Howard Dean Announces His One-Point Program
for Party Renewal, February 12,2005
EXCERPT FROM 2010's MOST DOWNLOADED BOOK, "THE PARTY'S OVER: How Howard Dean Drove Old Demos Down" by Chief Justice Colin Powell (Random House, A Karl Rove Book, New York, 2009) -- Dean's Rise to Power
In the November 2004 elections the Democrats again failed to get a majority of seats in the congress and the presidency eluded them again as well. As in 2002, their share of the vote fell. Dean had contemplated running a small maple syrup and roadside pancake franchise in Vermont. But then he was rescued by George Soros disguised as the Democratic National Committee.Posted by Vanderleun at February 13, 2005 8:09 AM | TrackBackTerry McAuliffe (an employee of Soros) was Chairman, but he could not get enough support in the DNC to keep his socks up. Soros and Moveon.org were having to govern by remote control via Hillary Clinton and their batteries were running low. Bill Clinton was, frankly, just shagged out and no use at all. SorosMoveon first offered Dean the post of sergeant-at-arms if he promised to scream first and take questions afterward.
Dean refused -- he demanded to be made the Chairman of the Democratic Party or he would take his computers and his 50,000 young and buff voters and go home. So Soros, the Clintons, and Kennedy took a risk. On 12 February 2005 the DNC made Dean the Chairman of the Democratic Party. They thought they could control Dean -- how wrong they were.
In the end, Dean did not TAKE power at all -- he was given it.
I think Dean is not as much of a gift to the GOP as a lot of people think.
He's articulate, smart, really not all that left-wing, and not namby-pamby when it comes to a controversy.
It would be wrong to underestimate the fellow.
Posted by: Grumpy Old Man at February 13, 2005 2:06 PMHe doesn't have a party to lead. Just fragments of interests groups.
The inability to bolster faux populist, race, and class warfare politics with streams of checks and programs, compounded by the realities of our post 9/11 world, has forced the Democrats to fall back on selling ideas.
Theirs don't work.
Putting Dean in the chair is as eloquent an admission of that fact as I can imagine.
I look for a lot of Dems to decline running for reelection in 2006. All to "spend more time with their families", of course.
Posted by: TmjUtah at February 13, 2005 5:12 PMHe's articulate, smart, really not all that left-wing, and not namby-pamby when it comes to a controversy.
It's going to be interesting when the groups that claim to have 'bought' him try to exercise their so-called ownership rights.
Posted by: P.A. Breault at February 13, 2005 7:52 PM"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated to combat spam and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.