Two-Faced "Progressive" Democrats: One message in private, another in public

National Review Online ^ | July 29, 2004, 9:03 a.m. | Byron York

[SunkenCiv]

For example, speaking to left-wing activists at a gathering organized by the Campaign for America's Future on Tuesday, former Vermont governor Howard Dean let loose with a shouting, campaign-style speech full of the kind of controversial statements that characterized his campaign. He said the Bush administration is "an administration where they like book burning better than reading books." He jokingly urged Democrats not to call President Bush a fascist, saying, "You're not supposed to do that this week, anyway." He repeated his charges from the campaign that capturing Saddam Hussein had not made America any safer. He repeated his contention that southern whites vote on the issues of "guns, God, and gays." And he finished his speech with the kind of intense, high-volume, run-on shouting that brought audiences to their feet during the campaign. It did the same thing Tuesday afternoon.

[SunkenCiv]

George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent

[JimVT]

Last I heard Howard the Blowhard hadn't paid salaries to the people who worked for him right up until he quit.

[No_Outcome_But_Victory]

Howard Dean at least was honest about his beliefs. John Kerry is Howard Dean without integrity.

[BushisTheMan]

Howard Dean is the political equivalent to a Hollywood has-been.

[SunkenCiv]

Dean will be a candidate in 2008.

The Deaniacs Live!
by Chris Suellentrop
July 27, 2004
Slate

The crowd roars and roars and roars, a neverending ovation. The most enthusiastic Deaniacs seem to be in the back, in the worst seats, in the red states where Democrats can't win. Dean calls out to these marginalized Democrats during the speech, saying: "We're going to be proud to call ourselves Democrats, not just here in Boston. We're going to be proud to call ourselves Democrats in Mississippi, proud to call ourselves Democrats in Utah and Idaho. And we're going to be proud to call ourselves Democrats in Texas." The Utah and Texas delegations behind me stand and—what else—scream. The Colorado woman with the humongous Time cover sits rapt during the entire speech... Her name tag says Leslie Robinson, 2nd Vice Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. She was a Dean Meetup host. "Notice how he didn't say it was about me the candidate," she says. "He said it was about 'you.' " ...The Dean campaign was driven by "people who felt disenfranchised for a long, long time," Robinson says. I ask her what she means by that. "They didn't think that their vote counted," she explains. "They didn't think they could make a difference. And he showed them that we can."

Yeah, particularly when the little dolls start singing, "it's a world of laughter, a world of tears." Dean didn't win in the primaries, and he didn't make any difference. I think he's got the core support that will look pretty good in 2008 to a DNC cratered by their losses in 2004 and 2006. "We didn't stick to our principles," [sic] "and look what happened. Time to return to our root constituency!"

[SunkenCiv]

Dean has no integrity, or he wouldn't be equating GWB with the Nazi bookburners. He's a populist demagogue in a very old mold.

[SunkenCiv]

While he was still considered the front runner, he had a lot of cash on hand (it was said he was broke) but his thousands of volunteers sweeping across Iowa were eating on the campaign dime, which wound up stickin' it to many a restaurant. I'd not be surprised to learn that it was a factor in the primary.

[No_Outcome_But_Victory]

Dean has no integrity, or he wouldn't be equating GWB with the Nazi bookburners. He's a populist demagogue in a very old mold.

Now I didn't say Howie isn't a liar in general. He is a liberal's liberal like much of the Dem party. He said so, and was not ashamed of his Socialism.

John Kerry is just like Dean except he tries to run from his Radical left wing record.

They're both toxic, but Dean has more integrity in that respect.

[Lancey Howard]

I'll tell you a story.

Back around 1990 there was a report in the local paper here, The Courier Times of Bucks County, which included comments from then-Congressman Peter Kostmayer. Kostmayer had just returned from a DLC meeting down south somewhere and a Courier Times reporter asked him what he had learned.

Kostmayer was practically giddy with excitement.

Paraphrasing, what Kostmayer said was, "The women's groups, the environmentalists, the African-Americans and the rest of the liberal groups who traditionally support us (Democrats) need to just stay quiet and keep a low profile. If we can get Democrats elected, they will get what they want. But we can't have them scaring the middle-of-the-roaders. The appearance that Democrats are ultra-liberal is hurting us."

Kostmayer's jaw-dropping candor was a prelude to the culmination of the liberal liar's club scheme - - the ascension of the ultimate DLC liar, Bill Clinton, to the Presidency.

Make no mistake - - the DLC has exactly the same agenda against traditional America and its culture and families as the rest of the liberal Democrat base. But the DLC wants to play it real sneaky. They are trying to preach stealth and incrementalism, but the goofballs want a Marxist America NOW.

[talleyman]

Thank goodness the 'Rats aren't engaging in negative attacks like the mean ol' Wepubwicans...

[SunkenCiv]

No, Ronald Reagan was a Hollywood Has-been. Perhaps you're like me, and remember watching the raucous, seemingly endless demonstration of support for Reagan at the 1976 Republican convention. I was mystified at the time, because there was someone who attempted to take the nomination from an incumbent president. Seemed mighty shoddy. And I wasn't particularly a fan of Ford. Carter was creepy (still is). Voted for Eugene McCarthy (so there). My roommate (a Reagan supporter, oddly enough; voted for Ford of course) asked me the day after the election, "what's it feel like to waste your vote?" "You tell me," was my response.

