November 14, 2005
IN HOWARD DEAN'S OWN WORDS--THE DEMOCRATS HAVE NO PLAN
Yesterday morning, while watching NBC's "Meet The Press", I'm stunned, but in an ' I told-you-so' sort of way, by what Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is saying. Here it is, in his words:
TIM RUSSERT (interviewer): Let's talk about the Democrats and some of the polling data. Congressional Democrats have the same priorities as you: yes, 26 percent; no, 54 percent. So the Democrats aren't perceived as the answer. And look at this, Chairman Dean. We asked independent voters: Do you believe that Democrats have a clear message, a vision for the future? Fifty-two percent of independent swing voters say no. One in four Democrats say you have no clear vision, no agenda, no clear message. Joe Trippi, your former campaign manager said, "Obviously, the results from Election Night are great for us Democrats. But given the GOP's problems, the tightness of the results suggest that people aren't happy with either party right now. Democrats have got to push an alternative agenda."
DR. HOWARD DEAN (Chairman of the Democratic National Committee): We have an alternative agenda. We made it very clear. We want a strong national security based on telling the truth to our people at home, our soldiers and our allies. We want jobs in America that'll stay in America, and we believe that renewable energy is one of the areas where we can do that. We want a health-care system that covers everybody, just like 36 other countries in the world. We want a strong public education system. And most of all, we want honesty back in government. I think that's a pretty good agenda.
Okay, if it's all right with you, I'm going to interrupt here for a moment. The Chairman of the DNC thinks a pretty good alternative agenda for his party is to promote telling the truth, keeping jobs here in the States, promoting renewable energy, health care for all, and strong public education. I'm sorry, but that's weak, weak, weak. Every candidate for elected office in this country for nearly the last 50 years, be they either Republicans or Democrats, has had those very same items on their 'agenda' too. But I digress...
TIM RUSSERT: But those are words that will appeal to people. But when you go behind them, for example, what is the Democratic position on Iraq? Should we withdraw troops now? What do the Democrats stand for?
Okay, well this should be good. Hit him with it, Howard! Give him the specifics. Represent!
HOWARD DEAN: Tim, first of all, we don't control the House, the Senate or the White House. We have plenty of time to show Americans what our agenda is and we will long before the '06 elections.
Gazed look on my face.. deer staring into headlights. Did he really just say that? Russert's gotta follow-up on that answer with something good, doesn't he? I sure hope so... let's see what he comes back with:
TIM RUSSERT: But there's no Democratic plan on Social Security. There's no Democratic plan on the deficit problem. There's no specifics. They say, "Well, we want a strong Social Security. We want to reduce the deficit. We want health care for everyone," but there's no plan how to pay for it.
Way to go, Tim. My point exactly. I've been saying this very same thing for years, and not just about the Democrats either. Okay, surely Dean's going to clarify his party's position here. Clearly, he has to give some specifics, doesn't he? Wait for it, wait for it... here it comes...
HOWARD DEAN: Right now it's not our job to give out specifics.
Holy Crap... he didn't just say that, did he? Gazed look on my face.. deer staring further into headlights Wait, wait, there's more...
HOWARD DEAN: We have no control in the House. We have no control in the Senate. It's our job is to stop this administration, this corrupt and incompetent administration, from doing more damage to America. And that's what we're going to do.
And there you have it folks, straight from the mouth of the DNC Chairman... the Democratic National Committee's job is not to propose sensible solutions or to work with Republicans to actually solve problems and make life better for all U.S. citizens in the here and now. Quite the opposite in fact. The Democratic National Committee Chairman says his party's job is stopping the Republicans.
They're wrong and we're right, and that my friends is what politics--at least at the national level--has become all about. They're wrong, I'm right. I'm right and they are wrong. Forget substance. Forget even the notion of working together to make this a better place to live.
TIM RUSSERT: But is it enough for you to say to the country, "Trust us, the other guy's no good. We'll do better, but we're not going to tell you specifically how we're going to deal with Iraq."
HOWARD DEAN: We will. When the time comes, we will do that.
TIM RUSSERT: When's the time going to come?
HOWARD DEAN: The time is fast-approaching. And I outlined the broad outlines of our agenda. We're going to have specific plans in all of these areas.
TIM RUSSERT: This year?
HOWARD DEAN: In 2006.
Shame on you, Howard Dean. Members of your party were elected to work now, not starting in 2006. Is this the best the Democrats can do? Said under my breath...And some people wonder why some people choose not to vote in this country!
If you're a registered Democrat, are you pleased with how your party leadership is operating? If you're a Republican, I bet you're licking your lips right about now, aren't you?
In the end, we all lose out when crap like this is allowed to go on. When will our elected and appointed officials get that it's not about who is right and who is wrong?
Posted by Mikal at November 14, 2005 12:52 PM
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I'm glad you blogged about this Mikal. I'm not pleased with anything in the context of American political leaders. This exchange shows exactly the pervasive problem in American politics that prevents issues from being solved no matter what your party affiliation is.
I'm now registered as an independent, and my politics would be classified as left of center. Iím a pretty strong pacifist and don't support the Republican party and most of what they stand for, but I also have been feeling the same way about the Democratic party. Iíve been lied to by our leaders on several occasions, we have a quagmire of a war on our hands, and we are neglecting some very important social and economic issues at home but I donít see the Democrats doing anything positive to try and improve things.
Instead of talking about solutions on relevant and important issues and how the parties can reach across party lines to solve some very real problems in and outside of this country (which in order to solve the issues will be necessary in my opinion), Dean is capitalizing on Bushís all-time low approval rating and telling the world "Hey everyone! In the next election, we are going to run on the platform of let's get rid of the current administration because they suck!"
Newsflash Dean, Bush's term is up next time around so he is gone regardless.
Dean is propagating the already major problem of divisive politics. I used to like Dean because I thought he was different, the "anti-politician", but he's lost much of my respect over the last several months.
Strap in folks, you can expect more of the same as the next presidential election approaches. Itís not going to be about working together no matter what party affiliation to solve issues, but finger-pointing at who screwed up.
