when they didn't bother to even question Bush. Not only did he desert his unit, but he refused to release an unedited copy of his DD214 (discharge papers) like McCain and Gore did in 2000. So really, if the SCLM wants to go there, I say "bring it on". Dean fulfilled the draft request and was refused. Bush got his daddy to get him a spot in the national guard, then didn't bother to fulfill his obligation.

update: Chris Anderson nails it in the comments section:

I think it is important, when this topic comes up, to point out that Dean got his 1-Y deferrment as the result of an INDUCTION physical. This is the physical that is given to new inductees immediately prior to being sent off to boot camp. In other words, Dean showed up ready and willing to do his duty. It was the army that turned him down.

Continue reading/discuss Dean is no draft dodger, but Bush is a deserter ...

Kos has some good news on the labor front. He thinks it is possible that the SEIU would endorse Dean. The SEIU is the largest, most diverse union in the country. And they're organizing like crazy. He also raises the possibility of a CWA endorsement of Dean and an AFSCME endorsement of Kerry (although that gets talked up a little less).

These events would be huge, not just because of what the SEIU and CWA could to help Dean's campaign, but because it would remove the spected of the AFL-CIO endorsing Gephardt in October.

In addition, such an endorsement would be a powerful signal that Dean can unite the party. These unions are diverse and if they're willing to join the Dean movement, it would be yet another sign that Dean is the candidate who can take the Dems to victory next year.

Continue reading/discuss Good News on the Labor Front ...

Well, I think us and the DDF have yet another task at hand. From yesterday's Hardball with Chris Matthews and punditry from Howard Fineman:

MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about the unnamed Democrat. It looks to me like in all polling we’ve seen today, pouring in the door, Howard Dean has, as John Zogby said on the show last night, the great pollster-and he is great-said he’s got a ticket to Boston (for) the Democratic convention. Is it that good for Dean right now?
FINEMAN: Well, I, too, don’t see the ceiling on Dean yet. OK?
MATTHEWS: But he’s still growing.
FINEMAN: But he’s still growing. And it’s still a growth stock.
But the thing is, it is still not Labor Day. And September, October, November, December, January before the voting begins. As the frontrunner, it’s a whole different dynamic and people are going to be taking pot shots. And what’s happening now is what’s left of the Democratic Party (NOTE: Fineman sucks up to Matthews on the show every week, and seems much different than he does in Newsweek. Does he need therapy?) is looking for the un-Dean or the non-Dean.
MATTHEWS: Who will be ABD? Anybody but Dean? Will it be John Kerry?
FINEMAN: I don’t know who it will be. I’m not sure. People sort of don’t want the role necessarily. They want somebody else to take it on first so they can come in behind.
MATTHEWS: OK. Let me ask you why it might be John Kerry.
FINEMAN: Other people, by the way, are looking for Kerry to take him on, which is probably going to happen. (NOTE: Hey, bring it on -- every single time Kerry mentions us, our numbers go up!)
MATTHEWS: Let me suggest why it might have to be ABD if you want to stop Dean. That is, the first contest is in Iowa. He’s now, according to our polling we showed tonight, ahead there. He’s clearly ahead by 20 some points in New Hampshire. By the way, he’s killing Dick Gephardt in Iowa, his home area.
FINEMAN: He’s ahead by four points, Chris.
MATTHEWS: Over the guy closest to him. OK. But isn’t he, if he wins both of those (IA and NH) , unstoppable? (NOTE: YES, he is!)
FINEMAN: I think pretty close to it, the way...
MATTHEWS: If Gephardt is going to stop him in one of those two places...
FINEMAN: ... stop him in one of those two place, I think you’re right. But I’m not sure necessarily that Kerry is the one in New Hampshire, necessarily, to do it. It is too early to say that yet. And it’s also too early to write a ticket to Boston, because this is now going to be about Dean. And as one person close to Dean told me just earlier today, the biggest obstacle for Howard Dean could be Howard Dean.
MATTHEWS: How so?
FINEMAN: Well, because...
MATTHEWS: Give me some dirt.
FINEMAN: Well, because they’re going to line up, not the dirt, but the statements and the actions as governor and his statements in the campaign. He’s been repositioning himself rather carefully in a sophisticated but attackable way. He’s taking different positions on different things. As governor and as a candidate...
MATTHEWS: Everything you say reminds me of Jimmy Carter back in ’75 and ’76, a man who clearly distinguished himself in the Democratic pack, became focused when everybody else was getting to be a blur.
FINEMAN: Right.
MATTHEWS: Mondale, Scoop Jackson, George Wallace. All those guys got beaten. That seems to be what’s happening here. He’s becoming the Jimmy Carter of 2003 and 2004. (NOTE: Hey, at least the McGovern meme is dead!)
FINEMAN: It could be and hear the anger. With Carter it was anger against the Washington system.
MATTHEWS: Right.
FINEMAN: There’s a lot of similarity to that. And Dean has patterned his campaign and his candidacy after Jimmy Carter more than anybody else.
MATTHEWS: We’ve got to get Hal and Jordan (NOTE: I think he meant Ham Jordan, the transcripter was confused I suppose) on the show to talk about it, because Jordan would understand the similarities. He’s probably rooting for the guy.

