Howard Dean - Lord Have Mercy
 

Dean defends remarks about GOP



WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean on Wednesday defended his recent harsh criticism of Republicans, including his observation that they are "pretty much a white, Christian party."

Dean noted that he, too, is a white Christian. But he said the GOP is too narrow in its scope and the Democratic Party is far more diverse.

While even prominent Democrats in recent days have distanced themselves from some of his comments, the outspoken Dean, appearing on NBC"s "Today" show, said criticism of him is meant by Republicans to divert attention from the country's problems and make him the issue instead.

Dean told a forum of journalists and minority leaders Monday that Republicans are "not very friendly to different kinds of people, they are a pretty monolithic party ... it's pretty much a white, Christian party."

Challenged on that during the NBC interview, Dean said "unfortunately, by and large it is. And they have the agenda of the conservative Christians."

"This is a diversion from the issues that really matter: Social Security, and adequate job opportunity, strong public schools, a strong defense," Dean said.

Asked about it on the "Fox & Friends" show, GOP Party Chairman Ken Mehlman joked that "a lot of folks who attended my Bar Mitzvah would be surprised" he heads a Christian party.

"We gotta get ourselves beyond this point where when we disagree about politics, we call the other guy names," he said.

The former Vermont governor also recently raised eyebrows when he told a group of progressives that Republicans "never made an honest living in their lives," a comment he was forced to explain a day later. The one-time presidential candidate also said that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who has not been accused of any crime, ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence.

Democratic New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Tuesday that Dean is doing a good job, but is not the party's spokesman.

Last weekend, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, and 2004 vice presidential candidate John Edwards criticized Dean for his recent remarks, saying he doesn't speak for them.

Biden, asked about Dean Wednesday during an interview on the Don Imus radio show, also said the chairman is doing a good job.

"A lot of things he does say, I agree with," Biden said. But he also said that Dean "has views that are slightly different than mine .. .But look, he's a lightning rod. ... It's probably good that there's a guy out there that's a lightning rod ... ."

Biden, however, added that he thinks "the rhetoric is counterproductive."

"I think this country has a purple heart, not a red heart or a blue heart," Biden said. "If we can't bring this (country) together, man, boy, we're really in deep trouble."

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/06/....ap/index.html

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Bless his heart - I guess all of that 53% that voted for W never earned an honest living in their lives :rolleyes: America indeed must be the land of milk and honey when 53% of its people can do pseudo work and get by :laugh:

I'm not defending that statement, but he said he was talking about Republican politicians, not every day people.

And I don't get what the big deal is about saying the GOP is "pretty much a white, Christian party." I believe it is, isn't it? :shrug:

I think the big deal is that the Democratic party needs to bring over some of that 53% that voted for Dubya if they intend to win the next election. They aren't going to get it if people like Dean make statements that while maybe not necessarily deragatory to voters, imply that those voting for Republicans are pretty much white, Christian voters too in a sense that it's a bad thing. JMO, of course.

His exact quote was:

That hardly sounds like he was just referring to politicians :shrug:

As for the "pretty much a white, Christian party" - who can say and the D's certainly have their fair share as witnessed by the 70+% numbers for the anti-gau marriage state Const. Amendments passed in 2004. All of that is a religious wedge issue and those numbers suggest the Christians in those states voted for it and many of those are white, though the black Christians seemingly hated the idea of gays marrying more than the whites, which to me is inexplicable because that same line of religious reasoning was used to try and keep black people in slavery. Oh Well - such is politics.

The one thing I like about Howard Dean is that he is one of the few Democrats speaking his mind and NOT backing down. I think he was speaking of politicians, but did not make that clear enough. In the end I think this could hurt the party if it blown completely out of proportion. I do not want to see the Democrats jumping on the religous bandwagon to gain votes though.

