 |
| Howard Dean, back when just one yell could end you candidacy. |
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said he is running for his old job atop the Democratic Party.
"The dems need organization and focus on the young," Dean tweeted Thursday. "Need a fifty State strategy and tech rehab. I am in for chairman again."
Dean served as Democratic National Committee chairman from 2005 to 2009. Donna Brazile is currently serving as interim chairwoman after Debbie Wasserman Schultz stepped down shortly before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
Bernie Sanders has endorsed Rep. Keith Ellison for the job, and while I have nothing against that choice I think Dean is a better way to go.
For one thing he had the job once before and by all accounts did a very good job.
He is also pragmatic and thinks carefully before making a move.
And when it comes to the Millennials he has a plan for bringing them to the table.
Which I think he can do since in many ways he WAS Bernie Sanders before Bernie Sanders.
During his 2004 presidential run Howard Dean was also packing venues with young people who were excited by his message, so in many ways he understands what they are thinking, even this newer group twelve years later.
That plus his experience makes him the best fit.
In my humble opinion.
Too late. Schumer's endorsing Ellison. Done deal.
ReplyDeleteEllison will lead us in the correct direction, Dean will keep us sunk.
DeleteYup!
DeleteAnd Warren and Sanders want Ellison also.
Flush twice to clear out all the turds.
We can thank DWS and Brazile for Trump.
I agree, 2:47 and 3:10. Dean is a lobbyist for for-profit healthcare and big pharma. He is no longer what he once was. Ellison is the way to go. And Bernie has every right to choose the new DNC chair since they screwed him, resulting in their own sad defeat. Read the details on Dean here: https://theintercept.com/2016/01/21/howard-dean-despite-denials-has-long-sad-history-of-selling-himself-on-k-street/
Delete7:01, get over your whiny Millenial self. Bernie lost because PEOPLE DIDN'T WANT HIM.
DeleteGosh the last time I looked Bernie is still an Independent.
DeleteHe can chose who he wants as the head of his party.
Dr. Dean did a great job previously and deserves kudos for it, BUT this past election he seemed to gently carry the water bucket for conservative ideals. Not what I want in a DNC chair.
ReplyDeleteI think not. Howard Dean used to be good, now he is a lobbyist. Corporate whore making money off what corporations want for us, not what we want. Another one who went to the dark side
ReplyDeleteYep
DeleteI like Dean. I also like Ellison a lot and always enjoy seeing him on the cable news. Although the House of Reps hardly ever does work, I'd like to see someone get the DNC job who doesn't have a congressional job to also do. I thought Dean was great during theis campaign. I'd not seen much of him at all until election season hit, and what I saw of him made me like him more than I had before. I think he'll work like crazy to help the Dems and their candidate, whoever it may be, including if it should be Bernie (although I don't think it will be--someone else will reveal him or herself in a year and a half or so from now as an incredible candidate). Dean's a good guy. He'll do everything he can.
ReplyDeleteI think the DNC would benefit from either of the two. I met Ellison a long time ago and I was very impressed with him. And, I've always liked Dean.
ReplyDeleteHoward Dean? Another corporate Democrat? Have you learned nothing from this election? The party is going to move away from big moneyed interests, and move in a new direction (read moving back to supporting the working men and women of this country), and you're going to have to get with the program.
ReplyDeleteI find the notion of completely moving away from big money to be asking to lose to the GOP every time. Big money is always going to play a part. It can play a part in a corrupt way or a useful and transparent and appropriate way.
Delete@ Anonymous3:18 PM - I would bet money that this is you Gryphen, because you're always too busy being right to see or listen.
DeleteDid you not notice that Hillary Clinton had all of the money backing that any campaign would need, and a tremendous ground game machine working for her, and she still lost? Did you not notice that Bernie Sanders did pretty darn well without big money, and with a media blackout on him for the first half of the campaign. And no, big money can not play a part in our politics without the corruption. The party can't serve the interests of the people, and serve the interests of big money. If it could it wouldn't have moved away from what it has always historically stood for.
Well you would have lost that money.
DeleteI have never, not once, commented on this blog as anybody but myself.
There are lots of people, with lots of different opinions here.