Continue reading/discuss ABD: Anybody But Dean ...

Okay, this last week I was asking "blog or food? blog or food?" and I chose to eat. Apologies, but to be honest, the only person worthy of a Backbone Award was not my personal favorite pick -- and I've been doing 12-hour-days on a last-minute contract job, and it simply did not happen. So, I'm thinking: Backbone is only awarded when fully warranted by Dean National enthusiasm, and your nominations and votes make all the difference. Does someone deserve it this week? Nominate away...as Yoda would say "Do -- or do not. There is no try."

Continue reading/discuss Backbone Award: Nominations Etc. ...

CSPAN: New York Rally, Bryant Park

Continue reading/discuss video: Sleepless in New York ...

Jim Henley, libertarian stalwart, writes of the libertarian fear that a vote for Dean is a vote for higher taxes and a bigger federal government:

Of course, a vote for Bush is also a vote for greater federal spending and a bigger federal government. Taxes are, for the moment, lower. How long will that continue with a budget deficit approaching half a trillion dollars? Not long, I think, which is why I opposed so many of the Bush policies (and non-policies) that have contributed to the deficit. A vainglorious war, a complete lack of spending restraint, the elimination of not a single substantial federal program in three years, expansion of existing entitlements - well, it adds up.

And steel tariffs. And catfish import bans. And yadda yadda yadda. Two factors are at work here: the issues on which conservatives and libertarians have never agreed have become more salient, and on the issues where conservatives and libertarians traditionally have agreed - taxes, trade, federalism - conservatives increasingly suck. Having abandoned the substance of limited government since early in the Gingrich "revolution," conservatives increasingly eschew even the rhetoric of limited government. Animosity aside, they're just no use to libertarians any more.

All this will change again six months into the Dean administration.

It's a good day for Dean in the Blogsphere - righty-OxBlog blogger David Adesnik also has a spirited defense of Dean from the "birkenstock liberal" typing of the NYT. So-Called Liberal Media indeed!

Continue reading/discuss what use to libertarians? ...

Briefing for FTZF from Not Geniuses follows:

Talking Points

This is where it gets good. Today is "Unstable Stewardship Friday" and we're taking the Bushies to task for their anti-environmental policies:

• Bush's EPA is claiming that they can't regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act
• Mike Leavitt, Bush's nominee for EPA Chief, is refusing to state his views on environmental issues out of respect to the Senate. We thought maybe he was just taking cues from Bush's judicial nominees who realized that it is best for rabid partisans to keep mum. Oh yeah, and when he was elected Governor, he fired 75 government employees who worked for a state agency that had caught his family breaking the law. Not that there's anything wrong with, um, spiteful retribution by elected officials.
• The Bush Administration is particularly fond of leaving nuclear waste near major supplies of drinking water, recently asking Congress to overturn a court ruling barring them from endangering people's water.
• OK, I'll admit it, that last link is to the Natural Resource Defense Council's page on The Bush Record. And they're getting paid to do this and they're good. You gotta gripe or environmental topic of choice. They'll have it researched.

Click the link to the Action Center (courtesy GWBUSH'04) and start writing letters!

Continue reading/discuss Flood the Zone Friday: Unstable Stewardship ...

The National Review Online has launched a blistering attack against Howard Dean. But all it shows is how scared they're getting. The Dean Defense Forces are all over it, and I suggest you go check it out. The poll numbers that we found while rebutting the argument make it supremely obvious how extreme this Administration is and how mainstream Howard Dean is. Click on the title to go to the Dean Defense Forces rebuttal.

Continue reading/discuss The Right is Getting Scared ...

It's not statistically significant, but we're still up, and there's no denying that.

Dean 25
Gep 21
Kerr-dog 16
Lieberman 12
Edwards 6
Clark 3
Graham 1
Kucinich 1
Braun 0
Sharpton 0

Apparently, that leaves 17% undecided. This race is not as clearly tiered as NH and it is still relatively open.

