Howard Dean for DNC Chair. YEAH! 

Duh! Like anyone needed to be told who my preference for the DNC chair is! Howard Dean, of course. But seriously, as I said in another post, Dean is probably the only person that can cure this blue - in the sad sense - state of the Democratic party. As usual, the beltway boys are out to stop Dean, now that time is running out (the election for DNC chair is less than 2 weeks away). I just watched the Eastern DNC forum on C-Span, and well, everyone was trying to be the anti-Dean. Wellington Webb said that you can't just represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic party; apparently the DNC chair must also (or only?) represent the Republican and corporate wings of the Democratic party as well. Tim Roemer railed against letting "special interest" groups define the Democrats' position on reproductive freedom and medical privacy. His argument is that Democrats ought have a big enough tent that allows anti-privacy thugs in the party, and let two of the three top leaders of the party be anti-choice. Wouldn't that work wonders to make the Democrats' commitment to women clear! Martin Frost was singing his usual happy tune about how he won 13 races in Texas and then complaining about other people pointing out that he cozied up to Bush in this past election (which he lost). He just had to have said that he was the one supporting President Bush, Speaker Hastart, Bill Frist and John McCain. He couldn't just say that his opponent was so right wing that he was one of only 9 people in Congress voting against a bill that passed by a overwhelming majority. Because, Lord knows, if you don't say how you supported Bush, you are not a real Democrat! Now, I kind of like Simon Rosenberg, but he is not, as he proclaims, the "whole package." Sure he has a lot of techno know-how, and some grassroots experience, but he does not energize people. He can only dream of making the wave of enthusiasm that Dean does with his every word. Right now the party has money. It can buy technology. But it cannot purchase the energy, loyalty, following, and reinvigoration that a Chairman Howard Dean would bring - no matter how many master cards the DNC has. Donny Fowler is a fine guy, but lacks vision and experience in executive operations. David Leland is a screaming head that was about to explode his head with how Democrats sent a man to the moon, but he doesn't get it. The problem in the Democratic party is not that there aren't any good ideas, it's that people are tired of the inside-Washington insanity of doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result every time. It's not about sending a man to the moon, it's about sending a neighbor to a neighbor's door knocking. It's not about feel-good-about-us politics, it's about empowerment. Dean comes to the scene with the whole thing: he's got executive experience; he's run a national campaign; he is a true leader who inspires activism; he is willing to break the Washington Democratic culture that cannot think outside a Foxified box; he can raise funds in all parts of the country; he knows the importance of building from bottom up (instead of sending orders from top down); he understands the importance of the Democrats having a spine; and nobody can bring the grassroots in to the party to make it better like Dean can. Dean is the only one that can give the grassroots a sense of belonging, because for once, they will be in control of the party. They will be able to recruit candidates and get the help from the DNC. They will feel like it's their party again. Howard Dean is a natural leader who makes you feel like a participant in the grand experiment of America rather than being a watcher from the sidelines. Dean is a Democrat with convictions, and he is not afraid to show it - be it in red states or blue. DFA elected people to office in 2004 all over the "red" states. Howard Dean is the visionary who can lead this party to prominance and dominance again, and he is the man the Democrats need badly right now.

Ok, I had to search for it on the web, since I stopped receiving Kerry's emails a long time ago, but here is what Kerry wrote about the election of 2004:

No American citizen should wake up the morning after the election and worry their vote wasn’t counted. No citizen should be denied at the polls if they are eligible to vote. And, as the greatest, wealthiest nation on earth, our citizens should never be forced to vote on old, unaccountable and non transparent voting machines from companies controlled by partisan activists.

Tomorrow, members of Congress will meet to certify the results of the 2004 presidential election. I will not be taking part in a formal protest of the Ohio Electors.

Despite widespread reports of irregularities, questionable practices by some election officials and instances of lawful voters being denied the right to vote, our legal teams on the ground have found no evidence that would change the outcome of the election.

But, that does not mean we should abandon our commitment to addressing those problems that happened in Ohio. We must act today to make sure they never happen again.

I urge you to join me in using this occasion to highlight our demand that Congress commit itself this year to reforming the electoral system. A Presidential election is a national federal election but we have different standards in different states for casting and counting votes. We need a national federal standard to solve the problems that occurred in the 2004 election. I will propose legislation to help achieve this.

Florida 2000 was a wake up call. But the Republicans who control Congress ignored it. Will they now ignore what happened in 2004?

Huh? Who fried his brains? Let's start at the end. Will they ignore what happened in 2004? THEY? Is that really the question? I don't think so. I think the question is, Will YOU ignore it, Sen. Kerry? Will your pals in the Washington Democratic establishment ignore it? By the way, where the hell were you? Senator, you can introduce all the legislation you want - and it seems that's ALL you did in your time in the Senate - and your time in the Senate is almost as long as I have been alive. Oh where to begin to address your total lack of understanding of the problem! If "we must act today" to make sure this never happens again, would it be too much for you to friggin' show up TODAY? If "we must act today," then how do you possibly NOT join any formal challenge? When do you suppose you will get to "act today" - especially when it takes just what Sen. Boxer did for the minority to force a debate now-a-days? How exactly do you plan to "use this occation to hilight our demand that Congress commit itself" to fix the voting problems, if you are not even in the country this moment? What is it that you plan to do, write a letter of grievances to Tom Delay? Boy you really don't get it, do you? It doesn't matter whether it would have changed the outcome of the election - and it doesn't matter if you lost by 2 million votes instead of 118,000 in Ohio. It is your duty as a United States Senator and as the presidential nominee of a major party to stand up for every single voter's rights. It is your duty to scream bloody hell if one vote properly cast did not count, to scream bloody murder if one voter was disenfranchised through systematic suppression! If you are not willing to do that, not only do you not deserve to be President of the United States, you don't deserve to sit in the chamber known as the United States Senate. I am so disgusted with Kerry and his total lack of principle. Will the Democrats ever learn?