Dean Dump

There's a lot of rhetoric floating around the media lately about Howard Dean's foot & mouth disease, his screaming, his fundraising abilities (or lack thereof) , the contributors that are noticably absent. The "impefections" simply make him human.

When compared to the other choices for the job, he was the best for DNC Chairman. Like everyone else, he has limitations. Unlike everyone else, he understands his limitations. He also understands that no two regions in the U.S. are exactly alike yet the Democratic Party is a national organization.

Dumping on Dean is almost a recognized political sport (but, then, what isn't because "that's politics"). I'd like to thank Mike Ziri for the following text from Katrina vanden Heuvel's blog:

Congressional Democrats never supported Dean for DNC chair. They wanted someone lower-profile and less hyperbolic. Apparently they wanted someone like RNC Chair Ken Mehlman. Still, it was more than a little surprising for Senator Joe Biden, who is not renown for his diplomatic temperament, to take a potshot at the chairman of his own party for rhetorical excess.

When George Stephanopoulos played a clip of Dean on ABC's This Week saying, that perhaps Republicans can wait in line to cast ballots because "…a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives," Biden responded, "He doesn't speak for me with that kind of rhetoric. And I don't think he speaks for the majority of Democrats."

Really? Outside the beltway, Dean is immensely popular with the party faithful. He has raised tons of money and is using it to rebuild the infrastructure at the state and local levels. The same infrastructure Biden will need if he decides to run for president.

Besides, Dean's statement is precisely the kind of red meat party chairmen are supposed to throw to rev up their base. You don't hear Republicans pulling any punches.

So enough of the infighting. (Or enough of this kind of infighting. If Dems want to get serious about real internal debates, let's have one about how to end the war and occupation.)

But when it comes to taking on the GOP, Dean and Congressional Democrats should get together and smoke a peace pipe with some cancer patient's now illegal supply of medicinal marijuana. It will help ease the Party's suffering, and lead, perhaps, to better communication.

I'd like to think that Dr. Dean can return the Party to its own grassroots better than anyone else. Democrats are passionate about their values. He could help them project that image better. After the 2004 Election, they're desperate for a better image. The Party elitists have failed to dominate him the way they successfully dominate their peers. That's the problem. They can't control him. I see that as the positive. My concern is the elitists -- & the lawyers -- at the state & county levels.