Continue reading/discuss We're up 25-21 in Iowa ...

Wow, the news is just pouring in today! We've gotten another endorsement, this time from former 6th District Congressman Berkley Bedell. He'll formally announce his support at a Labor Day event this weekend.

"I believe that Gov. Howard Dean understands the issues and values we face here in Iowa," said Bedell. "He comes from a state where he balanced the budget, protected the environment and created jobs." A Spirit Lake native, Bedell represented the 6th District from 1974 to 1986.

In addition, while we were in San Antonio we picked up endorsements from two of the Killer Ds! I couldn't find a news article that mentioned the first one, but the honorable Ruth McClendon Jones of San Antonio gave her endorsement at La Villita. Also endorsing was State Representative Mike Villarreal. Mike gave a fantastic speech that contained some really good digs at Bush:

Do you want someone in the attorney general's office that doesn't scare you?" "Yeah!"
"Do you want an election, not an appointment?" "Yeah!"
"Do you want a president who can pass a TAKS exam?" "Yeah!" *note - that's our statewide standardised test

By now I'm sure you're aware of the Nadler endorsement that took place at the NYC rally. I really enjoyed what Nadler said about securing our ports and how the EPA lied about the air in NYC after 9/11. Nadler is a great representative for Manhattan. Also in the article is news that Judith Hope, former chairwoman of the state's Democratic Party, is also supporting Dean.
Now who claimed we were peaking too early? *wink*

Continue reading/discuss Endorsements for Dean ...

Op-ed by Robert Reeves on Hillary Clinton's possible entry into the race for the Dem nod:

Not for the record, though, Hillary and her advisers, including her husband the ex-president, her money men and pollsters, will meet shortly after Labor Day -- Sept. 6, I hear -- to discuss whether she should go for it. It is a decision that has to be made earlier rather than later because of November and December filing deadlines for the early primary elections that will almost certainly (and very quickly) identify the 2004 Democratic nominee. [...]

And polling could drive Hillary's decision, beginning with Bush's popularity ratings. On her own side, Democratic polls right now show Kerry, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, former House majority leader Richard Gephardt and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean as the Democratic leaders, each of them with 15 or 20 percent of the Democratic vote nationally. Throw Hillary's name into those polls and she gets between 37 percent of the vote (ABC News poll) and 48 percent (Quinnipac Institute).

Kerry and the rest drop to single digits. Unfair? Of course. If Bush is in trouble, Kerry and Dean could be the Gene McCarthys of their generation if Hillary decides to be Bobby.

All I can say is hmmm. (Thanks to Dean National Wayne Alvarez for the link!)

Continue reading/discuss Yikes! Is Hillary In? ...

Via the O-Blog, a reference to the Get Local site. It's a rally for Dean at the next Presidential debate. New Mexico, you can do it! There are already 45 registered participants. Let's see if we can get some more people signed up today.
This rally will coincide with the next Presidential debate, to be held on September 4 in Albuquerque. Venue and time are TBA. If you are in the Albuquerque area and want to receive updates, sign up here.

Continue reading/discuss New Mexico rally for Dean plus a DNC debate! ...

This is HUGE news. At a news conference this morning, 136 labor activists held a news conference. They endorsed Howard Dean. Tom Gillespie, president of the Iowa State Building and Trades Council, was among them. On Monday, ads will appear in the Des Moines Register. Part of the ad states that Dean is "the only candidate who will stand up for what we believe and isn't afraid of what Washington thinks."

"If we can afford to rebuild Iraq, then we can afford to rebuild our country," Gillespie said.

In response, Gephardt is already mischaracterising Dean's support of NAFTA. What Gephardt left out was Dean oft-repeated support for renegotiating those treaties to support worker and environmental protections in other countries. We are pushing hard in Iowa, folks. Look out for Gephardt's third-quarter numbers. I predict that if Dick doesn't make a strong financial showing, that the AFL-CIO will hold off on their expected endorsement. I also say that the AFL-CIO endorsement is anybody's to grab, but whomever receives it will have to possess three things: motivation, momentum, and money. And which candidate has that right now?

Continue reading/discuss Labor runs ads for Dean in Iowa ...

