Like Soul Asylum, but in politics
Well, it's a given now: Howard Dean is is taking over as head of the DNC. Beltway blogs have been jabbering about what this means for the past day or so, but we can pretty much end the questions now and tell you: it's going to involve Howard Dean selling his big, white, "yyyeeeeaaaahhhh"-ing ass straight up the river. Look, Dean knew what he was getting into going after this position, and the Democratic big-money mucky-mucks CERTAINLY made it clear to Howie what was going to be expected of him, should he take the post. The fact that there's now near-universal support for him in the party pretty much means that all the horrible fucks who run the party have been reassured that there will be no rocking of their sad little boat. Great news for the rest of us, huh.
Comments
The DNC is all about fundraising and deciding who gets the financial support of the national party, right? Dean showed some ingenuity in fundraising and if he gets to have a say in strategy I think it's a good thing. Clearly it's not a revolution or anything, but I think it's a step in the right direction. The alternatives(Paul Begala?!) are way scarier. What would you rather have happen? Seriously.
Posted by: B. Alec | February 3, 2005 12:19 PM
Oh, Howard Dean showed some ingenuity in fundraising, all right. That's wh y they invited him to the big kids' table in the first place. But as far as having any affect in shifting strategy, good luck. The DNC is a privately-held company that was able to seize power during the nineties by attracting the big-money players from the Democratic party. It has nothing "officially" tying it to the NDC (National Democratic Committee, the supposed head of the party), other than, you know, all the money. Accepting Dean was a way of neutering him, a la Colin Powell in the Cabinet.
Posted by: Planetarium | February 3, 2005 03:29 PM
Was Dean ever that left? He is more like a McCain than a Colin Powell. When push comes to shove Dean moves to the center like everybody else. He just likes to talk the talk and be a maverick type.
It will be fine for the DNC.
Posted by: rag | February 3, 2005 04:26 PM
Garbled argument to follow:
First off, the NDC and the DNC are the same thing now as far as I can tell. Whoever runs fundraising, organizing, strategy and candidate selection seems like the head of the Democratic party to me, right? So it's just semantics at that point. Seriously, would you rather have Terry McAuliffe? I don't understand the problem since you don't actually know what effect Dean will have and don't have an alternative. I applaud your cynicism, but not your aim.
Posted by: B. Alec | February 4, 2005 12:19 AM
Hey, I just read on the DNC website that it was founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1792. What's up? I think you're bullshitting, but I can't prove it yet because I'm not smart enough and the internet is no help.
Posted by: B. Alec | February 4, 2005 12:25 AM
Yeah, dude, that thing about the DNC is totally wrong. Where did you get that thing about the mid-nineties takeover? Not that I've never been wrong, yo, just saying.
Posted by: B. Alec | February 6, 2005 12:14 AM