Howard Dean is one of my favorites. He is best known for his supposed meltdown in then 2004 Dem primary. I was split between being an Edwards supporter and a Deaniac in 2004. To Democrats who have a clue about the direction of the party, Dean is the genius who brought is the much needed "50 state strategy".
Some of the big state pols and old school party insiders hate the 50 state strategy, because it diverts funds to states like Mississippi. Never mind that we are making gains that seriously threaten the Republican grip on our state. They attribute this to a negative backlash against Bush. While that is part of the reason, only a fool would deny the revitalized Dem party in the deepest of red states and not attribute a large part of the gains to the 50 state strategy.
In this interview Dean refuses to bedragged in the Wright quagmire, instead sticking to the REAL issues, a strategy that proved fruitful in the 2006 election cycle.
Dean took on the insidious Chris Wallace on Faux News Sunday. I loved this exchange.
Transcript
WALLACE: Governor, has the Reverend Wright controversy made Obama radioactive among Democratic candidates down ticket?
DEAN: First of all, I'm not going to get into the Reverend Wright at all. I think we've spent enough time on Reverend Wright.
The fact of the matter is what people are really interested in is the war, the economy and health care. And that is what the battle is. And the frank truth is that John McCain is out of step on the war, the economy and health care.
Look, the Republicans have run this...
WALLACE: But, Governor, I'll give you plenty of chance to go after McCain, and that's fair, but I'm asking you a specific question here, which is when you've got -- and it's not just there; it was in Louisiana, it was in North Carolina, it's been in Mississippi -- where they're linking Obama and Wright to their local candidates.
And in this one case in Mississippi, you had a local candidate saying, "Obama? Never heard of the guy." I mean, it indicates that he's a problem or a drag, at least in the minds of some local Democratic candidates.
DEAN: Chris, the Republicans -- for the last 30 years, the Republican book is to race bait and to use hate and divisiveness. In 2006, the American people said no to that, and I think they're going to say no to that in 2008.
It is true that the economy, the war and health care are more important to the American people. They are tired of the divisiveness of what the Republicans have done to them, and that's why the Republicans are in trouble, deep trouble.
WALLACE: Governor, are you suggesting...
DEAN: Eight more years of George Bush is not what we need.
WALLACE: Governor, are you suggesting that bringing up Jeremiah Wright is race baiting, and hate and divisive?
DEAN: Yeah, I am suggesting that kind of stuff. I think when you start bringing up candidates that have nothing to do with the issue -- when you start bringing up things that have nothing to do with the candidate and nothing to do with the issues, that's race baiting, and that's exactly what it is, just like Willie Horton was race baiting so many years ago.
I think we're going to take a -- we're going to turn the page on this stuff. I tell you, you know, there's a lot of difference between the Republicans and the Democrats on issues, but the biggest issue of all is we don't use this kind of stuff. We never have used this kind of stuff, and we're not going to start now.
America is more important than the Republican Party, and that's the lesson that the voters are about to teach the Republicans.
WALLACE: But, Governor, I've got to tell you, when I interviewed Barack Obama last week, he said he thought that the Reverend Wright issue was a legitimate political issue -- his words.
DEAN: Well, he can say whatever he wants. I'm going to say whatever I want. I'm not getting into Reverend Wright. He's caused enough trouble for our country over the last several weeks.
What I am going to say is that I think America -- the American people want a united country. For the first time in 30 years, they want us to stop hating each other. They want us to work together. And I think that's what the issue is. That's what our message is going to be.
And we're not going to get into all this stuff about divisive figures. We're just not going to do it.
What a liar.
ReplyDeleteGORE was the one who brought up Willie Horton.
Gore. got it???
There's a difference between mentioning something during a debate (which, you're right, Gore was the first to do) and using it as the centerpiece of a media campaign that preyed upon underlying racial tensions (which is what made Lee Atwater & Roger Ailes infamous).
ReplyDeleteApples do not taste, look, or feel like oranges, nor do they have a thick rind.
What about the ads they ran against Harold Ford Jr. that insinuated he fraternized with white women. Same garbage.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm not mistaken, Gore ran ads too on it.
ReplyDeleteand as for Harold Ford jr. I thought it was stupid. Dude hangs out at the mansion, hell, I might vote for him because of that.
However Jeff Watlers, I'm quite sure you were equally outraged by the use of the black guy towed to death during the 2000 election against Bush and the racist smear used against Bush.
If you are refering to the pro-Bush 527's smearing McCain in SC with accusations of having a black child in the 2000 primary, I agree.
ReplyDeletekingfish,
ReplyDeleteyou are indeed mistaken. But it's nice to see that the revisionist history and propaganda spin of the right has had its desired effect on its target audience.
From an old (1999) Slate article on the subject:
Gore did ask Dukakis, in a debate right before the 1988 New York primary, about "weekend passes for convicted criminals." Here is how Sidney Blumenthal, now a Clinton White House aide but then a reporter for the Washington Post, wrote it up a few months later:
An uncomfortable Dukakis, after dispassionately reciting statistics, conceded that the Massachusetts furlough program for murderers sentenced to life imprisonment had been canceled.
The issue did not take for Gore, but the exchange attracted the interest of Jim Pinkerton, the research director for the then flailing Bush campaign. "That's the first time I paid attention," said Pinkerton. "I thought to myself, 'This is incredible' ...It totally fell into our lap."
In reviewing this history, it's important to make some crucial distinctions. Gore never mentioned that Horton was black; indeed, he never mentioned Horton by name. He merely drew attention, correctly, to the damaging fact that Dukakis had tolerated a furlough program for especially violent criminals in his state even after a horrific incident strongly suggested this was a bad policy. It's conceivable, of course, that Gore was warming up for more explicit and racially tinged use of Horton's story later in the primary fight. But that would have been uncharacteristic of him. In any event, Gore dropped out of the race shortly after the debate.
Now recall what the Republicans did with Horton's story: An "independent expenditure" group aired an ad for Bush showing a picture of Horton. A Republican fund-raising letter in Maryland showed pictures of Dukakis and Horton alongside the following text: "Is this your pro-family team for 1988?" Horton told Playboy magazine in 1989 that a woman who identified herself as working for "an organization affiliated with the Bush campaign" phoned him and wrote letters to him up in prison trying to get him to endorse Dukakis. The official Bush campaign, of course, kept its distance from such efforts, and claimed to use Horton only in race-neutral ways. But there is plenty of evidence that it was heartily appreciative of the racial subtext. In his book about the 1988 campaign, Pledging Allegiance, Blumenthal quotes an anonymous member of the Bush campaign team as saying, "Willie Horton has star quality. Willie's going to be politically furloughed to terrorize again. It's a wonderful mix of liberalism and a big black rapist."
not revising anything. I stand corrected on that point.
ReplyDeleteAs for the ads I referred to in regards to Bush, no Mr. Walters, I'm referring to the ads where they tried to associate Bush with the scumbags who dragged that poor Black man to death. I didn't see you or any of your friends decrying THOSE ads.
I'm more cynical than you guys and expect elections to be hard fought and expect stuff like this to happen. I just call it out though when one side gets up there and whines, which you guys are doing, about Willie Horton when I've seen similar type ads from the other side.
and as for Sydney Blumenthal, please, you can do better than him for a source. He was called Sid Vicious for a reason and was no journalist.
I've got a different favorite Sid, Vicious ;)
ReplyDelete