Since Trippi has revealed this strategy, it should be okay for me to talk about something I learned on the Grassroots Express. At the end of September, grassroots volunteers from across the country will descend on Iowa to participate in Dean Corps activities and canvass for Dean. If I'm lucky I will get to go to Iowa, although I've told our state coordinator that I've been really blessed lately and would gladly bow out to give someone else the chance to participate.
The Iowa trip is designed to build word of mouth and is specifically part of phase 2. We'll be doing some serious outreach events designed to maximise the effect of the volunteers we've organised online. We'll also be trying to reach the people who don't have net access and who may not have heard of Howard Dean. Basically, we'll be ambassadors to all those Iowa caucus voters. Those of us flying in from Texas are calling ourselves the Bushwackers. *smile*
If I get to go, I'll report from the road. I'll have my shiny new Dell laptop by then so my access will not be as spotty as it was on the road last weekend. If I don't get to go, I'll get someone else to send Dean Nation some road reports. Spread the word! Iowa, here come the Bushwackers!

Continue reading/discuss Here come the Bushwackers! ...

Speaking to reporters during a four-day national campaign swing, Dean said he supports rolling back the embargo in order to encourage human-rights advancements -- but citing Fidel Castro's recent crackdowns on dissidents, says that in recent months he has become convinced that ``we can't do it right now.''

Dean called Cuba a ''political question,'' and said that recent developments on the island would prevent him from his goal of ``constructive engagement of Cuba.''

''If you would have asked me six months ago, I would have said we should begin to ease the embargo in return for human-rights concessions,'' he said, responding to a question from a Herald reporter at a dinner Sunday night in Seattle. ``But you can't do it now because Castro has just locked up a huge number of human-rights activists and put them in prison and [held] show trials. You can't reward that kind of behavior if what you want to do is link human-rights behavior with foreign trade.''

This follows from his assertion of a moral-guided foreign policy. I don't think thhat human rights are as realistic a leverage when applied to China, but with Cuba it certainly is reasonable to make them a condition. Dean is demonstrating his adaptibility, not an ideological position on Cuba (whch is what almost everyone else does, in an attempt to maximize political gain with the Cuban exile bloc).

Continue reading/discuss Dean alters Cuba stand ...

Apparently Lieberman realized that insulting the entire Democratic primary electorate was not a good strategy (way to go Al and Bruce!), so he is now attacking Dean for his stance on gun control. The full story is up at DeanDefense.org (click the title). But we just wanted to highlight that if you don't think Dean has independent cred, think again. Lieberman is now attacking him for not kowtowing enough to interest groups.

Continue reading/discuss Lieberman attacks Dean from the Left! ...

There's a short piece in The American Prospect about the Falls Church rally which is positive overall, but makes a gross misstatement of Dean's intentions:

But Dean did make a subtle jab at Bill Clinton and Al Gore. "If you make me the Democratic nominee," Dean said, "I'll make you proud to vote Democratic again." OK, it's true that many of us were unhappy with Clinton's personal behavior (which we didn't fully know about in either the 1992 or 1996 elections), but as a president, Clinton's record is much stronger than Bush's has been. And while Gore may not have been Mr. Excitement, enough Democrats did vote for him in 2000 to put him in the White House.

Mary Lynn Jones has read far too much into the statement. It's beyond bizarre that she sees this at a dig at Clinton and Gore - and no Dean supporter needs a lesson in how Bush's presidency compares to 1992-2000. The idea that Dean's simple statement of defiance against the conservative mainstream - that we are proud to support Democrats, unlike the DLC which would prefer a retreat from liberal values - could be interpreted in such a fundamental way reeks of a "Stop Dean!" hail Mary. The Prospect needs to be notified of the error and the insult (paging the DDF!)

Continue reading/discuss The Prospect misinterprets pride for shame ...

... and avoid the flip-flop charge, courtesy Liberal Oasis:

The reality is, George Bush is planning to game the system.

Bush Inc. has said the campaign won’t abide by spending caps during the primary, but will during the general election.

(The Federal Election Commission distributes matching funds for the primary, and a straight-up grant for each eligible major-party candidate in the general election.)

The Bush plan sounds innocuous, since he doesn’t face anyone significant in the primary. But the trick is the primary period doesn’t end until the candidate is officially nominated. And the RNC pushed the nomination all the way to Sept. 2, past the traditional August date for the incumbent party.

Since Bush is aiming to raise upwards of $200M for the "primary," he can dump all of that during the winter, spring and summer.

Then, scoop up about $74M of taxpayer cash in the general election grant.

That’s a blatant bastardization of the system (though it produces no dismay, only jaw-dropping awe, from the political press corps.)

That gives any Dem, who can pull it off, legit grounds to opt-out of the public system that he or she supports in theory. Yet Dean was so adamant about public financing before. How can he escape being called a hypocrite? He’s made the Bush argument already. But if it looks like he’s trying to buy the primary, that argument won’t wash.

Here’s how he could solve the conundrum.

