Is Dean the next Harry Truman?

[ThorsteinVeblen]

Although brand new to the national political game, Howard Dean has motivated, inspired and shocked Americans like no other Presidential candidate in the last 30 years. Grassroots financial support from traditional Democrats was almost unheard of - until Howard Dean.

Brash, unafraid, populist, willing to speak his mind straighforwardly, he might be the reincarnation of Harry Truman.

The current leadership of the Democratic Party, used to getting their political campaign budgets from Unions, Trial Lawyers and mammoth Corporations have not had any need whatsoever for the bulk of the people who actually make up the Democratic Party. Taken for granted, patronized, called "radicals" and "extemists" the average middle class Democrat feels alienated from a party that largely caters to corporate lobbyists and special interests to the exclusion of everyday, working folk.

Vividly contrasting this current reailty is Dean's model of small contributions, gleaned off of the Internet from supporters who give $20 at a time, thereby retaining eligibility and the ability to give again and again up to the $2000/person limit. Dean has not even BEGUN to tap into the financial support he already has. Inspired, passionate and incredibly motivated the number of Dean's supporters is growing exponentially. No other candidate has acheived this in the last 50 years. It is a credit to Howard Dean's ability to inspire and lead that it is happening now.

Up against the goliath of the Bush fundraising machine, Howard Dean's model of grassroots support and his inspiring leadership are our only hope. The Democratic Party must change. And change it will. From the bottom up.

The media sees this and are beginning to say that Howard Dean is most talented politician since Bill Clinton. His charisma, his ability to inspire and motivate are real and very rare. No other Democrat since Bill Clinton has be able to do it.

The storm is coming.

I vow again not to bash other Democratic Candidates. Ultimately, the pettiness demonstrated by some posters on this board is a result of the desperation that some people are feeling when it comes to the unquestionable defeat of their chosen horse. I vow to be sensitive to this and rise above the fray, as it were.

We supporters of Dean don't need to respond to petty insults because our candidate is winning. To respond to the baiting is only to drag our candidate down into the fray when in actuality he is so far above it as to be almost untouchable.

Witness the 1000's of Dean supporters outside of the debate last night.

See you at the meetups folks.

[tsipple]

1. Dean is Dean

The comparisons only go so far, and the history is still being written. One thing is for sure: he's a good man.

[mantis]

2. LOL

Thanks for that. Today was starting to get
tough and I needed a good laugh.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

3. Glad I could do it.

[mantis]

4. Me too

:)

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. You Think Too Small

He's the next Thomas Jefferson.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

7. You should post that topic in GD

Ask the question.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. I'm Not As Prolific A Writer As You

I must say Dean has the most passionate supporters.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

21. Shouldn't let that stop you.

[Eloriel]

37. :-)

Beautiful thought. Thanks for sharing it.

Eloriel

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. My husband says

"Bush may get a million dollars, but it comes from three people. Dean gets a million dollars, and it's from a quarter million people. Last time I saw, the three people get three votes. The quarter million-well, that's why Dean will win."

[Cha]

9. That's the logic, anyway! Now all we have to worry about is

the 8@#$%^&* voting machines that leave no paper trail and can be maniputlated, easily!

[farmbo]

10. HST also didn't like "fake Republicans"

"... Give the voters a choice between a real Republican and a fake Republican, and they'll pick the real Republican every time."

Dean has gained his popularity through sharp, unremitting attacks on fundamental republican ideology. We may not agree with everything he says all the time, but there's no mistaking him for a "fake republican".

[ThorsteinVeblen]

13. Damn straight.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

12. Dean has the momentum of a runaway freight train, why is he so popular?

*lol*

[ThorsteinVeblen]

14. Freight Train headed straight for the DLC.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

15. The Dean train is in the DLC station right now

n/t

[ThorsteinVeblen]

16. Then why is the DLC trying to politically assasinate him?

"The Dean train is in the DLC station right now"

Check out the Socialized Health Care system in Vermont.

Check out his position on the repeal of the Bush tax cuts.

[Pastiche423]

17. Wrong

Dean's train split the tracks to the DLC station a long time ago.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

18. Name ONE Dean economic policy that the DLC candidates don't share?

just one

[ThorsteinVeblen]

20. SOCIALIZED HEALTH CARE.

REPEAL OF BUSH TAX CUTS.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

22. Gephardt supports universal health care, Kerry does too

Every Democrat does as far as I can tell, except for the Republicans like Lieberman. They all support repealing the Bush part of the tax cuts, although some smart ones prefer letting the middle class have a bit just to keep them from getting their privledges asses in a knot and vote Republican. I wouldn't mind a tax cut, for instance.

