Judge Us By Our Actions
Democrats have a tough job in protecting their recent election gains because:
“now it’s what we do and not what we say,” national chairman Howard Dean told party leaders Saturday.
“It’s what happens in Congress that will determine our message more than anything I say or what they say in Congress,” Dean said.
Democrats, who will run both the House and Senate come January, have outlined an agenda that includes overhauling ethics, raising the minimum wage and making college more affordable.
Dean said Democrats must prove to people in conservative and swing districts that they can earn the voters’ trust.
“Elections are not mandates. Elections are power being loaned to politicians for a two-year period by the voters of this country,” Dean said. “Now it’s our job to earn it back again in ’08.”
That approach is critical if Democrats are to build on their majority in Congress and retake the White House in 2008, said Dean, adding that Democrats did will in November because they appealed to all types of voters.
“George Bush made a huge mistake by representing half of America, while treating the rest of us with contempt,” Dean said. “We need to reach out to everybody whether they agree with us or not.”
Dean said he was pleased that Democrats drew more support than in the past “faith voters.” Democrats gained among religious voters, including those considered evangelical, because they talked about their values and competed in all parts of the country, Dean said.
Later Saturday, Democratic National Committee members planned to propose an incentive system to persuade states not to move their presidential nominating contents too early in the 2008 calendar.
The idea is to discourage jamming the primary calendar after moving up Nevada and South Carolina in the first wave of contests to increase diversity in the early contests.
Wild Thing’s comment……
It’s like I once heard a baseball umpire say: “When a pitcher loses his stuff, the batters think they just became better hitters.”
Similarly, the democrats think they just became America’s Most Popular and that everyone is going to indulge their little fantasies. “Oh, wow, we can end war and make employers pay everybody more, and we’ll make everyone apologize for being successful.”
No one can say with any certainty why the Donks won, except that their gains were about average for off-year elections. It’s true that in years leading up to the losses, Republicans vanished, ideolgically and mentally, and they deserved to lose. Considering how awful the Bush Administration is on almost every issue, it could have been worse.
Whatever the reasons, the screwloose Dean had nothing to do with it. The Donks won in spite of him. The Clintons and others will be searching for a shady spot to bury his head when they have a free minute.
This will be fun to watch. Dean is the favorite of the zoo animals at Kos and Democrat Underwear, and Carville is the fossil inside the museum. Whoever loses influence will not be happy.
I agree so much Rhod, tremendous disappointments will not lead to winning elections.
I hope they keep Dean around, he sure is a favorite zoo animal like you said. haha
The Repubs need another Freshman Congress with a Contract with America. Another Ronald Reagan would also help. And finally, maybe just dump the abortion known as the Republican National Conference. The RNC considers itself successful by using childish mass mailings to raise money. I think the RNC should be riding herd on elected officials and constantly reminding them what they were elected for.
I also think we need a partisan group of volunteers that can evaluate Conservative candidates to give voters an honest evaluation of the candidates real or phoney consevatism. I don’t want anymore of this “compassionate Conservative” nonsense which is really an excuse for socialistic, liberal ideas.
From what I read Dean is held in contempt by some fellow Dems for not gaining more ground in the House. Carville can’t stand him and said Dean is the reason they didn’t gain more house seats.
I think this election turned not by what Dean did or did not do but what Bush did and did not do.
Immigration was/is (Still, a big issue) a big issue with alot of Red State voters, it was with me, in fact I wrote my Senator, Mike Dewine and told him He was fired because he voted for that stupid Amnesty Bill in the Senate, later on I changed my mind and voted for him, because his alternative was worse than DeWine ever could be.
I don’t think the Dems won because of what they said, because they said nothing and had no plan, but because of what the Republicans didn’t do.
What did in this last election was Bush’s support of Illegal Aliens and Amnesty, His botched Harriet Meirs nomination, His leaning more and more like he is in favor of appeasement rather than sticking with his original Iraq plan. But mainly his lack of communicating his ideas to the American People, who can’t find out anything, except after it is regurgitated by a very left leaning media and this is Bush’s fault.
So if anyone is responsible for Dean success it is surely George Bush. The ones who could see through the fog voted for who we always vote for but some didn’t and this is the result. All of the dem victories were slim and not landslides by any means but they won and now we got Nazi Pelosi in charge of the house and the Real Estate baron in charge of the Senate.
Now they better put up because they got their chance. I don’t know if it will be fun to watch it seems a bit unnerving, if you ask me.
Dean’s actually on the right track, but the next two years will simply be wrough with more corruption. This time it’ll be Dems instead of Republicans. Give them a little power and they’ll get in just as much trouble.
Tom, I didn’t like it when I heard it the first time……”compassionate Conservative”, and I like it less more then ever now.
I agree with what you said…”I think the RNC should be riding herd on elected officials and constantly reminding them what they were elected for.”….Amen!
Mark, your so right, Carville can’t stand him and I think I heard Hillary can’t either. hahaha
I agree too with you about Illegal Aliens and Amnesty.
I’m still smoldering over Ken Mehlman and the RNC’s precious RINO hunt. It seems that it was their entire purpose to keep RINO’s in office, maintain the status quo, discourage or shun new conservatives and seek new Liberals cut of the same cloth as Bloomberg or Chafee. The only reason I went to the polls this time was to hold my nose and vote to prevent what has happened. Like when the guy with the rabbit ears, Perot, split the ticket back in ’92 due to the unpopularity of Bush 41, it handed the country over to the Democrats under Clinton for eight years. G.W. alienated a lot of conservatives when he chose not to protect the borders and instead fight for an amnesty program or worse yet another North American bloc of the U.S, Canada and Mexico, like the EU. His insistance on the nation becoming Mexican and his blundering political appointments have been disgraceful, not that I think George is stupid nor ignorant, I think some of those were deliberate to create the facade and encourage the opposition to attack, either way it failed and we’ve got two more years of Marxism’s worst. The only solace I can take is the knowledge that Pelosi and Dean are like Stalin, the purges internally will take out the carcasses on both sides which might not be so bad after all.
Jack I agree, Bush sure did alienated a lot of conservatives when he chose not to protect the borders. Huge mistake.
Can I ask when Mr. Bush chose not to protect the borders?
Bush Senior was off fighting battles and winning wars. Desert Storm, Lebannon, and Somolia to name some majors.
Then Clinton came to party and get laid.
When GW came to office a whole fleet was sent out, coast guard numbers was up in gulf, airport security was obviously heightened.
How else do you want borders protected? The Great wall of America?
MattCoops, I realize the things you said and they are right.
The thing about the borders is another matter. Yes I want President Bush and others to honor the laws we have about coming into our country. Instead of writing new laws and making exceptions by changing laws just to favor people coming here illegally. It is not only wrong, but it is dangerous in the times we live in. Terrorists have been coming in this way and we don’t need that.
As a contractor working in the south, believe me, I’d love to keep “Los Cheapos” from saturating my work area with cheap laborers that only do second rate work, and bring general wages down.
But sorry to say, we can never have a non-penetrant border. Not only is it impossible, but it goes against the formation, and continuing life cycle of our america. America was formed on a melting pot. And the statue of Liberty still welcomes those coming in with open arms.
We just need to filter society a bit.
A better tracking system would be better. An inventory if you will.