Formally opt-out of the primary matching funds system, so he can fundraise at will. But informally announce that he will not spend more than $44M – the estimated spending cap – in the actual primary contest. That way, he can’t be accused of unfairly drowning his Dem opponents in campaign cash, and violating the principle of public financing.

But he would be able to spend freely in the period between when he might effectively win the nomination, and technically accept it at the Dem convention in late July. That wouldn’t come close to buying the election. It’s just trying to keep pace with Bush Inc., trying to make it a fair fight.

And Dean, in particular, would still have the authenticity of being fueled primarily by small donors (while two-thirds of Bush donors have given the $2K max). Furthermore, the $44M move would also have a side benefit of imposing some spending discipline on the campaign during the primary.

I'm convinced. Bush is gaming the system, embracing the moneyed elites. Dean is sowing the grassroots, and imposing spending discipline on his campaign. Honor counts.

Continue reading/discuss How Dean can forego spending caps... ...

New Hampshire is ours:

Zogby International, an independent firm, is scheduled to release Wednesday a poll showing Dr. Dean leading in New Hampshire with 38 percent of the vote to 17 percent for Senator John Kerry.

Remember, Kerry's official candidacy announcement is being held in South Carolina. He's already effectively conceded NH.

Continue reading/discuss 38% in New Hampshire! ...

The Washington Post goes into more detail about Dean's expected fundraising:

But he is also spending money faster than any other candidate. Trippi said Dean will spend $1 million on new ads in key early primary states, including Wisconsin, New Mexico and Washington. By running ads so early in the process, Dean is hoping to build on the buzz surrounding his campaign and generate more money and supporters before rival campaigns get rolling. The other candidates are mostly holding back until after Labor Day, the unofficial start to the heavy campaigning season.
...
Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass) and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), who many leading Democrats consider Dean's toughest challengers for the nomination, will not come close to matching Dean this quarter, according to their campaign aides.

"We're not going to raise that -- that's for sure," said Steve Elmendorf, a top Gephardt adviser. But, "at the end of the day, money isn't everything."

Jim Jordan, Kerry's campaign manager, said Dean's fundraising has been an "impressive" feat his candidate cannot match. "We won't hit $10 million this quarter, and we don't need to."

It's astonishing to see other Presidential campaigns assert that money is not everything, and that they don't need it. I sense a reality distortion field.

I personally think $10 million is low, and $20M is too high. I predicted last quarter that Dean will hit the $15 million mark, and I stand by that estimate now, because with the summer ending, everything picks up. I think it will be close. Remember, my Meetup 100,000 by July estimate was only about a month off! current total: 91931.

Continue reading/discuss Dean to Top $10 Million for Quarter ...

The events of the past few days were sure to have roused Bush from his slumber, and shaken the other Democratic candidates out of their stupor. They all are now realizing that Dean is the man to beat! And the NYT summarizes just what kind of phenomenon that they face:

ive months before the first ballot is cast and 15 months before the last will be counted, Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, spent the past four days being ferried from rally to rally in a chartered jet as though in the heat of a head-to-head national campaign rather than in the nascent chapter of a long-shot bid in a crowded field. He hit states like Oregon that have little to do with nominations but could be crucial in a general election and all but ignored his Democratic rivals as he roused rabid audiences against their Republican nemesis, George W. Bush.

The staggering, seemingly spontaneous crowds turning up to meet him — about 10,000 in Seattle on Sunday and a similar number in Bryant Park in Manhattan last night — are unheard of in the days of the race when most candidates concentrate on the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire and would seem formidable even in October 2004.

Yesterday morning, the campaign took another audacious step, saying that it would broadcast television advertisements in six new states beginning on Friday, and that it expected to raise $10.3 million in the three months ending Sept. 30 — more than any other Democrat in a similar period save for President Bill Clinton in 1995.

It wasn't audacious, it was Joe-dacious! I would like to see Trippi get some kudos by the media for his role in making this happen.

Continue reading/discuss In a Long Presidential Race, Dean Sprints ...

President Bush: Dean Nation has spoken. And now it's Dean's turn, in Bryant Park. I recommend you listen carefully - for your next President has some things he needs to say to you. For all of us.

Continue reading/discuss WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS ...

ONLY $10,000 LEFT !!!!

Dean takes the stage in 20 minutes. Can Dean Nation help raise $500 a minute? I think we can. NOW is the time - let's push that Bat to $1M and beyond. We may not be i Bryant Park but Dean will hear Dean Nation ROAR nonetheless!!!!

Continue reading/discuss Give Dean $1M before he takes the stage!! ...

link above goes to CSPAN's website live feed - starting right now!

Continue reading/discuss CSPAN live coverage ...