By Andrew Malcolm
Howard Dean is a former doctor, a former state legislator, a former lieutenant governor, a former governor and a former presidential candidate who sought the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee in 2005 as a kind of states rights guy, a power to the states fellow who would run the national operation with a lenient hand in terms of centralized power.
So here he is in 2008 locked in a bitter stalemate with two key states -- Florida and Michigan that will be crucial for the Democratic candidate come November -- but at the moment are barred from any representation at the party's national convention in late August in Denver, which is a lovely pre-snow time of year there even at 5,280 feet. (Take your jacket just in case.)
But things could get as hot in Denver as Howard Dean was in 2004 when he finished third in Iowa, if this Clinton-Obama mano a mano goes that far. So, our veteran colleague Mark Z. Barabak, who's known the chairman for years, asked him when they sat down for a recent chat, what's wrong with states setting their own primary dates?
“This is a national election," Dean replied. "They supported a set of rules for the candidates to abide by, everybody agreed to abide by those rules—including Michigan and Florida—and then....
at the last minute they tried to undo the system, which caused a lot of problems. We had Iowa threatening to move into 2007. We had New Hampshire doing the same thing.
"We had carefully put together four states which were both ethnically and geographically diverse, which was going to be screwed up. So, we thought that we needed to preserve the rules as everyone voted for them.
"It’s a little like waiting in a lunch line. If two kids jump out of line and try to get to the front of the line, if you don’t do something about it, pretty soon you’ve got mob rule and that’s not a good way to nominate a president.”
In other words, nevermind states rule. It's the principal's rules that count.
Here are a couple other things the chairman talked about:
The Dream Ticket of O-C or C-O: "Obviously that solves the unity problem. But whoever is eventually the nominee will decide who their running mate is. I don’t think there are too many Democrats who would object to that and it’s obviously a very attractive solution.
"But in the long run, whoever wins the nomination is going to have to make their own pick for whatever their reasons are.”
In other words, it's not up to the chairman.
Clinton Get Out!: “I wouldn’t want to do that because, having been a candidate myself, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do. That’s a very personal decision and this is an incredibly difficult race and I think everybody makes up their own mind about when to get in and when to get out.
“I have a lot of respect for both these candidates. So I can’t imagine either one of them doing something that’s churlish or that’s bad for the party or bad for the country.”
Has either of them crossed the line so far? “Not even close.”
And what about this John McCain fellow, who's already sewed up the Republican nomination and started his general election run? "He has no ideology, it doesn’t seem to me, that he’s willing not to change. It always makes me worry when somebody seems to not have too many core beliefs.
"And I think John McCain does have core beliefs. The problem is he’s willing to give them away.”
In other words, it seems unlikely the Arizona senator will be getting Dean's vote come fall.
Andrew Malcolm writes the Top of the Ticket blog for the Los Angeles Times
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Comments
"He has no ideology, it doesn’t seem to me, that he’s willing not to change. It always makes me worry when somebody seems to not have too many core beliefs."
"And I think John McCain does have core beliefs. The problem is he’s willing to give them away."
Well all the people in those state have to do is look at the last two republican terms and listen to John McCain to make their choice. More war and more debt or fresh ideas. The choice is obvious. I personally have always liked McCain but he ain't what he used to be. I'll be interested to hear him defend this surge which is still an over priced version of whack-a-mole. More dead bodies. No political progress. I repeat, NO POLITICAL PROGRESS!!!
Posted by: Logic Prisoner | April 8, 2008 7:36 AM
I admire Howard Dean.
He's the reason we won Congress back in 2006. I hope he realizes that Obama does not have a real lead, necessarily. (I will vote and work for the guy if he's the top of the ticket, but I really fear if he is, we lose and lose big). [Also, it can't be Obama/Clinton, (not for about another 8 years and about 20 million hamburgs, fries, cigarette cartons and resultant heart attacks and strokes--that last generation of dixiecrats LBJ knew he was losing when he signed the civil rights act ain't gone yet), but it could be Clinton Obama.
Bill's coattails will help with that.
But the attacks from Obama supporters are not and will not help us. (Note I said 'us'--we're in this together!)
There were many attacks here yesterday when the topic of Minnesota ballot box 'stuffing' came up. (I'll get to those attacks in a bit.)
Stuffing may have been a bit harsh. Or was it?
I think it arose around the claims that Obama's VERY THIN lead is perhaps a fabrication from cynical Republicans who want to vote him UP the ticket to see US lose in the Fall against their candidate.
Someone who appeared to possibly work or at least volunteer for the Obama campaign seemed to threaten "Geraldinetoo", suggesting that claims of MN problems were fictional.
They are not.
Without explaining where, let's just say that there was an Illinois Democratic party elected official who spoke to Democrats at the (name withheld) county level about experiences in Minnesota primary vol work not long ago.
They ran out of ballots early in the day. Pieces of paper were ripped in threes and people could just write their candidate's name on it and put it in the ballot box. People got to go into the little booth, in private, and vote (the primary is PRIVATE in Minnesota, unlike a lot of caucus states), after their names were checked off. That worked fine.
An hour or so before closing time, this person called a local election official to say there was a mile long line just to get cars into the parking lot and could they stay open.
They were told they could (I think this was Minneapolis, but dunno) and did so.
Around 8:00, however, the local elected/vetted officials LEFT their stations and went to participate in the open 'issues' caucuses!
So people wanting to vote didn't show i.d.s but just walked to a cardboard box balanced on a metal wastebasket that was part of a street sign and put their ballot in there. OUT IN THE STREET! The boxes were tended by the campaign staff.
Now, given that Clinton's supporters are older and not as energetic, I do believe that any over-voting would have favored the Obama tally. That's the MN 'stuffing; situation, I think.
But that's a minor point.
The point is--the caucus/primary set up is really not a good way to pick a front runner. We don't really know who the front runner is now. Polls are inaccurate and that's not how we vote in the fall anyway. I believe Hilary probalby has an actual lead on Obama if you factor out the wierdness of the primary (which would favor Obama) the Republican chicanery (which would favor Obama), and the media bias toward Obama which WILL EVAPORATE come fall.
Now.
It is unseemly and ill-advised for anyone volunteering or working for the candidate as he is a SENATOR to intimidate any bloggers, or other constituents from expressing their opinions by attempting to 'out' them.
As Elizabeth Edwards said, bloggers are the 'pamphleteers'. We're the little guys. (Remember, any Senator has 'field offices' with people who visit a lot of employers around the state and we'll leave it at that).
But if 'big' people abuse their power, we 'little' people can be pretty effective at pointing out abuses of power they've seen.
We're all in this together.
It's about the WAR, remember?
Torture. Extraordinary rendition.
Nuclear Power and coal barons trying to get us to give up on wind and solar.
It's about the lack of civil rights--remember? It's about the economy being ransacked to pay for the oil war, remember?
It's about global warming, remember?
Let's not let youthful enthusiasm about an election cost us the battle in the Fall.
Peace.
Posted by: Edward R. Murrow | April 8, 2008 8:47 AM