Hold Howard Accountable: Sign the Card

I'm sure by now you've heard about James Carville's nasty comments about Howard Dean's performance as DNC Chair. Yes, it's terrible indeed when Dems win 30 or so House seats, regain the Senate and take back 6 governorships, many more state legislatures and a myriad of local offices across the nation. According to the arrogant and misguided Carville, who's married to one of worst examples of Repub rightwingnuttery in the form of Mary Matalin, Dean should be "held accountable" for us failing to win 50 House seats. He's traveling the chattering class circuit proclaiming that Dean should step down as DNC chair because his record at the DNC is "Rumsfeldian." Guess Carville is jealous that people are now paying more attention to Dean's 50-state strategy than they are to him and his outdated advice. Below is a post on the matter by Jim Dean, Howard's brother, who heads Democracy for America. 

Posted by Jim Dean on DFA's Blog for America on Friday, 11/17/06: This is truly a great country.  Where else can you work on one successful election in 1992, lose for the next fourteen years, and still get press? You got to hand it to James Carville; he can still get ink.  But maybe we’re the only ones that can’t remember James Carville predicting that the Democrats should easily gain 50 seats in the House BEFORE the election.  So why should that stop him from insisting that we should have won 50 seats AFTER the election?

I agree with a powerful and important guy like Jimbo. Howard should be held accountable. Hold him accountable for putting resources into Montana, where Jon Tester won a critical Senate seat. Hold him accountable for supporting Jerry McNerney in California, who ousted Richard Pombo. Hold him accountable for helping state parties nationwide to support competitive campaigns in places where Democrats haven’t won for years. Hold him accountable for helping return checks and balances to what was once a rubber stamp Congress.

Today is Howard's birthday. Tell him that you know our success was a direct result of his strategy and the work of activists at the local level:

https://www.democracyforamerica.com/happybirthday

Send your message of thanks and support to Democracy for America's founder and sign the birthday card today. Howard put the strategy in place.  But it was you who powered the effort in so many ways. We've got the power!

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Where it all began: Dean for America Meetup back in the days of the 2004 presidential primary season on Albuquerque's West Side with Dr. Ken Harper's Deanmobile van. Many grassroots and netroots activists motivated by Dean's fresh approach back then are continuing today, active in almost every aspect of progressive and Democratic politics. Thank you Howard!

Remember: From Dean's electrifying early speech out in California in March 2003 that got so many of us off the couch and into political activism:

What I want to know is what in the world so many Democrats are doing supporting the President's unilateral intervention in Iraq? ... As Paul Wellstone said, I'm Howard Dean, and I'm here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.

... I want my country back! We want our country back! I am tired of being divided! I don't want to listen to the fundamentalist preachers anymore! I want America to look like America, where we are all included, hand in hand. We have dream. We can only reach the dream if we are all together - black and white, gay and straight, man and woman. America! The Democratic Party!

Here's an audio version of the speech.

The Meetups continue with our monthly Albuquerque DFA-Democracy for New Mexico Meetups. Join us.