I do not think he was talking about Senators picking up their children and then still having time to vote:shrug:

But, I agree - and I think it may get favorable results. I mean the R's do it all of the time and they are in office :shrug: Moreover, if Kerry had come out swinging in the campaign, he probably would have won. He instead and sadly, let Rove set the issues officially and unofficially - see Swift Boat Veterans. So, while I really think personal attacks are never warranted, Dean's observations of what appears to be the truth may suit him and the D's im the end. Also, I think saying things like saying DeLay, who has not been accused of any crime, ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence - is no that bad because everyone knows Delay is guilty - I mean Congress has censured him more than once :shrug:

On edit - Dean will most certainly not back down and will call Rove directly out of the carpet and simultaneously make mince meat of the right wing blow hards like that idiot Sean Hannity, who Dean has taken to task before.

We all know it's that evil Dick Wolfe swaying public opinion.

I hope he doesn't back down. I just hope he chooses his words more carefully.

Some of the Republicans are calling it the Dean Throat Scandal. :lol: :laugh: :lol:

LMAO - I just shrieked at work, where few shriek :laugh:

Exactly. :nod:

Just look at Kerry. He has no kids to pick up and he still doesn't vote in the Senate. :laugh:

LMAO - bless his heart :) :)

Fech, why bother? Hopefully he'll be defeated in the next Senate election and we won't have to put up with that trainwreck any longer. :woohoo:

I wouldn't have gone as far as Dean, but it does seem that the urban minority districts had more problems at the polls than the WASPy suburbs. Hey, it's nothing to scream about...

Who is he running against? I know nothing of his upcoming reelection camp.

More democrats like Howard Dean are what IS needed to win elections. To beat the stereotype of liberal wussy crybabies, you need people who will give these scum Republican politicians their money's worth.

Republicans come up with every dirty trick in the book to win, they are already starting on Hillary--I say tell it like it is Howard--tell it like Cheney does and tell them to "go f-ck yourself!"

Chris

It's so bad, that even non-Americans have to watch what they say. A Canadian Liberal MP, Carolyn Parrish, was actually kicked-out of the Liberal Party of Canada when she stepped on a Bush doll on a satyrical comedy show, called This Hour Has 22 Minutes, a few months after she called him a "moron" and after she said "I hate those bastards" in reference to the Bush administration. Yeah, North Americans are becoming a sensitive lot these days.

It's a ways away, dear. I'm certain that a real kick-ass candidate is going to challenge him, though, especially since there's such contempt for him in this state right now.

It will be interesting to see who can beat him. I wonder if Teddy boy will withdraw his support. It would seeming be hard for any Sen. candidate to win without Teddy behind them. Maybe a R will take it - NAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH -- it is Tax central after all :laugh:

A Repug will never get a Senate seat, especially since they want that beastly wench Kerry Healey to run for it. She'd be slaughtered. Teddy will still support him, though, I don't see anything changing there. To be honest, as long as Mutt Romney is gone soon, I could care less.

There is no chance he will take deal with the R powers to be an accept the Mass Senate seat. Could he win? He won the governor race - and he is an a$$

Mutt will be history in the next election. Reilly is running against him and he'll take the whole state with a snap of the fingers. :nod:

Mutt hasn't been named the Valley Advocate's "Weasel of the Week" on more thna one occasion for nothing, you know! :laugh: And his new plans for welfare are pissing people off BIG TIME.

That is so pathetic. :distress:

He is pushing hard for the R Pres. candiadte in 04. He is doing national tours. He fought them there Teddy K gays ya know in the name of Jesus :rolleyes:

I think a lot of people are shocked at how confrontational our system is...I bet you find it hard to realise that the two parties face each other...not the front...makes for fun watching sometikmes though :)

Dean renews attacks on Republicans
Defends fundraising efforts



WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said Saturday that positive responses from key supporters have reinforced his determination to keep talking tough, even though some congressional Democrats have suggested he should tone down his rhetoric.

"People want us to fight," Dean told the national party's executive committee. "We are here to fight."

Addressing Iowa party activists later Saturday in Des Moines, he added: "We need to be blunt and clear about the things we're going to fight for. I'm tired of lying down in front of the Republican machine. We need to stand up for what we believe in."

