Dean's appeal

Just my little ole opinion, but I think we the people were
so pissed off about the rigged election in 00 and nary a Dem
leader said boo about it, that we wanted the power back to
choose who WE want, not who the Dem Leadership wants to
back for Prez. Dean's appeal as an outsider has much to do
with real Dems unhappiness at the Dem leadership as usual.

We aren't leaving the party unless the party leaves us.
We the people will unselect Bush in '04, but the Dem leadership
needs to get onboard the grassroots train, coz we will be
the engineer this time. We still need eachother...so let's find
a way to get the train into the White House.

and continued with the 2000 election, the tax cuts, the deficeit, the lack of 9/11 investigations, Enron scandal, Energy scandal, Halliburton scandal, Harkin scandal, Iraq war, Carlisle Group, the 2002 election.

A line of Democratic Party failures and humiliations because they didn't want to seem to "partisan".

It was a series of mudpies...

Your're right. This goes all the way back to the impeachment. The one thing that politicians from both sides don't seem to understand is that Washington cannot control our minds, however much they try. WE, as citizens have the power. We can choose who we want, not the DLC or the RNC. Many who have voted for GW will change their minds. Although there are sheep out there I don't think they are in the Democratic party.

I can't vote for any Democrat who supported the resolution authorizing Bush to invade Iraq. Whatever their reasons, they don't meet the minimum qualifications to be eligible for my vote. Fortunately, there are some Democrats around who got it right. Say what you will about Dean, he's somebody I can vote for.

The war vote was not a close call. If you got it wrong, keep walking. You'll never get my vote, period.

to independants, post 9-11. I think it's better to have someone who's been involved with the investigation and recovery in congress, as well as someone who's worked in congress because it would help to know how to work with congress as president.

They don't want an insider either. I think Edwards strikes a nice balance. Or Graham because he started from the bottom of state government to the chairman of a powerful committee in the US senate.

I never ever thought he was.
He's so "outsider" that he was the chair of the National Governor's association and was a member of the DLC as governor.

Doesn't sound too 'outsider' to me. Maybe the media has played him up like an outsider, but I don't buy that, never have.

and as I have said on previous Edwards threads, say what you want, but he doesn't have ENOUGH (key word, enough, and it's getting late for fundraising, and his name recognition is not exactly going through the roof) support inside the beltway or with party activists. Where are his endorsements from the major party insiders? Where is his support among the dem. party activists who will be voting in the primaries? Dean can and does excite both the insiders and the outsiders, Edwards can't/doesn't.

Dean has one. Democrats (real ones at least) have been thirsty for someone, anyone that will stand up for party values and not apologize for it. Obiviously there is a long way to go and some aspects of DEan's personality may prove to be extremely grating over time. Also, it is easy to forget in the midst of all the Dean excitement, that not a single vote has been cast for him yet.

afternoon kick