Some agree with me, some don't, and some just want to watch the world burn.
I can't help but hate the despicable Trump family more each day. The three eldest trump children and Ivanka's husband are now officially part of the transition team. They know damn well that nepotism laws prevent them from becoming part of the admin later, but they find nothing wrong with choosing the cabinet and other positions while Trump is pres-elect. It's ethically wrong. In some ways it's worse than if they were in official positions after the inauguration. They can choose people to benefit all their businesses and the Trump brand. Of course they don't care.
ReplyDeleteKushner is basically calling the shots.
Deletehttp://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/donald-trump-team-rivals-231277
But perhaps the biggest power base is Trump’s own family. His adult children and especially his son-in-law Kushner have unrivaled clout with the president-elect, and have not shied away from using it to spur personnel changes.
Two people familiar with the transition said Christie’s top deputy, Rich Bagger, had run afoul of Kushner.
“That’s a fight you can’t win,” one of the people said. “The Christie people are from New Jersey, they act like they’re in charge, and Jared Kushner is like, ‘You're not really in charge.’”
The other pointed out that Kushner’s father was prosecuted and convicted for tax evasion, illegal campaign donations and witness tampering by Christie during his time as a U.S. attorney.
“Jared doesn’t like Christie,” the person said. “He’s always held that against Christie.”
You fucking people have learned NOTHING.
ReplyDeleteDean is exactly the kind of politician that was just REJECTED.
Jesus fucking Christ, we don't have a shot with people like this!!
We need fresh blood and NEW thinking.
How could you be so incredibly obtuse?
Obtuse. Hah. Oh, go watch Shawshank Redemption again. You're the one who doesn't get it. You're seeing everything in stark black and white. You think you know so much, but you lack a real depth of thinking. You sound like a Bernie addict, too. If anyone's washed up for a position, it's Bernie. Him running again would never get the Dems a winning candidate. Hillary and Bernie are no longer options. Dean is not running for pres and is running for a position that will utilize his knowledge and what he has learned about a 50-state grassroots campaign. Just because he's been around doesn't make him obsolete like candidates for other positions now are.
DeleteNew thinking from an elderly Jew, perhaps?
DeleteYou don't fool me.
Like WHO. Do you know anybody under 50 willing to work for the government? The "new blood" following the French Revolution also got buckets fresh blood with years of Terror. The new and inexperienced leaders were as corrupt as the old guard.
DeleteYou guys are in for a rude awakening.
DeleteThe Dem party as you know it is dead.
Ellison has good ideas and the ability to energize.
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."
Get rid of corporate Dems or we're dead in the water.
Howard Dean did a great job running the DNC after he was shafted in the 2004 election. When he left, they drifted back to their old ways and started losing again.
DeleteDean was a progressive when few were and it wasn't fashionable. (That's why Kerry was the anointed one.) But now he's got company. Together as a team they can revitalize the party and really get it going. Maybe enough to gain some ground by 2020 and get us a Democratic POTUS in 2024.
Right now I feel like wearing and carrying Trump face merchandise with crosshairs on it. Scarah and other Repubs do it all the time.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/michael-moore-joins-wide-ranging-election-talk-806604867876
ReplyDeleteI like Dean too. He was my choice back in 2004.
ReplyDeleteIf this election has taught me anything, it is that experience counts for nothing anymore. Any sexual predator Tom, Dick or Larry can apply and win.
ReplyDeleteSMHID
OT. Just read that Michael Moore is calling for a Million Woman March on DC on Inauguration day. Love it.
ReplyDeleteThere are already plans for a million mom march on that date. Michael Moore is not invited.
DeleteOnly Million Mom March I know of happened years ago. I only know of the Million Woman March that is being formed. Well, since Michael Moore's not allowed to be a part of a million mom or woman march, I guess that means no men who respect women and fight for women's rights and have women in their lives who they care about can come. Gotta keep our marches pure. That means, too, if it's only for moms, that any female who hasn't given birth to a child had better not show up. Doesn't matter if she chose not to bear children or couldn't bear children. Can't have girls and non-mothers crashing. And there had better be a clear rule as to whether miscarriages count--don't want a woman who lost a child she almost had to waste her time traveling to DC. I hope those million moms have to show proof of having given birth.
