Democrats must make Dean their man

Salt Lake Tribune ^ | December 29, 2003 | William Safire

[schaketo]

WASHINGTON -- I am beginning to worry that Howard Dean may not get the Democratic nomination. Follow the convoluted reasoning: There are now three de facto political parties in the United States. In order of present strength, these are:

1. The Republican Party, in control of all three branches of government and most of the statehouses, fat and sassy because the economy is rising and the war is being won.

2. The Dean-Internet Party, its Bush-despising base so energized as to be frenetic, its leader happy to be the apostle of anger, its bandwidth bandwagon gaining momentum with each pulse of its cursing cursor.

3. The Old Democratic Party, its base off base, its leadership fractured, its third-way ideology -- vainly espoused by the Clintonian Democratic Leadership Council -- a lost cause without a rebel voice.

Can it be that the opposition to the reigning Republicans is deeply cleft in twain, as mouth-fillingly described above? What evidence is there that the present noisy jousting is not just the usual primary-season scuffling?

Consider the "you're a liar" clash between the Old Democrat poll front-runner, Wesley Clark, and the emerging Dean party's hero.

Clark claims Dean offered him the vice presidential nomination: "It was dangled out there . . . offered as much as it could have been." Dean denies it flatly: "I did not and have not offered anyone the vice presidency." Clark, egged on by his Clinton handlers, imputes a dishonorable motive to Dean: "Why is he squirming? Because maybe he's done the same for a lot of other people."

One of these men is not telling the truth. Most voters would say that one of these boldfaced names is a baldfaced liar, though charitable souls would call it a misunderstanding. Despite Dean's "dangle," Clark cast his lot with the Old Dems.

Following this week's he-said-he-said, the unforgiving Dean slammed Clark's Clintonites and their ideological home, the Democratic Leadership Council. Updating his early declaration, Dean called for unity by deriding the DLC as "sort of the Republican part of the Democratic Party -- the Republican wing of the Democratic Party."

Stung, the DLC, now headed by Sen. Evan Bayh and the Bill Clinton guru Al From, complained online about Dean's "insulting charge of crypto-Republicanism."

This gets down to the Rockefeller-Goldwater level of eye-gouging that is not forgotten at the national convention. What if Dean, as the pollwagon now suggests, trounces the Clinton Establishment -- Clark, Lieberman, Kerry, even Edwards and Sharpton -- in the primaries? Will they loyally kiss the ring of the winner?

Of course they will. They will rally round to hold the Democratic Party together even as it is taken over by the Dean-Internet set. They will pay lip service and lose respectably, eyeing a comeback and takeover in '08.

But what if Dean loses momentum in Iowa, does "less than expected" in New Hampshire, gets clobbered in Carolina or blows his cool at media tormentors once too often? What if the Old Democrat center, revivified as a stop-Dean movement and helped by the pendulum press, actually stops Dean? Could happen. Then what?

He is not the sort who gives up easily. Nor is he likely to ask Clark or whomever in a smoke-free room for the No. 2 slot. Dean has grass-roots troops, a unique fund-raising organization, the name recognition and the fire-in-the-belly, messianic urge to go all the way on his own ticket.

Politronic chatter picked up by pundits monitoring lefty blogsites and al-Gora intercepts flashes the warning: If stopped, Dean may well bolt.

That split of opposition would be a bonanza for President Bush. In a two-man race, the odds are that he would beat Dean comfortably, but in a three-party race, Bush would surely waltz in with the greatest of ease.

Here's my problem: Such a lopsided, hubris-inducing result would be bad for Bush, bad for the GOP, bad for the country. Landslides lead to tyrannous majorities and big trouble.

Which is why I worry about Dean not getting the Democratic nomination.

[schaketo]

Now that Deano has the primary wrapped up, in the upcoming democratic primary (2004) ...

BIG AL NEEDS OUR HELP NOW MORE THAN EVER!
*** Register as a democrat and vote for Crazy Al! ***

During the May 3, 2003 demoncrap debate in Columbia, S.C., our man Al stated “The way to move a donkey is to slap the donkey,” and “I’m going to slap the donkey until the donkey kicks”.

Let’s help Crazy Al slap the donkey until it kicks.

GW has the Republican nomination sewn up. Its time for all good republicans, libertarians, and independents to stand up and be counted. Lets take a page from Sen. McCain’s play book. Prior to the 2004 democratic presidential primary in your state, re-register as a democrat and vote for Al Sharpton!

Lets ensure Crazy Al gets prime time speaking rights at the 2004 nationally televised democratic convention. You gotta love it. Line up, sign up, and send this to all your like-minded friends.

