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Dean was anti-war and continued to be anti-war. The thing about Dean was that he stood firmly on all issues. He even was straight about partial-birth abortion. He didn't ever try to change his views to reflect what the media would prefer.
He was taken down by the media. Obama is being pulled up by the media. I'm not sure why the media is so pro-Obama, but our true grassroots candidate will succeed despite it, not through it. I'm sure of this.
I'm an Edwards Democrat!
by invisiblewoman on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 02:57:05 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
means.
"Expedient," that is.
I think you mean "inexpedient."
We need not think alike to love alike -- Ferenc Dávid
by ogre on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 03:10:40 PM PDT
a few differences between Dean and BO. Dean was always ahead of the curve, and blunt about it. BO is all flowery bullshit.
I view BO as more beneficiary of what Dean initiated, rather than being an initiator of these forces.
Bush's presidency is now inextricably yoked to the policies of aggression and subjugation. Mike Whitney
by dfarrah on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 03:12:47 PM PDT
Obama has been about community organizing from the start, and by the looks of it, he is a lot better at it than Dean...At least at the nuts and bolts stuff, like how to train people for the Caucus. We should have won Iowa, but we got all swept up into the national movement. Obama concentrated on Iowa and delivered the goods.
by PLS on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 03:42:48 PM PDT
as a doctor most of his life and the position he had before he took over as Governor of Vermont was a part-time position [or maybe he was a legislator part-time before he became Lt Gov]. Dean's entry into full-time, higher level politics was almost an accident [the prior governor died suddenly, then Dean became governor].
So, he may very well have known less about political organizing than BO.
However, it was Dean who 1st started firing up the dems/grassroots about opposing GWB's policies, Dean who 1st began criticizing congress-critters for rolling over for GWB, Dean using the internet for grass roots organizing [he likes to say that the grass roots found him], telling people "you have the power," getting younger voters excited, etc.
Like Reagan before him, BO is riding into the WH on a wave of dissatisfaction, a wave started years ago by more liberal activists.
It takes time for ideas to trickle into the mainstream and to influence behavior. The dems as a party, as well as BO as a candidate, have greatly benefitted from HD's initiative and efforts.
by dfarrah on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:27:36 PM PDT
your journey has taken you down a path of voting for Senator Clinton despite ample previous reservations.
We all can respect that. Your vote and your opinion are your own.
I happen to disagree.
However, the diarist is quite correct to point out that Barack Obama was part of the original Dean Dozen; he was also a part of the voting held by DFA for their endorsement as a grassroots candidate.
My own involvement with Senator Obama's campaign has allowed me to meet and interact with a whole new generation of Democratic activists, young and old, here in Oakland CA. I tried my damndest to tell my friends in the McNerney activist base and the Wellstone club to come to meet these new activists...but, regretfully, many of them harboring similar sentiments to your own, did not.
That's a shame.
No one "owns" people-powered. No one owns grassroots activism. Not Howard Dean. Not John Edwards. This does not have to be either/or; it can be both/and.
But for that to happen, like here in Oakland, grassroots activists who feel that they "own" Howard Dean's legacy have to put down some of their pre-conceived notions and go meet and greet some of the new arrivals. That's part of grassroots too.
Is that happening to the extent I'd like it to? No. It seems some passionate Dean/Edwards folks just have a wall in this regard. In my experience here, some of them have stayed home, others have supported Obama but quietly.
And, yeah, that's a shame. The whole point of grassroots is that we work together and learn from each other.
Get involved...VOLUNTEER...yes.we.can.
by kid oakland on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 03:13:49 PM PDT
wide narrow
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