Delete3:58 You voted for him, didn't you? Go back to brietfart
DeleteYour comment makes no sense. Pity, when one's thinking is so extreme left or right and nothing else can be seen as valid.
DeleteI'm indifferent. I'd LOVE for some of the GOOD democrats to create a newly named party that doesn't have a historical connection to racism to lead us to a new, independent direction.
ReplyDeleteIf one things been taught by Bush Jr and Obama, it's that experience is not needed to be president.
ReplyDeleteWell, if it's all about temperament, Trump is a loser on that front too.
DeleteYou're either too fucking stupid to remember, or too much of a fucking liar to remember that President Obama was a Senator first and had years of experience, unlike the Wasilla Wendigo, who believed she'd be crowned Princess Vice President.
Delete3:35, Obama was pretty green to the Washington scene. But as often happens with Presidents.... the right guy at the right time often lands the spot.
DeleteWhat I'm looking forward to is the role that Harry Reid will play in Democratic politics in the future.
ReplyDeleteYeah. It'd be great if, freed up after leaving the senate, he stayed involved. He's expressed, since the eye injury, wanting to devote his time to family, but maybe he'll make some space for fighting the good fight.
DeleteGod, and that creep Trump actually joked that Harry ought to lose the vision in his other eye. Well, maybe one day Trump will get a taste of what he's wished on others.
Is he planning to stay active now that he is retiring from the senate? I hope so because he is surely going to be missed. How nice if he found another way to stay active.
DeleteI'd love to see Harry Reid continue to have an active role but I think his accident last year really took a toll, especially with his vision. He's been a great fighter; I hate to see him out of the picture.
DeleteBeaglemom
This is what happens when you don't push back on bullshit media memes.
ReplyDeleteHow did this happen? Seriously, HOW did this happen? We're fucked. And I will have none of this Facebook driven "we must all come together and unite" bullshit. No. just no.
ReplyDeleteYeah, some people couldn't even handle one night of protesting. This is a third night. That is nothing. The Trump fans need to get used to an ongoing expression of what others are feeling. I do hope, though, that the crimes that have been part of things will stop.
DeleteIt is just dem babies being dem babies 5:01. Has to be their entitled way or they throw baby fits.
Delete@ Anonymous3:57 PM - "How did this happen? Seriously, HOW did this happen?"
DeleteI have a very ironic answer for you. The end result that we all experienced Tuesday night got its Genesis about this same time 24 years ago when a young former governor of the State of Arkansas got elected the 42nd President of the United States of America and slowly started to change Democratic politics and the Democratic Party to what we have today. Get the irony?
We needed to get rid of both parties. They are too corrupt. Kock bros. bought this election and although Hillary would have been thinking about the little man and woman of America she is a politician and would have compromised with her big friends. Before you jump on me, I voted for her in all good faith, and I cried like a fucking baby when she lost. But really, both parties suck. We are not the America we want to be. I personally don't know how to fix that. I was enjoying Obama's presidency but there was shit boiling on the sidelines with the whites. Now they have America back again we have to ask just who is America? Really! Ask. We don't know who we are, that is why we are at odds. There's no way either party could have addressed all the needs of the many factions of America. That's why Trump supporters were desperate and grasping towards the end. They wanted what they remembered. Going forward to this new world of Gay and Transgender rights scared their homophobic asses. The immigrants too, are a faction. All of America are immigrants. Fighting for soil, and a dream. That dream has changed and unless we ask who the hell we are now, and what that new dream needs to be, we will continue being lost. Now, I go and watch my doomsday movie, the Road. It comforts me to know that one day, we just try to keep the cannibals from devouring our loved ones in a nuclear ridden worlds.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing inherently wrong with being "a politician."
DeleteThe hatred of government is an invention of the GOP and it entered the mainstream and the White House in 1980 with Ronald Reagan. Ideally, politics should be the art of the compromise, an opportunity for elected officials (politicians) to get together and work to find solutions that will help the most citizens. It can work out well if the participants all want what's best for the country and for its citizens. And that's a big "if." It doesn't work well if half or more of the participants have convinced their followers that "compromise" is evil.