Here is a link to planned 2004 primary dates from the National Association of Secretaries of State:
http://www.nass.org/Issues/04primaries.html

Check here for the rules governing primary voting in your state:
http://www.fec.gov/votregis/primaryvoting.htm

In case you’d like to send Big Al a donation:
http://www.al2004.org/

Anyone need a bumper sticker or button?
http://democraticbuttons.freeservers.com/

How about an Al Sharpton yard sign?
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/victorystore00/pryasi.html

Want to keep up on the latest on Big Al’s progress? Go to the Republicans for Sharpton website at:
http://www.republicansforsharpton.com/

Oh yea, and don’t forget to call the local demoncrap party headquarters and ask them the following before the primary election:

1. Can I get a ride to the polls – help them spend their money during the primaries so they’ll have less during the national election. Have them take you the scenic route and stop off and do some shopping on the way home.
2. Are you giving anything away free for voting democrat? Cigarettes, booze, box of cigars, box lunch, etc. Ask for two of each.
3. Send 25 cents in the mail to the DNC and watch how much they spend on mailing you to give to the party. Always send their solicitation back to them with all associated literature in the prepaid envelope included in the mailing. They have to pay that postage upon return. Great way to help them spend money and keep you up to date on their propaganda.

Democratic National Committee
430 S. Capitol St. SE
Washington, DC 20003

Main Phone Number: 202-863-8000

Can you think of any other questions we should ask them?

[Wait4Truth]

I just think this is a dumb idea. If I was going to vote for anyone in the RAT primaries, it would be Dean, not Sharpton. Dean is a total nutcase and he is the one I want Bush to run against.

[buffyt]

In Texas you don't register with a party. But whichever party you vote with at the primary, you have to vote with that party again in the run off if there is one. They stamp your voter's registration card when you vote in the primary here. So it would be easy to vote for Al in the Texas primary, if you aren't worried about any important run offs later ....

[mewzilla]

I have a question: Everyone keeps suggesting that Dean's fed up with the Toons' control of the DNC. If that's the case, why are so many former Toon butt-boys advising Howie?

[mewzilla]

Well, I shouldn't say former. Once a Toon butt-boy...

[McGavin999]

Why on earth would you do that?

[monocle]

Not dumb at all. The more votes Sharpton garners in the primaries the greater his role at the convention and the Democrats by ignoring Sharpton's position could begin the process of the nearly monolithic hold on the black vote.

[Wait4Truth]

I disagree. Even the majority of blacks don't want Sharpton as their nominee. The left has one goal..defeating Bush. They will vote for ANY RAT. I don't see Bush getting much more of the black vote than he did in 2000. The real RAT lies have not even begun yet. My guess is that Sharpton will win zero primaries and even if he did, he would be relatively shunned at the convention.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Please, oh, please throw me in the briar patch.

[monocle]

It's not that blacks want Sharpton, but that any black is being ignored - you want our votes but not our voices. Not a single top tier Democrat is making a serious issue of any of the issues blacks hold dear.

[TheGeezer]

Sharpton is a racial racketeer (in addition to being a certified malicious liar and racial demagogue). The greater his influence at the Democrat convention, the wackier the platform will be. A Dean-Sharpton ticket might evolve, in the best of all possibilities. In fact, since Hildebeast cannot permit a Democrat to be elected in 2004, since that would postpone her run at least until 2012, she may do everthing possible to push a Deano nomination.

Regards.

[GailA]

Didn't one of the commentators on FNC on 2 occassions now say that deanie weanie would probably choose US Rep harold ford JUNIOR for VP, because of his appeal to black voters? FNC seems to like JUNIOR, considers him a moderate dem...BTW he only votes a couple of points different tha pelosi. He's sponsored no major or minor legislation in the 8 years he's been in congress.

How old does the VP canidate have to be, JUNIOR was born in Memphis, Tennessee on May 11, 1970. That makes him 34 this year. You have to be 35 to run for the presidency.

JUNIOR would no more carry Tennessee than his best bud albore did.

JUNIOR is only loved in Memphis, the rest of Tennessee KNOW the crooked FORD MACHINE. His family is the laughing stock of Tennessee because of their crookedness and stupidity..especially state Sen john ford his uncle.

[Brian Allen]

<< I just think this is a dumb idea. >>

Dumb?

Yep.

It's that, too.

But I didn't get past its being dishonest.

It is a dishonest idea, the kind of thing "DemocRATs" do -- and which defines them.

[CA Conservative]

How old does the VP canidate have to be, JUNIOR was born in Memphis, Tennessee on May 11, 1970. That makes him 34 this year. You have to be 35 to run for the presidency.

Actually, you have to be 35 years old to be president, so as long as Ford was 35 by Inauguration Day, he could run. The VP has to fulfill all the same requirements as the president, so he could not be elected VP if he would not turn 35 before he was sworn in. After all, what if the President died soon after taking office? We had one president who was only in office 9 days before he died.

[GailA]

JUNIOR turns 34 this May, which means he doesn't turn 35 until May of 2005..4 months after Inauguration Day. We know he has his sites set on taking Sen Frist's seat. He has one big problem, he and his entire family are only liked by Memphis RATS. The rest of Tennessee thinks his entire family are a JOKE. The Tennessee lamestream media thinks they are ROYALITY!