Scream, Deanula, Scream

The AP reports that "Howard Dean won the backing of state Democratic Party leaders Monday, putting him in a strong position to win the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee." Doug Ireland argues persuasively that the Green Mountain governor has wrapped up the race.

Of course, it's not like the man has never squandered a commanding lead before.

Comments

[Akira MacKenzie]

BWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

[joe]

"Of course, it's not like the man has never squandered a commanding lead before."

Be fair to the man. After all, he was up against the charasmatic political powerhouse that is John Kerry.

[thoreau]

joe-

Something that I'm genuinely curious about is what you think of Dean as DNC chair. Do you think he'd do a good job? The more I learn about the man, the more convinced I am that the media took the scream WAY out of context, and that much of his liberal reputation simply comes from the fact that he's a Democrat from VT. I think he might be able to do a lot of good for the Democrats.

Don't get me wrong, everybody, I'm not saying he'd be an acceptable President in the eyes of this libertarian. But I think he might actually be able to strengthen the Democratic Party. Which is not really a good thing from the perspective of libertarian policy goals, but simply a statement about political strategy for the Democrats.

And while I might disagree with the Democrats on many things, there is something to be said for the opposition party being stronger than it is right now.

And now the flaming shall commence...

[joe]

thoreau, I don't even have an opinion. I'm not sure WHAT makes a good National Party Chair. Though with all those volunteers running around, getting in each others way, and pissing people off, the Dean 04 campaign may be the perfect experience for running the Democratic Party.

Most of his liberal reputation, in my opinion, stems from the fact that he was outspoken agains the war from the beginning. It must make Rick Barton's head explode that to most of the public, opposition to this war is viewed as hippie liberal extremism.

[Jesse Walker]

Thoreau: Despite the headline, I actually agree with you about the scream. It was a silly little moment that was ripped out of context, and it wasn't the chief reason he lost the nomination. (Remember, it came after he blew the Iowa caucuses.)

[SPD]

Dean is, from what I know about him, anti-gun control and pro-gay marriage. Sounds to me like a Democrat with libertarian leanings. It's a step in the right direction (no pun intended).

[Lowdog]

I don't know a whole hell of alot about Dean, but as the last election came down to the wire, I realised that he probably would have been a much better candidate than Kerry. Hell, I may have even been convinced by my ABB friends to have voted for him, cuz I sure couldn't bring myself to vote for Kerry.

[Mo]

SPD,
And based on his record, he was relatively conservative with the funds. I was prepared to vote for the guy, figuring that his far-left swing was a standard issue primary pander and in the big election/presidency he would revert to his record.

I can't believe there's a blaxsploitation reference on H&R. Maybe a Libby Dole run will lead to a future - Dole-amite headline.

[kevrob]

One of Dean's main jobs as DNC chair will be to be the front man for the Dems in the media. He's the one who will accept the invitation from Tim Russert or some other talking-heads-show host to spew the party line on the issues of the day, when it isn't convenient for an office-holder to appear. Give Howie enough chances like that and he'll provide a gaffe every now and then. I find that more refreshing than the robotic regurgitation of talking points that the Clintonoids had down so well. It is almost as if Dean can sometimes utter The Truth As He Sees It.

Kevin

[Jesse Walker]

I can't believe there's a blaxsploitation reference on H&R.

Are you kidding? I love the stuff. If Walker's First Law of Cinema is "The mark of a true film buff is he's always glad to see Ned Beatty working," then the corollary is "That goes double for Yaphet Kotto." (You can imagine how much I enjoyed Homicide.)

[Pavel]

The scream had shit to do about shit except to give people a handy (false) meme to pass around.

Sen. Clinton probably jabbed a knife in the back of what was already a faltering ride off the crest of a wave. In any case, there's good evidence of an orchestrated decline.

[B.P.]

That scream would make a great ringtone for a cell phone, though.

[joe]

Pavel, the most talented politicians in America have been trying to "orchestrate" New Hampshire for decades, and it just doesn't work that way.

"I don't know a whole hell of alot about Dean, but as the last election came down to the wire, I realised that he probably would have been a much better candidate than Kerry." Maybe - Dean certainly is more charasmatic, exciting and straightforward. But then again, it might not have ever come down to the wire if Dean had gotten the nomination. Bush's strategy was to try to sink the Democratic nominee immediately after the election with good old fashioned, flag waving, nationalist militarism. This might have worked against a governor with no military background and a stridently anti-war position (remember, the war was still quite popular when the Democratic Convention was held), but Kerry's background and demeanor more or less inocculated him agains an early national security knockout.

[kwais]

Thoreau,

"Don't get me wrong, everybody, I'm not saying he'd be an acceptable President in the eyes of this libertarian"

Fight those leftist leanings of yours.

I actually didn't think that Howie was that bad. Certainly better than Kerry. Somewhat more honest. I thought his opinions against the war were valid, I never got that from Kerry. Also he is pro gun rights and a fiscal conservative. I felt that he got maligned by special interest groups much like Newt Gengrich did, even though their opinions were not that far out there.