Either way, Dean is as pro-DLC as you can get, I guess he's mad that he's not the top choice.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

24. Then why is the DLC trying to politically assasinate him?

[dajabr]

35. Not economic...Policy of Preemptive War nt

[0007]

19. Go Dean go

*

[JustJoe]

23. People are so sick of being

BULLSHATTED! On msnbc they had a group of Dem voters
in Iowa reacting to the candidates. The other
guys were hemming & hawing & the Demgroup saw
it. One guy said of a candidate: "He sounded like
he was trying to convince us of something and he
didnt even believe it himself." Then when Dean's
turn came, the Dems were talking all over themselves
excited and basically saying the same thing: Dean
has convictions. He says what he's going to
do, not weaving all over the lot. Dean has a core
that's right there to see & hear. His core is lined
up with what he's saying. Not too hot, not too cold,
just right. There's something of Truman in all that.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. Respectfully

Frank Luntz is to polling what Arnold Schwarzenegger is to acting and what Milli Vanilli is to music.

[JustJoe]

26. Frank Luntz didnt

create Howard Dean.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

28. No

but I would put no more faith in his focus groups than I would put faith in the person who designed his rug

[JustJoe]

29. LOL. If I was backing

one of the other candidates I would be right
with you hopin' that Dean's connection with
Dems is a figment of Luntz's toupee.

[Toots]

27. I take it you won't be voting for Bush* in '04

:shrug: A Dean Commercial if I ever read one.

[mndemocrat_29]

30. Harry Truman-Greatest President Ever

I think that if Howard Dean is the next Harry Truman, it would be apparent from his terms (if he is the next Truman, then it will be terms) as president.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

31. Of course

Just asking a question. The question is whether Dean after two terms in office could equal Harry Truman.

[Larkspur]

32. Yes, Dean is just like Truman and he already proved it in Vermont

from the Barre-Montpelier The Times Argus http://timesargus.nybor.com/Archive/Articles/Article/58611

Howard Dean is our Harry Truman

In 1991 when the sudden death of Gov. Richard Snelling thrust Lt. Gov. Howard Dean into the chief executive’s slot, I likened that day to April 12, 1945, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death elevated Harry Truman to the top slot. Like FDR on the national stage, Snelling had loomed larger than life on the state’s political landscape. Like Truman, Dean was an unknown.

The comparison holds: Howard Dean is Vermont’s Harry Truman. Dean, like Truman, is a no-nonsense, plain-speaking guy who loves to give ’em hell.
This is the governor who likened the Legislature to a zoo, grumbled that Supreme Court justices think they are God, and called the left wing of his party arrogant and the right wing of the Republican Party a bunch of crackpots.

Dean, as did Truman, confronted problems and situations without precedent: In Truman’s case it was the dropping of the atomic bomb; in Dean’s case it was the emotional bomb of expanding gay rights.
<SNIP>

[ThorsteinVeblen]

33. That is a great article.

[TrueBlueDem]

34. Op/Ed comparing Dean to Clinton, McCain, Reagan, Perot, Bartlet...

Bradley, Mondale, and, of course, Truman:

http://msnbc.com/news/949002.asp?0dm=C1DPO

(It's a fun read.)

[dajabr]

36. Nice Post. Dean is "Old School"

In a good way! :-)

[Eloriel]

38. Beautifully written. Thanks.

And I loved that Harry Truman comparison article. I've been saying for a while that to me he's a cross between JFK (tho Hedda_Foil tells me he's more RFK) and Truman. Vision + Blunt, pragmatic, no-nonsense talk AND governing.

Eloriel

[CWebster]

39. You are absolutely right

Thanks TV.

[NicRic]

40. Sadly he will end up more like a Mondale !

I hope Iam wrong ,and I will apoligize if Iam ! However I just dont see any on the annouced runners winning in 2004. Who ever is the Dems choice ,will have my vote. I wish the best man for the job our President in Exile Al Gore was running for re-election !

[DemocratSinceBirth]

41. Being A Good Candidate Is A Necessary But Not Sufficient

condition for beating an incumbent president.

This election will turn on President Bush's conduct in office.

If folks believe he has done a good job of keeping the peace and the prosperity he will be reelected.

If folks believe he has failed in those areas they will show him the door.

It seems that the election, in some ways, is out of our hands.

[CWebster]

42. The Bush campaign

holds sway in the courts, the government and the media. Rove doesn't have to be a genuis, he has it all handed to him already with vast financial networks and treasure troves of ready cash. The only way the Dems can compete is through grassroots efforts which spread like wildfire and change the consensus of political reality. This is NOT accomplished by agreeing with Bush policies without offering a alternative representation of how Bush has failed. Politicians who advise we "just move on" are sabotaging (hello, Bill Clinton) Democrats capabilities of reversing the dominant mindset by glossing over major disasters as minor "mistakes". The last thing Grey Davis needs is "help" from Clinton. Gore has turned out to be the honorable statesman, Clinton is a political pundit and ambitious cheap party hack.