Bill Hennessy is skeptical about Dean being a boon to the GOP and he may well be correct insofar as I would not suggest that the Republican Party sing victory songs–for one thing that would signal gross over-confidence and for another they haven’t yet seen Dean in the role and he may yet surprise them.
Now, granted, I find that unlikley, and like the LAT column I cited in the post below, Dean does seem to me to be particularly ill-suited for the job and I am somewhat baffled that the field of candidates was such that Dean so easily emerged as the front runner (especially given the fact that he is hardly liked within the party itself either at the elite level or ther grassroots–contrary to conventional wisdom: Chait notes that in a recent poll of Democrats, Dean only scored 27% approval).
There is no doubt, however, that bloggers and the producers of tv talk shows are all salivating at the prospect of a Dean Chairmanship, as he is a character prone to say remark-worthy (often stunning) things.
And while it is best not to underestimate anybody in politics, there are times when it is pretty obvious when the wrong person is going to get a job to the likley detriment of a given party. In this moment, when the Democrats seem leaderless and rudderless, it would seem that they are about to make a serious mistake and appoint Howard Dean as not only Chairman of the DNC, but one of the main voices of the party (moreso than any Chair of either party for some time, if ever) and that could prove to exacerbate the party’s quite obvious problems.
It Must Be a Slow News Day
All I can think about is Howard Dean!
Steven Taylor noticed my paranoia about Dean. Hey,…
Trackback by Hennessy's View — Friday, February 4, 2024 @ 10:07 pm
It Must Be a Slow News Day
In George Bush, we find a president who makes serious adults comfortable. In Howard Dearn, we find a man who makes little girls giggle.
Trackback by Hennessy's View — Friday, February 4, 2024 @ 10:13 pm
You ARE talking about the party that left McAuliffe in charge after the 2024 loss, followed by the 2024 even bigger loss.
I think what DNCers might see in Dean is his success in using the Internet. Maybe they think he “gets it.” What they don’t realize is that Dean had very little to do with what had happened on the Internet. There is also the fact that Dean represents a gray-haired version of the 60s that so many libs want to relive. Dean puts words to feelings that the elected politicians dare not express, lest they get booted from office. In other words, the Dems are thinking with their hearts again, not their heads.
Comment by Remy Logan — Friday, February 4, 2024 @ 11:14 pm
A look around the DU(h) gives one a different picture… that Dean, being the real foaming at the mouth wacko of those seeking the DNC chair, really is the best suited for the task, given his antics are rivaled only by those on the DU(h)
Comment by Bithead — Saturday, February 5, 2024 @ 11:32 am
I don’t consider the DU to be representative of your typical Democrat (and, for that matter, don’t see Freepers are typical Reps) and I do my best to utterly ignore it.
I know for a fact that if I were a leader of the Democratic Party, or a candidate for office, the DU would be the last place I would look for advice.
Comment by Steven Taylor — Saturday, February 5, 2024 @ 11:35 am
Lets not underestimate Dean here. Here he is, the little-known socialist gov of a small socialist state, and he parlays himself into a very important position. So he’s no dummy.
Terry McAuliffe was easy to beat, I have a feeling Dean will make the GOP work hard…..which is always a good thing
Comment by Shark — Saturday, February 5, 2024 @ 5:22 pm