[Pavel]

I'm sure this was said before. Dean vs. Bush would have been a resounding defeat for the Democrats, but it would have been much more informative and interesting.

And given the fact that a resounding defeat is for all practical political purposes identical to a slight defeat, I don't know what other reason one could have for being glad it was Kerry that lost to Bush.

[Mo]

Pavel,
I'm not quite sure about that assertion. Bush was able to hammer Kerry because he didn't stand for one thing or another. Dean had solid principles and remained consistent. For most of the campaign, the war just wasn't that popular and Dean could capitalize on it with his statements and a consistent voting record. He passed gay marriage, but it was never marriage (civil unions polled much better). That Kery even had a fighting chance in the election tells me that Dean could've won. Especially, since he wouldn't have both the Republicans and establishment Democrats trying to bring him down in the general. Plus, he didn't initiate a gag reflex in 75% of Vietnam vets.

Do you think NR would actually beg the Democrats to nominate Dean if they weren't afraid to death of him?

[Mo]

Christ, I feel like I'm channeling Kos.

[Brett]

Will Dean maintain an anti-gun control stance (a position he pretty much had to adopt as governor of VT) as head of the DNC, given his average supporter? I don't know.

As DNC chair, he'll certainly be interesting, even for a non-Democrat like myself. He might keep some of the Green types, picked up primarily for ABB reasons, from bolting the party. He seems to have widespread popular support from some of the lefty blogs I read, but then again I'm not sure that's very indicative of anything.

Who knows. Bush is about to get beat soundly on SS reform, and his immigration efforts are liable to split the party. With all the talk of the piss poor shape of the Democratic party, I'm not so sure the Republicans will remain solidified around Bush very long into his 2nd term.

[Jennifer]

Brett-
As important as gun control is to the average Democrat, after two Bush wins I doubt any Democrat would let THAT, alone, talk him out of voting for Dean, if the alternative were a candidate from Bush's camp.

I know this is a cliche, but the Democrats need to be FOR something again, rather than being merely against the Republicans. With Dean, they could do that.

Though I'm not a Democrat, I'd damn sure rather have Dean that another Bushite neocon in the White House.

[Brett]

Jennifer, fair enough. But Dean isn't running for any publicly elected office, unless you're suggesting he's using the DNC chair as a springboard to again run in 2008?

As DNC chair, given his charisma and personality, he'll be the face of the Democratic party, and I'm not so sure you (not you personally) want the face of your party to be your party chairman, especially one who is liable to put his foot in his mouth as much as Dean.

It'll be interesting for sure. The Democratic pool of 2008 candidates is currently alot more interesting than the Republican pool.

[Anon]

Jesse,

I heartily endorse Walker's first law, regardless of who eventually heads up the DNC. In fact, I mentioned Beatty to a Tower Records clerk just the other day, while pointing out the underappreciated career of Walter Matthau -- The clerk had never heard of Charley Varrick.

On the other hand, the clerk was a big fan of Hopscotch, so all was not lost.

Anon

[Franklin Harris]

Are you kidding? I love the stuff. If Walker's First Law of Cinema is "The mark of a true film buff is he's always glad to see Ned Beatty working,"

Is that including or excluding 1941?

("There'll be no bombs dropped here!")

[Franklin Harris]

"That goes double for Yaphet Kotto."

I assume, then, that you own the Blue Underground DVD release of Larry Cohen's Bone?

[joe]

Brett, Jennifer, gun control's star has fallen in the Democratic Party over the past decade. It it not a litmus issue for a DNC Chair the way abortion is.

[Lowdog]

joe - You may be right, or you may be wrong, but I'm not saying Dean was a better candidate for Dem victory, but a better candidate in my opinion. Obviously, being a libertarian and voting Libertarian every election, I don't worry about electibility (is that a word?) that much. 🙂

[Jesse Walker]

Franklin: Sure, it includes 1941. Part of being a Ned Beatty fan is accepting the fact that you're going to watch a lot of lousy movies.

I don't own the Bone DVD, but I rented it last year. A great film.

[goodshit]

You linked to a blogger, who linked to a blogger, who linked to this. Enjoy:

http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2001/2001-February/002373.html

[spur]

its not a blacksploitation title -- it's a rocket from the crypt reference, you know, the band, and their album -- Scream Dracula Scream?

[kevrob]

1941 was sorta lame, but Dianne Kay (the blonde chick from Eight Is Enough) looked cute in period garb, and the John Williams score was great. I laughed at Belushi's bits, too.

A little zoot-suit brawling goes a long way, though.

Kevin

[Franklin Harris]

Kevin, there are a lot of good bits in 1941, and to your list I'd add the jitterbug scene, which is Spielberg the Director at his best, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts.

[Mo]

spur,
Which is based on the 1973 sequel to Blacula, Scream Blacula Scream. For the record, the original was better.