The GOP for decades now has been devoid of ideas to help improve lives and correct failures in our system. Now we're stuck with all three branches of the government in the hands of people who have no interest in representing all of the American people. Just think how things could have been improved had the GOP been willing to cooperate with President Obama. When the GOP took control of the House after the 2010 election, no bills for new jobs ever made it to the floor of the House for debate. And that was what the GOP promised all throughout the campaign. In 2014 it was much the same thing and, with the control of both houses, not a single thing got accomplished in Congress.
It's not a problem with the basic system or with the fundamental notion of politics. It's a problem with what the GOP has degenerated into. Why more voters cannot understand it remains a mystery to me.
Beaglemom
It's a full time job. Ellison can't do both effectively unless he brings Dean and others on board and delegates.
ReplyDeleteBetter to have Dean doing it full time with the help of Sanders, Warren, Schumer and Ellison.
Our next presidential candidates need to come from Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado and New Mexico. no more coastal candidates and no more big states like New York and California. Personally, I'd like to see Al Franken run. I think he'd bring the rust belt back handily. He is certainly qualified.
We need to show the people we are not coastal liberal elites owned by Wall Street but progressives that care about, have worked and will continue to work for the people of this country. That's going to take time, perseverance and trust-building.
We have four years to work on Congress. 2018 will pretty much be a loss for Dems. So we need to work on 2020 and 2022 to take back the house and senate so that by 2024 we have a strong enough base to take back the White House.
As to our next woman president. Let's start working on supporting Kamala Harris. Perhaps put her in the VP slot in 2024 or a presidential run in 2028 or 2032
Oh yes, how I'd love to see Al Franken in a bigger role. He knows how to speak to the Midwest, with both respect and truth. He is one rare bird, love him.
DeleteSanders is not a Democrat; he returned to being an "independent" when he lost his presidential bid. He would have to commit to being a Democrat, not just when he feels like it but all the time.
DeleteAl Franken is a hero of mine but remember that he's a member of the Senate. Similarly with Ellison, who's in the House. We need them in their full-time jobs. We desperately need as much of a Democratic presence in Congress as we can get.
I wish people would let it rest for a week or se. Most of us are still in mourning and fearful for what will come with January 21, 2017.
Beagle mom
3:59
DeleteThat's the rhetoric that lost the election. It's "team" speak. Sanders is only relevant if he joins the team. Sanders read the public, Clinton and the Democratic leadership did not. If Sanders wants to help the Democrats, the fucking let him! I don't blame Bernie for remaining an Independent considering what happened this election. I'm considering changing from Democrat to non-partisan because of the corruption of the Democratic leadership. I'll wait until March to see what happens with the vote for chair. If they put in DWS or Brazile, I am DONE with the Democrats.
Al Franken may be a member of the Senate but he is NOT an insider and his constituents know it. Yeah, we need them in their full time jobs but they can help. And when the time comes, I would like Al Franken to be seriously considered for the job. He won't want it. But that's what we need. Someone that doesn't want it but will agree to do it as service to his country. Franken is a public servant, not an ambitious political asshole.
If we chill out and let it go, that will be momentum. That will lead to giving up and apathy. That's the last thing we need. Michael Moore is right. We need to start NOW to prepare for 2020 and 2024. Priority is to retake the Senate and retake the House. That will help to offset the toxicity of the Oval Office and help to block Supreme Court nominated Fascists. It will also set up a Democratic win for the White House in 2020 or 2024.
Yeeeeeeah!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6i-gYRAwM0
He would be a fantastic choice and might actually save the party.
ReplyDelete"That plus his experience makes him the best fit."
ReplyDeleteNOPE.
Howard Dean is old school. We need someone new to shake things up. As a Super-Delegate, Howard Dean refused to vote for Bernie Sanders, going against the wishes of his state's Primary voters. These are Dean's thoughts which were posted this spring on Facebook, "Super delegates don't "represent people". I'm not elected by anyone. I'll do what I think is right for the country." To me, that's a problem. Along with the Electoral College.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is the problem with the Superdelegate system. So many were pledged to Hillary before the first primary even took place. If Howard was one of them that is why he didn't vote for Sanders. As a Superdelegate he was under no obligation to do so no matter how his state voted.