"We can use some of your passion," Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, told Dean at the Iowa fundraiser.

Over the past week, Dean described Republicans as "pretty much a white, Christian party" and said many in the GOP "never made an honest living."

Several Democratic lawmakers distanced themselves from their chairman. Republican officials called on him to apologize. After weathering the criticism, Dean forged ahead with the GOP scolding at the meeting of Democratic National Committee leaders.

Yet some Democrats say the former Vermont governor should not remain the center of attention.

"Privately, people have said they don't want Howard Dean to become the story because we have more important issues to talk about," said Donna Brazile, who managed Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000.

"But publicly we will continue to give Howard Dean our strong support," she said.

One of Dean's predecessors at the DNC, Don Fowler said, "The controversy over this statement or that statement is a blip and only a blip." But Fowler complained about leading Democrats who aired their gripes last week. "Even if they don't like it, they should have enough sense not to make those comments," Fowler said.

At the session in a downtown hotel, Dean accused Republicans of trying to suppress the vote, selling access to the White House for lobbyists and basically being dishonest with the public.

"The reason the Republicans are in trouble is because there are so many cases where they say one thing and do something else," Dean said.

He said President Bush's education initiative, the "No Child Left Behind" program, cuts school spending and a clean environment plan, the "Clear Skies Initiative," permits more pollution.

A spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee said Dean would rather sling mud than discuss serious matters.

"Dean's inflammatory rhetoric makes it clear that Democrats have no vision and would rather pander to the maniacal fringe than talk about the important issues facing our country," Tracey Schmitt said.

On political fundraising, the DNC trails the Republican Party by more than 2-to-1 despite Dean's reputation as a potent fundraiser. The Democrats have raised almost $19 million so far this year.

Dean said he is bringing in $1 million weekly and that $100,000 was received, unsolicited, from online donors during a 24-hour period in the past week as the furor over his remarks grew.

Records show the DNC took in $13.8 million over the first three months of 2005, compared with $8.4 million during the same period in 2003, the last year without a federal election. Terry McAuliffe was party chairman then.

Dean has given more than $1 million from the DNC to state parties. He said the DNC plans to share some of the money Dean raises for the national party when he is in a state. Both of these moves are winning him support from state party leaders.

In his remarks, Dean made few references to the recent brouhaha.

But when a DNC member joked that the best way to get the chairman's attention was to "jump up and down," a grinning Dean fired back: "That's my job."

The crowd of Democratic activists burst into applause.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/06/....ap/index.html

That point is up for debate. When you have minority voters waiting in the rain for 12 hours in Ohio and the Secretary Of State just happens to be the chairman of the committee to reelect Bush/Cheney '04...I mean can anyone say Katherine Harris?
Not to mention electronic voting machines that default to Bush Cheney all by themselves.
Good for Howard Dean. I am tired of having to kowtow to a minority of fascist/theocrat/extermist/phonies that portray themsleves as the majority of this country because they own the big five media outlets and continuosly feed the American public a steady diet of hate and propaganda.
Does anyone, anyone here without running to Google know how many people have been killed in Iraq? When was the last time you heard it on the news?
What about the Downing Street Memo?
First the Democratic Party gets crticized for not having a spine and then when people like Reid and Dean speak their mind they are excoriated for it. You can't have it both ways.
What about when Cheney told Pat Leahy to go f*ck himself on the Senate floor?
If you really want to get down to the nitty gritty, I can bust out some quotes from the more extremist wing of your party and they ain't pretty.
The last real election in this country occured in 1996.
After that DeLay began all this bull**** with redistricting and took the House Of Representatives. Guess what? The courts ruled that was done illegally. Too late. That horse has left the barn.
So no, the Democratic Party doesn't need to figure out how to get out the vote. We need to find a way to stop the GOP from stealing elections and prosecute them for the high crimes and misdemeanors that they have perpetrated in the last five or so years.

AMEN. :wavey:

DDIITTTTTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

82% of the Republican party identifies itself as white and Christian. FYI.