Preaching to the Choir
Kos is pumped up about Howard Dean's performance at the DNC cattle call yesterday. Dean is running as the anti-war, anti-Washington candidate in the Democratic primary. It will be interesting to see how well he plays now that uber dove Congressman Kucinich is in the race. But, at least according to this story, Dean is igniting the DNC faithful.
What Kos seems to ignore is the reality that the DNC members are far to the Left of the American public. Playing well to this group does not equal success with the general public. In fact, one could make the argument that playing well here is an indicator of electoral failure. Dean gets much of his accolades for his opposition to war with Iraq. And while that position may play well with the Democratic base, it does not resound with middle America. Just to show how out of touch this group is they nodded in support when a protestor shouted "Shame" at Dick Gephardt for his comment that Saddam must be disarmed. Can these people honestly believe that Saddam should not be disarmed? Wow.
The major problem with Dean's position on Iraq is that it would give the UN veto power over US foreign policy (as noted by the Kerry campaign). Would we be better off by placing our foreign policy in the hands of the institution that failed to prevent genocide in Rwanda or Bosnia? Do we really want China, Syria or other tyrannical regimes having a say over our foreign policy? Is Howard Dean serious?
And let's face it, Dean's position on civil unions place him outside of the mainstream. To be quite honest, I don't think civil unions go far enough, gays and lesbians deserve full marriage rights. However, I realize that my position is outside of the mainstream. That does not mean that Dean should drop or change his position, but Democrats should realize what the GOP will do to Dean in a general election. But, it will never get that far because as much as the primary and caucus system is controlled by the more liberal elements of the Party, there is still a pragmatic commitment to end the Bush administration in 2004.
Kos is pumped up about Howard Dean's performance at the DNC cattle call yesterday. Dean is running as the anti-war, anti-Washington candidate in the Democratic primary. It will be interesting to see how well he plays now that uber dove Congressman Kucinich is in the race. But, at least according to this story, Dean is igniting the DNC faithful.
What Kos seems to ignore is the reality that the DNC members are far to the Left of the American public. Playing well to this group does not equal success with the general public. In fact, one could make the argument that playing well here is an indicator of electoral failure. Dean gets much of his accolades for his opposition to war with Iraq. And while that position may play well with the Democratic base, it does not resound with middle America. Just to show how out of touch this group is they nodded in support when a protestor shouted "Shame" at Dick Gephardt for his comment that Saddam must be disarmed. Can these people honestly believe that Saddam should not be disarmed? Wow.
The major problem with Dean's position on Iraq is that it would give the UN veto power over US foreign policy (as noted by the Kerry campaign). Would we be better off by placing our foreign policy in the hands of the institution that failed to prevent genocide in Rwanda or Bosnia? Do we really want China, Syria or other tyrannical regimes having a say over our foreign policy? Is Howard Dean serious?
And let's face it, Dean's position on civil unions place him outside of the mainstream. To be quite honest, I don't think civil unions go far enough, gays and lesbians deserve full marriage rights. However, I realize that my position is outside of the mainstream. That does not mean that Dean should drop or change his position, but Democrats should realize what the GOP will do to Dean in a general election. But, it will never get that far because as much as the primary and caucus system is controlled by the more liberal elements of the Party, there is still a pragmatic commitment to end the Bush administration in 2004.
posted by Anonymous at 10:41 AM
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