Dean is a candidate with no message. He's a glib demagogue. Without a positive, he can't produce a negative. His positions are all house-of-cards left wing pap. I think that's one thing that beat him with the increasingly conservative but nevertheless party-line Democrat mainstream. Kerry tries to be the white line down the middle of the road, or appear to be. He votes excruciatingly liberal, but denies it afterward. "Oh, I voted for the Iraq intervention, even said we should do it with or without UN approval, but Bush isn't doing those things the way I wanted them done."

In 2006 the DNC will see further erosion at state and national level. Some of the erosion will be due to the ambitious party-jumpers, and some will be due to what around here is called the RINO. The Democratic Party is shredding, and we get to watch. While the Jeffersonian DP (just recently I saw that referred to as "Republican", no doubt due to the political axegrinding of whomever wrote that) was split by Andrew Jackson, it was the Jackson DP which survived. He was the last president to win reelection until Lincoln as the country's politics became more turbulent and divided.

JFK didn't. Lyndon Johnson didn't even try. Nixon did, but was forced to resign. Ford didn't. Carter didn't. Reagan did, but GHWB did not. Clinton did. GWB will. We are still in the turbulent period, but it will adversely impact the DP, rather than the country. I suspect we'll see more, not less, adversarial politics as the previously coopted members of the old DP coalition try to (David) Duke it out in 2006 and 2008.

Also, I think there will be some defections of sorts, as hardliners of the right enter the DP in an attempt to steer it to their liking.

The end result will be a DP further and even less compromisingly (but at least openly, rather than covertly) to the left. It's almost as if the script were written by some committee at FreeRepublic. ;')

[BobS]

Kerry has Liberal Denial Syndrome. Dean is free from 'that' disease.

[Aetius]

How I wish Dean would have won the nomination.

[claudiustg]

---He said the Bush administration is "an administration where they like book burning better than reading books." ---

Is this a reference to any real thing?

---He repeated his contention that southern whites vote on the issues of "guns, G-d, and gays." ---

I'm not a southern white but I vote for guns and G-d! I'll vote for gay Republicans if they support the 2nd Ammendment and are against same sex marriage. :^)

---George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent---

10 points!

[SunkenCiv]

Chilling story. I don't doubt it at all. Kostmayer drinks, right? Or just has a big mouth? ;')

Clinton wasn't a good idea as president. But he and Hitlery have the right idea about the approach the party should take. As you noted, the DP pretends to be middle of the road, and attempts to stake out positions (like support for abortion on demand, and gun control) as if they are uncontroversial and middle of the road positions. Their media shills help them do this.

Kerry is following this same strategy, but he's a bad choice because he is such a liar. As we've probably all seen the movie "The Candidate", the choice of Kerry makes sense from the art-imitates-life perspective. Popular president? Pick a loser you want out of the picture. Even if the loser wins, he owes you bigtime. That was done to Bob Dole in 1996. He was the worst idea ever. He appeared to be a return to the roots -- a WWII vet instead of a postwar Boom Baby. But he spoke of a "big tent" version of the Republican party. In 1964, Goldwater had no chance, but that didn't stop him from saying exactly what needed to be said. In fact, it probably freed him. And LBJ took him seriously as an opponent.

After Kerry's defeat, the DNC will do what? Another makeover to make itself look middle of the road? Pick a more photogenic candidate (i.e., the Clinton 1992 approach)? Walk around Athens with a lamp, like Socrates? Okay, yeah, the DNC may do that. "We almost got it done, we're using the right strategy." Instead, though, I think the movers and shakers are going to be shaken and moved out of power.

If Hitlery declares her candidacy, it will be early on, probably right after the 2006 election defeat for her party. She'd run on a "back to the agenda" slogan while still trying to keep fooling the middle of the road voters. She's just about the only one who can get away with it, as she has an immediate advantage (so-called crossover voters). And an early declaration would keep the number of primary opponents to a minimum.

Cheney is too old to succeed GWB. There needs to be an anointed successor, and the best way to do that is for one of the higher-profile members of the administration to declare early. The next best thing is for Cheney to retire after the 2006 election, and for GWB to appoint a younger, vital, hard-nosed VP, preferably from Congress, otherwise a current or recent high official from a larger state.

[SunkenCiv]

:')

[SunkenCiv]

Great tagline!

[SunkenCiv]

Yeah, I was pulling for the dumb *******. I figured that GWB would maul him. And everyone else did, too. Even the Deaniacs. It was all about takin' a stand, no matter how stupid the stand.

[SunkenCiv]

Is this a reference to any real thing?

No. Dean is a demagogue.

I'll vote for gay Republicans if they support the 2nd Amendment and are against same sex marriage.

Hey, you're not startin' to like KERRY are ya? ;')

[claudiustg]

---Hey, you're not startin' to like KERRY are ya? ;')---

That's why I put the Republican proviso in there! :^)

Kerry is an amazing liar, isn't he? Clinton would lie, but Kerry, I'm convinced, is mentally ill. Maybe he'll announce that he's actually a Republican!