DeleteHe swallowed the bullshit about Bernie being unelectable.
But he is not old school. He's a progressive and he really moved the Democratic Party forward from 2005-2009 when he was Chair.
Perhaps as Chair he will either get rid of the Superdelgates or tie them to their states. But the Superdelegate system as is has to GO. It disenfranchises voters and they know it.
Yes 7:04. I support Keith Ellison.
DeleteI also agree with what Dean , himself, said in an interview. He4 said the DNC job is full time not part time. For Ellison, as a Congressman, having to split duties, takes away from both jobs. i'm in full agreement. I say Dean.
ReplyDeleteYeah, right, it's suddenly a full-time job. It's a silly argument when many past chairs have also been active elected officials. And regarding Sanders, despite your whining and moaning, your arguments "But he's no Democrat" are futile. He'll have a very influential role in the direction the DNC goes. Schumer's no idiot. Sorry about your fee-fees, but this is the best thing that could have happened to the Democratic Party. It needed this stinging defeat to wake up and get back to basics: advocating for working people and the downtrodden. Unless everyone involved in that fiasco, including the Clintons,is sent packing, Dems will continue to lose elections and Dean's not the guy who's going to send the old dinosaurs and the moneyed interests packing.
Delete"It needed this stinging defeat to wake up and get back to basics: advocating for working people and the downtrodden."
DeleteWhile I agree with this statement, I don't think the party has figured out why they lost yet. Have you heard that they're already floating the idea of running Tim Kaine for president in 4 years? Really? Tim Kaine is a corporate Democrat who's to the right of Hillary Clinton. That should turn out the vote...
5:57.
DeleteYeah, because DWS did such a stellar job when split between two masters.
Like getting Joe Biden to give her kid a Bar Mitzah greeting instead of doing a spot for Democratic candidates. Or getting donations for her own re-election campaign instead of for the party to support the down ticket candidates.
Is that what you're talking about?
That not only exposes the corruption in the current leadership but also that an actively serving senator or representative should NOT be chair.
Was Reince Priebus a senator or representative? Michael Steele?
Howard Dean isn't campaigning so who cares if anyone considers him "old school" or and insider. He's not running. He won't be the face of the campaign. Let Ellison and Warren and Sanders do that. Get Al Franken on board.
"In 2009, Dean joined the lobbying division of the law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP...
ReplyDelete“Howard Dean navigated around the lobbying rules to push Democrats to back big drug companies on the term of the monopoly for biologic drugs,” said Jamie Love, the director of Knowledge Ecology International, a nonprofit organization that addresses human rights aspects of intellectual property rights and medical innovation. “His ‘trust me, I’m a doctor’ routine was worth billions to Roche and the other companies he represented on this. Now it is very hard to undo the damage.”
"The Mojahedin-e Khalq, an exiled Iranian group that has attempted for years to overthrow the government of Iran, paid Dean to help in its campaign to be delisted as a U.S.-recognized terrorist group. In 2011, the Wall Street Journal reported that Dean was receiving speaking fees from the group. Around that time, Dean began vociferously arguing on behalf of the MEK, even though he conceded that he had known little about the group before joining its cause.
That year, Dean traveled along with other paid MEK supporters, including Rudy Giuliani, to appear in Berlin with the group and demand that Western nations recognize the MEK leader Maryam Rajavi as the president of Iran. In addition to carrying out a campaign of terrorism against Iran, the MEK helped Saddam Hussein after the Gulf War crush rebellions in Iraq’s Shiite and Kurdish communities. “Take the Kurds under your tanks, and save your bullets for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards,” Rajavi once said.
In 2014, Dean came out against President Obama’s policy of engagement with Iran, declaring that the U.S. negotiations failed to account for the interests of the MEK. (Dean even spoke on Capitol Hill on behalf of an MEK-affiliated group, which posted the video online.) Last year, Dean continued to advocate against a nuclear accord with Iran, calling Secretary of State John Kerry and Obama “far, far too eager for a deal with Iran.”
If you want to read the whole article on Howard Dean by The Intercept, here is the link:
http://linkis.com/theintercept.com/201/e4l50