Nation-Building

From the campaign... FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 19, 2003 STATEMENT BY GOVERNOR DEAN IN RESPONSE TO DLC'S CHARGE THAT PUBLIC SERVANTS ARE "FRINGE ACTIVISTS" “Once again, the DLC has chosen to put their own political agenda ahead of the progress needed to unite the Democratic Party. This election has barely begun, and the DLC has repeatedly dismissed people who attend caucuses, who get out the vote, and now the 1.3 million members of AFSCME as ‘fringe activists’ who do not reflect ‘the mainstream values, national pride and the economic aspirations of middle-class and working people.’ “The DLC staff can say what they want about me, but they owe an apology to the 1.3 million members of AFSCME. Our teachers, our health care workers, and our state and local public servants don'...

The DLC has a new memo out attacking Dean. This one, if anything, is harsher than its predecessor. Read it, and then go tell them how you feel. Remember to be respectful and intelligence, we want them to look like asses, not us. And I cannot overstate the importance of keeping this thought in the forefront of your mind. The DLC's plan here is to goad Dean into engaging in a long running and bitter war of words. Thus, the storyline on Dean will be that he's a divisive attack dog, with the Kerry squabble, the Edwards apology, and the endless DLC fight being the primary pieces of evidence. We cannot allow that to happen. The DLC isn't running for anything, so they can attack forever, they are trying to down Dean's campaign to make life for their members (Kerry, Lieberman, etc) easier. Do not fall into their trap, do not respond with an attack. We need to build bridges, not burn them, and that goes for every level of the response effort.

Here's the CSPAN link to the Heartland forum with Tom Harkin in Iowa: Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean participates in a presidential forum hosted by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) at the River Center in Davenport, Iowa. This is the second in a series of forums with the leading Democratic presidential candidates to be held across Iowa. Presidential Forum with Howard Dean (D-VT)

Dean tackles Bush on the Big Issue - foreign policy: ``This president talks tough about homeland security but in fact we're a lot less safe,'' he said, questioning why Bush turned his attention away from al Qaeda in Afghanistan and failed to provide funding for police and emergency units that would deal with an attack at home. ... Dean said his foreign policy team would operate on the belief that ``the United States has a moral obligation to be a world leader and not simply the most fearful power on the planet Earth.'' Bush is actually very vulnerable on the national security issue. The revelation that nuclear materials were looted from the Tuwaitha facility in iraq - because guarding it with troops was not a priority - has been a monumental SNAFU that means that America is less safe, not more, by removing Saddam's regime. The fact that Bush essentially lied about WMD to the American people is also critical - note that the White House is now franticall...

Here's the CSPAN link to the AFSCME forum. Don't forget to read Ezra's detailed summary ! AFSCME Democratic Presidential Candidates Forum sorry to everyone who's sent me email regarding content for DeanBlog - my daughter has been ill and it's been a hectic week for other reasons. The best interim way to suggest content for the main page is the ZonkBoard.

Kudos to Liberal Oasis for a fantastic interview with Dean! Below are the questions, follow the link for the answers... What do you think were the motivations for the Bush Administration to go to war with Iraq? Are the recent contracts awarded to Halliburton and Bechtel examples of a conflict of interest in the Bush Administration? Or were they hired simply because there are only a few companies qualified to do the kind of work needed in Iraq? You've taken some flak for saying, following the downfall of Saddam Hussein, "I suppose that's a good thing.” USA Today's Walter Shapiro said it was an "off-key note" and "even Democrats who doubt the strategic wisdom of the war have to agree that Saddam's ouster was unquestionably a good thing." Senator Evan Bayh said in response, "equivocating about whether Saddam's departure is a good thing or not doesn't help the Democratic Party." What's your response? Congress is cur...

You can still see Dean's performance at Harkin's "Hear it From the Heartland" on C-Span at 6:30 PM Eastern Standard Time (Today, Sunday). It's be replayed again at 9:30 PM Eastern. Lots of Dean TV this weekend. He did a good job at the AFCSME forum, not his best performance ever, but much better than at the South Carolina debate. He actually smiled this time. Please excuse the shameless plug and know that I have only the most selfless of reasons for pointing you here, but I've got a very long (way too long to post here) blow-by-blow of the Forum on my blog, if you'd wanted to see it and are inconsolable that you missed it, this is the next best thing.