Floridagal’s diary “You have already started to change the party, together we have transformed this race. “ (apparently promoted to front page status from the diaries by susanhu) is essentially an appreciation of Howard Dean’s work as DNC chairman. I am a Dean supporter, and would have been only too happy to see him start a third party when he was media-assassinated out of contention for the 2004 nomination.
But he did not. He stayed inside and worked.
And it is beginning to be apparent to me that he has not succeeded, that the swing to the right in the U.S. is well past the point of no return and that we are, as the perfectly accurate and colorful country American saying has it, shit outta luck here.
In that diary, floridagal quoted Mr. Dean as having said in February of 2004 :
He knew the odds, even then.
And he made his bet.
I think that it was the wrong bet.
I thought so then, and subsequent events have only proven my point.
My answer to floridagal’s post follows.
I think Howard Dean made a mistake. And I think that he is both beginning to REALIZE that mistake, and that he knows that he is now stuck with it. He COULD have started a third party the moment he realized what was up. The moment the PermaGov “ARRRGH”-ed him out of contention because they were afraid he would not play ball. The momentum of his run would have carried a new party thirty yards up the field, and although it would probably have lost the election, when the utter ineptitude and weakness of the Democratic Party became evident through the lens of hindsight he and his party would have been in GREAT position for the 2006 + 2008 races.
But he he did not…and we suffered through that ridiculous Boston convention and the ludicrously stupid Kerry lateral run that eventually went absolutely nowhere. Dean acceded to that farce, and it was a mistake.
He could have started a third party when it became clear that the Democratic powers-that-be…INCLUDING the crew over at the Daily Kos…absolutely refused to stand up and fight the results of the plainly stolen 2004 election. Because they were afraid of losing. Which ENSURED that they would lose even MORE. And also…BET on it…because many of them were told by their real handlers that it would be “bad for the country”. PermaGov-ese for “Lay off or we will yank your chain so hard that you will end up clerking in a 7-11 somewhere.”
But…he didn’t. He is a mainstream politician, after all, albeit a very good, honest and innovative one, and he went with the flow. That’s his job.
And it ain’t working.
Right now…with all of the bad things that have happened to BushCo, with all of the bad things that are happening to this country, I would not lay 4 to 1 odds that a Democratic majority will appear in either house of the US legislature over the next four years or so, nor would I even lay THOSE odds that we will have a Democratic President in 2008.
And the odds would balloon more like 100 to 1 if they included some sort of proviso that said legislatures and/or President would be in any way independent of the same corporate forces and power structures that are running the government at the present time.
BushCo Lite is the BEST that can be hoped for.
So it goes…
Starting another party would quite possibly ALSO have been a mistake, but it would at least have been taking a real shot at changing things if it worked. The Democratic Party…large and very powerful portions of it it, without a doubt..is NOT going to change, because it is owned lock, stock and barrel by the PermaGov. By big business. It will POSE as if it is changing…just like the media that is owned by the same interests poses at providing “fair and balanced coverage” of the news. But when push comes to shove, there will be Dean and his ideas, forever”ARRRGH”-ed out of effective contention just like the token liberal commentators disappear from the networks at the first fog of war talk or voter fraud obfuscation when the real deal marching orders come down from above. Just like the Judith Millers and William Safires will always be a main and dominant component of the NY Times.
Owned.
Lock, stock and barrel.
Like I said…so it goes.
Dean paid his money and he took his chances.
And I think that he has lost.
Too bad.
A good man.
He could’a been a contender.
But now he’s just another promoter.
Working for the Man.
As are ALL of us who accede to the weak, contemptible actions or “our” party.
Too bad.
We could’a been contenders.
I really think that is is too late now, barring some last minute miracle.
Too late for a third party, and too late to reform the Democratic party.
Only a successful Hail Mary pass from someone like Patrick Fitzgerald will do the trick given present circumstances.
Or some sort of intel/military coup d’etat. Which would probably end up worse than what we’ve got now. (You KNOW that there are people considering this, right? You KNOW that there are powerful people who think that this war is unwinnable and that our present course and positions are totally untenable. Don’t you? They are not ALL dummies in the Pentagon and at Langley. It’s been done before…)
A nasty situation.
I’ll tell you this…I am through with the Democratic Party, myself.
Go Green, and go down fighting if need be.
Give me reason, or give me death.
I am through with this other bullshit.
Later…
AG