[Franklin Harris]

Which is based on the 1973 sequel to Blacula, Scream Blacula Scream. For the record, the original was better.

But it doesn't have Pam Grier in it.

[Killdozer]

Two magical words and we're all screwed:

NATIONAL HEALTHCARE.

[David]

Let's see . . . Dean got 56 of the 82 votes cast by the Association of State Democratic Chairs. In normal America, there are 50 states. But let's assume they also give a vote to DC, Guam, Virgin Islands . . . um, that's 53 . . . so um, Israel, Cuba, North Korea, Canada . . . or maybe all the Canadian provinces . . .

[Joe]

I'll be honest, I did not read all of the posts here, rather skimmed them. Dean is what the DNC needs! We need a man who will walk his talk, that is to say, NO MORE BULLSHIT just for the money it brings in. Time to DUMP the Northeast establishment and get back to being DEMOCRATS. Just my .02

[Huck]

Yes, the scream was overplayed. It was no big deal. And Dean was a somewhat libertarianish or "moderate" governor (or, as libertarianish as a Dem can be). But he ran as the left-wing's favorite candidate. And it wasn't just because of the war. By my recollection, he basically adopted just about every hard-left Dem talking point: universal health-care, anti-free trade, anti-free market period. Nothing wrong with that, but that's how he ran. Again, that's how I remembered it, but if I'm correct it would be a shame for libertarians to talk this guy up just because they're anti-war.

[Mo]

Huck,
He did go off the deep end with leftist policy recommendations. I have a general rule regarding primaries. You always get the extreme positions for the party loyalists and swing back to center for the national and revert to the mean if/when you get elected. I figured the real Dean was the one that wrote a letter to Clinton thanking him for NAFTA from the governor's office, not the anti-free trade guy at the AFL-CIO meeting.

Of course, Al Gore used to be pretty moderate (outside the enviro stuff) while in the Senate and he came unhinged during the 2000 campaign. I think it was Tipper.

[Huck]

I'd like to agree Mo, but I don't think it was just for the primaries. The guy was the anti-Bush, the anti-anything remotely right-wing. Including the right-wing stuff libertarians like.

Saying "Bush isn't my neighbor." (I also read somewhere today that he recently said, he "hates Republicans...or something like that) or whatever exactly he said at one event was repugnant. I like political hardball as much as the next guy. But I can't stand politicians of the left or right dehumanizing their opponents, treating their ideas as not just wrong, but evil. Regardless, that kind of thing was an indication to me that he wouldn't have moved much to the center if he'd been nominated.

I agree with an earlier poster who said it would've been better if he'd been the nominee. We would've had a clearer choice. I also agree that he would've got pasted.

As to Tipper, I assume you're joking. She was the one who wanted to censor records after all. 🙂

[Swamp Justice]

Back in 2004, I was part of a (brief) "Libertarians for Dean" blog. We really believed he was a not so bad choice. His governor record showed him to be a moderate Clintonian Democrat, even though he tried to paint himself as a hard leftist. I'll take moderate Clintonian Democrat tempered by an antagonistic Republican congress over GWB any day...

[Pavel]

its not a blacksploitation title -- it's a rocket from the crypt reference

And I thought Jesse was comparing Dean to Wesley Willis.

Verily, Mr. Walker reaches across the generations.

[joe]

Say, Capital J Joe, how does choosing the former governor of Vermont, a physician who used to be a stockbroker, equal dumping the Northeastern Establishment?

[Mark Borok]

Dean was starting to drop the hard-left rhetoric (i.e. trying to sound more "presidential") when he pulled ahead, then immediately returned to it when the rest of the Dem field ganged up on him. I remember him saying something like that in a radio interview. There was a brief period when he was sounding moderate.

After all, he was running as an outsider at first and was as surprised as anyone at finding himeself in the lead.

Whatever. The Dems could do worse than have someone at the helm that some people actually like.

[Morat]

Just a note: Unlike the runup to Iowa, these endorsements are coming from the rather small pool of actual voters.

[Douglas Fletcher]

It [the scream] was a silly little moment that was ripped out of context...

Have to seriously disagree with this. I was listening on the radio to Dean's live concession speech that night, and he sounded like a lunatic before & after the scream, too. My first reaction when they cut to the live feed was to wonder why they'd put some nutty local party hack on national air time, but lo and behold I realized after a few moments that this was in fact the great and wonderful doctor himself. How sweet it was.

[joe]

Doug, the context in question was that he was addressing a noisy room, one he had to shout over to be heard. People who were there have stated that he sounded perfectly normal in person, but that seeing the footage after (when the audio didn't capture the crowd noise) made it sound like he was ranting.

You know, like when the noise at the party suddenly drops just your finishing the sentence, "I dropped the basket, and I war running all over the court TRYING TO GRAB MY BALLS."

[Douglas Fletcher]

I heard the whole speech. He sounded nuts.

[Douglas Fletcher]

And frankly I think he's still nuts.