Diamond Dean

[LoungeMachine]

Rolling Stone 11/10/06, 2:01 pm EST

http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs/?p=778

Dean is God! Down with Dean!
Let the infighting begin.

It’s an open secret that Democrats don’t really like one another. The bloodsport between the progressives over at Kos and the New Democrats over at TNR is proof enough of that.

One of the things Dems love to fight over is the value of Howard Dean. The Kossacks & Co. love them some Dean. They came of age together politically and raised a lot of money on the Internets.

Then there are the old-school New Dems who believe in the Washington establishment, militant centrism, and Clintonian economics.

Ask the former who was responsible for the Democrats’ victory Tuesday, and they’ll tell you it’s Dean, who brilliantly pursued his “50 State Strategy” by which Democrats attempted to build a truly national party and “expand the map” — forcing Republicans to defend territory they long took for granted. They point to Democratic gains in Indiana, for example, where the party picked up three seats. Also that seat in Kentucky. And the one in Kansas.

The New Dems, by contrast, blame Dean for sinking good money after bad in locales with few short-term prospects. They look to seats in Illinois (Tammy Duckworth), Ohio (where 4th ranking Republican Deborah Pryce and Mean-Jean-Schmidt appear to be hanging on) and New Mexico (where the indisputably awesome Patricia Madrid appears to have lost) as places where an infusion of Dean’s cash could have tipped the balance. They think the Dems could have built a ‘94-in-reverse style majority, if only. If only Dean had listened to the devastatingly brilliant and ruthless Rahm Emanuel and abandoned his quixotic party building exercises.

Over at Salon today Joe Conason gives Dean the kind of massaging (”Howard Dean, Vindicated”) that would make Ted Haggard’s gigilo blush.

Unfortunately for Dean, he doesn’t play the Washington press corps nearly as well as do rivals like Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill….But this week, he is enjoying vindication far earlier than he ever expected.

Despite all the complaints and demands directed at him over the past 18 months, Dean stuck to his principles…. Against the counsel of party professionals, whose long losing streak has done little to diminish their influence, the new chairman began the process of re-creating the Democratic Party in 2005.

The New Republic, meanwhile, is giving voice to high-caliber Dean snipers, who apparently want to can The Screamer and replace him with the best of the Dems’ also rans from ‘06.

Some big name Democrats want to oust DNC Chairman Howard Dean, arguing that his stubborn commitment to the 50-state strategy and his stinginess with funds for House races cost the Democrats several pickup opportunities.

The candidate being floated to replace Dean? Harold Ford.

Says James Carville, one of the anti-Deaniacs, “Suppose Harold Ford became chairman of the DNC? How much more money do you think we could raise? Just think of the difference it could make in one day. Now probably Harold Ford wants to stay in Tennessee. I just appointed myself his campaign manager.”

A unity front was probably a little much to ask for, wasn’t it?

UPDATE: Kos to Carville: STFU!

[FORD]

Update: FORD to Carville, Emmanuel, and the DLC : Fuck off and DIE already!!!

Jesus Christ, the man just pulled off the biggest congressional landslide in DECADES and he did so by taking the battle to all 50 states, which you DLC PUSSIES refused to do. How about a little fucking credit?

[Steve Savicki]

Originally posted by FORD
How about a little fucking credit?
We could give him the presidency.

[FORD]

That would be the best thing possible for the country.

[Guitar Shark]

LMAO!

FORD, you never disappoint. ;)

[Steve Savicki]

Originally posted by FORD
the man just pulled off the biggest congressional landslide in DECADES and he did so by taking the battle to all 50 states,
And his plans are to continue in all 50 states:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1110/p10s01-usmb.html

As Republicans work out a family feud over what went wrong, Democrats are riding a wave of good feeling over all that went right.

"This was a seismic shift," Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), told reporters at a Monitor breakfast Thursday. "[It's] a moving away from right-wing extremism and back to a centrist agenda."

Set aside, for now, is the feud between Mr. Dean and the House and Senate Democratic campaign committees over whether precious campaign funds should be spent in the short term, to win the midterm elections, or for the longer term, Dean's plan to grow the party in all 50 states. After a historic win taking back the House and maybe the Senate, both can be right.

"We were competitive in every region," says New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, also at the Monitor Breakfast. "The 50-state strategy has worked to revive the Democratic Party."

The key to this election wasn't just turning out the base, both men stressed: It was reaching outside the party.

"Look, the independents won this election for us," says Dean.

By having DNC staff on the ground in all 50 states at least a year before the Nov. 7 vote, Democrats were positioned to take advantage of a souring public mood for the GOP. "We put folks into Indiana [where Democrats picked up three House seats] a year and half before we knew the candidates," Dean says.

Democrats also made gains deep within the traditional GOP base, picking up about 1 in 3 white, evangelical voters. "We did Christian broadcast and rural radio in seven states with key races," including hiring the weather man to do the ads "because he was a local person who could be trusted," Dean says.

In addition to gaining at least 28 House seats and likely control of the Senate, Democrats picked up six states in governors' races. The message from voters in this election is: "End gridlock, be bipartisan, and fix problems," says Richardson.

[Warham]

Originally posted by FORD
Jesus Christ, the man just pulled off the biggest congressional landslide in DECADES

Well, at least since 1994.

[EAT MY ASSHOLE]

Actually, it was all Schumer.