Chris Matthews has question: With success of 50 state strategy, how come no job in admin for Dean?

[LittleApple81]

I remember that I had a post with the same question and people here attacked Howard Dean ceaselessly... I cannot understand animosity against him...
I wish he had been selected as a member of the cabinet. He is smart, a hard worker, a Democrat... sigh...

[valerief]

1. I think you listed the reasons why he's got no job. He's too damned good and

not dirty enough, apparently.

[Barack_America]

2. It doesn't seem that he wants one.

Perhaps brother wants to get paid?

:shrug:

[cali]

14. yes, he wanted one.

pretty widely known that he very much wanted HHS.

[regnaD kciN]

27. Maybe that's the ONLY one he wanted...?

Not everyone is like, say, Bill Richardson (no jokes, please) who, when shot down for State, happily accepted the post at Commerce.

Maybe Dean wanted HHS, but could care less about Surgeon General, Labor, or any of the other positions for which people here were recommending him.

Maybe, just maybe, he prefers to go back to Vermont and re-build his political career there. After all, Pat Leahy isn't going to be around forever.

[anonymous171]

3. If he was chosen DU would have found something to complain about.

It's our nature.

[uponit7771]

7. LOFL!

[PM7nj]

4. Because he doesn't want one?

:banghead:

[Skwmom]

5. He was right, which is a career limiting move in D.C.

[Kolesar]

8. That's right, nobody likes the guy who finds the dead skunk!

[FraDon]

26. That's right • Nobody likes to be embarrassed by another's success ...

with what you've said was wasteful, undesirable and impossible.

[yourguide]

6. I had the same question. I really wish Dr. Dean was somewhere in the mix.

[heliarc]

9. I prefer him as Surgeon General to Sanjay for shizzle! nt

[BlueCaliDem]

11. I would have liked Dean to be Surgeon General too, but isn't that a marketing role?

Howard Dean might not want to do anymore marketing for the government. He doesn't seem unhappy about not getting any cabinet position though, although that's only what I see on the outside.

[Thrill]

13. I like Dean. But the Surgeon General is a Public Speaking Role

and thats not a strength of Howard's.

[PassingFair]

24. He's the best public speaker I've ever heard.

And I've heard a few.

http://www.crocuta.net/Dean/Transcript_of_Dean_Sacramento_Speech_15March2003.htm

Audio at bottom of transcript.

[cali]

15. He had no interest in SG.

[Boomerang Diddle]

10. Maybe he was offered a position

and turned it down? Who knows?

Besides, If I were him, I think I'd be ready to take a break for a while.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

12. Since when did Tweety give a fuck about Democrats or what's fair and right

for them? He was often a shill for Bush, the Repukes and their illegal, criminal war!! :puke::puke:

[camera obscura]

18. One, he's praised Dean before.Two, he actually opposed the war from the start at least in his column

Remember after McClellan came out with his book Tweety agreed with his premise and said that at the time you were strongly forbidden from saying anything bad about the war on TV

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

19. No he did not oppose this war!! Where have you been? He voted for Bush in 2004

over John Kerry. He kissed Trent Lott's ass after he made those glowingly racist comments about Strom Thurmond. You obviously do not know Tweety or his history very well. After 911 he declared that "we are all Neocons now"!! Surely you remember that.

[camera obscura]

22. Proof:

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/pressure_from_corporate_execut.php
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2002/02/17/IN167643.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/09/01/IN133269.DTL
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/21/matthews-against-war/

"So I'll say it: I hate this war that's coming in Iraq. I don't think we'll be proud of it. Oppose this war because it will create a millennium of hatred and the suicidal terrorism that comes with it. You talk about Bush trying to avenge his father. What about the tens of millions of Arab sons who will want to finish a fight we start next spring in Baghdad?

Well, that's it for now. You know where I stand."

By the way, he voted for Bush in 2000, I'm certain, but he said he voted for Kerry in 2004.

[shireen]

16. it was good to see Dean get credited for his work. thanks, Tweety. nt

[fadedrose]

17. K & R - There should be more posts about Dean

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

20. Because Howard Deanis the outlier who empowered the little guy (like us)

and they HATE that. He practically invented the "Netroots" and now they can't get rid of us. Howard Dean is the most quietly powerful political presence in this country even right now. They can't afford to give him a presence or a podium.

For what it's worth and for what value it has played - Howard Dean killed cynicism even if very briefly.

I represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party

[ProSense]

21. Why can't people accept that not everyone in the world wants to be in the administration?

Or is the goal to spin Dean into an utterly pathetic figure?

He is off to American Samoa tomorrow. He had no interest in the Surgeon General position, and appears to be doing what he wants to do: his own thing.

[Alcibiades]

25. He deserves a break

Maybe he even wants one. If he does, it should not preclude him from joining the administration later, or running for some other office.

[MadHound]

23. Only a very limited number of slots

For those who aren't DLC, center-right corporatists in this administration.

[zulchzulu]

28. Dean doesn't want a cabinet position... he wants to go on speech circuit

As he mentioned on Tweety's show last night, he wants to go on a speaking tour or two advocating healthcare reform and other matters.

Should we force him into the Obama administration or let him do what he wants? I'd imagine he's tired of the Beltway and needs a break.