Mark Shields on Newshour: Dean 50-State Strategy Vindicated

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

Mark Shields on the "Shields and Brooks" segment of the Newshour with Jim Lehrer (PBS) just said that the fact that the Democrats are competitive in so many districts, including deep red districts like Idaho and Wyoming, is proof that Dean's 50 State strategy works. Dean's strategy provides a platform, he said, for Democrats to take advantage of a "wave" should national events turn in their favor, as they have in this election.

It's good to see some of the old-line Democratic strategists coming on board with Howard Dean's vision, especially considering the fact that they were so contemptuous of it just a year ago. Better late than never!

:bounce:

[SoCalDem]

1. of COURSE it works..

If there is NO dem running or if there's one running, but he/she gets no help, how would they ever be competitive.?

This is how the repubes took control.. little step, by little step..

No office was too small, too insignificant.

Politics requires a farm team mentality./. people have to work their weay up from school board to city council, to mayor to state legislature and THEN when they have some name recognition and experience they need HELP to take that national step..

Dean gets it.. McAuliffe did not;/.

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

2. If Dems take the house

and win a number of deep-red districts, I hope other Democratic commentators in addition to Shields understand how much credit Dean deserves.

[senseandsensibility]

3. I find it difficult to give people like Shields credit

for stating the obvious now. The fact that they didn't have a clue until now is very telling. In fact, their cluelessness is a major reason that we are in the state we're in now. Trying to jump on the bandwagon now? To me, that's just pathetic.

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

4. I know what you mean

But at least with them on board now there is no obstacle to our turning it around

[cali]

6. It would be if what you stated was true

but Shields has long been a defender of Dean.

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

11. Interesting

I did not know that. I assumed Shields was just a conventional wisdom follower.

[senseandsensibility]

15. I stand corrected

I stopped watching Shields at least three years ago, so I don't know how he's been recently. Before that, he was timid and conventional. He occasionally would show some spirit, but not nearly often enough. Has he always defended Dean? What were his comments during the "Dean Scream" for instance?

[gully]

5. Absolutely. I wonder what districts we'll win that we weren't even PRESENT

in - in the last congressional election? Should be interesting if the votes are counted properly.

[Rose Siding]

7. There will also be many districts where we don't win but we were COMPETITIVE

and we wouldn't have been without Dean's strategy. Then next election, there will be more energy, interest and the infrastructure of a base already in place -we'll be MORE competitive.

Repubs in MA are moaning about decreases over the years in their numbers there, and particularly that they have no strategy in place to replenish them. Now we do have that ability in red states. That should please every Democrat.

[Cha]

10. Exactly! Even the ones we

lose..the Energy is now There!

[Rose Siding]

12. It's a marathon.

We'll get lucky with the plan this time, but it will also pay off over time.

Howard Dean. I need to hang his picture on my wall!

[Cha]

17. I have Dean's picture on the wall

behind my computer and it says, tah da.."TOGETHER, we're taking our country back!"

It was taken at the Young Democrats of America Convention. It's something I got in the mail but right up on my wall it went.

[roamer65]

26. Exactly, the best defense is a good offense...

Keep an eye on Michigan. They've wrote us off as "too gerrymandered". I think we're gonna put the Rethugs gerrymandering to a real test Tuesday night. Watch MI-08, 11 and 09.

[JudyM]

29. Being competitive more widely also made the rethugs spread their $

around more, which helps us in races where we *are* competitive.

Dean deserves great praise, IMO.

:patriot:

[cynatnite]

8. He made Bill Clinton a believer...

It works and Howard Dean has done a fabulous job!

[blm]

9. Dem STRATEGISTS ran DNC party infrastructure into the ground since 1997.

Every Dem candidate traveling around the country in 2002 thru 2004 saw it in every red and swing state they went into.

I think that is why they are so passionate about rebuilding the party infrastructure in all the states it had been collapsed for so many years.

We are lucky that many of them are still working to do it, and that one of them chose to LEAD the work needed - Thankyou Chairman Dean.

[Cha]

19. Yeah, I didn't think of that..Dean had first hand

knowledge and wanted to be the DNC Chairman so bad so he could fix it, I betcha.

[pat_k]

13. FINALLY!

The beltway establishment has been silent -- too much egg on their faces I guess.

Mark's comments are great, but it will take more pressure from us to ensure Dean gets the credit he deserves.

Cheers for Dean, jeers for Rahm Emanuel, and a rasberry for Paul Begala:

. . .Democratic insiders began to rail against this wacky and expensive 50-state plan. "He says it’s a long-term strategy," Paul Begala, the Democratic strategist, said during an appearance on CNN in May. "What he has spent it on, apparently, is just hiring a bunch of staff people to wander around Utah and Mississippi and pick their nose. . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/magazine/01dean.html?_r=1&ei=5087%0A&en=70278e492d4a9750&ex=1159848000&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin">More. . .

[KittyWampus]

16. Rahm Emanuel deserves as much credit as Dean. And it's pathetic

that DU'ers need to trash him.

Both men have done a great job.

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

18. I'm a big fan

of both Rahm and Dean. But I'm kind of pissed off that the two of them have so much trouble getting along.

[KittyWampus]

21. IMO, Two workaholics, two guys who see the Big Picture but come at it

from slightly different angles.

[pat_k]

24. More than slightly different angles. . .

. . .they are coming from different worlds.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2567102&mesg_id=2568715

[pat_k]

23. It will always be so when outsiders take on insiders. . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2567102#2568715

[pat_k]

22. ". . .people to wander around Utah and Mississippi and pick their nose.. . "

Telling staffers on the ground that they are apparently wondering around "picking their noses" (as Begala did) demonstrates how far ones head can get stuck up the beltway sphincter. And Begala is not alone. Emanuel has made comments just as derisive. They may be the white hats, but that doesn't mean their heads aren't full of insider idiocy and beltway "conventional wisdom."

For the so-called Democratic "strategists" we are game pieces that they -- the "professionals" -- manipulate. Heaven forbid any of us actually get involved! They may not even know WHY they feel so threatened by folks like Dean or Hackett, but their fear and knee jerk attacks have absolutely nothing to do with reality.

A political leader like Dean who knows that ordinary citizens are the REAL power-brokers in America is a frightening creature to the beltway establishment. If such a leader gains support and inspires people to exercise their power, some automated response system kicks the establishment in to self-protective mode (Images of the robot from "Lost in Space" come to mind -- "Danger, Will Robinson!").

As time goes on, and we hit them with enough cluesticks, folks like Begala and Emanuel will hopeful get it right more and more of the time.

But, I will never stop "trashing" their idiocy. Just as I will never stop applauding the things they get right.

[Cocoa]

14. and David Brooks's "Red vs. Blue" crap is discredited

:bounce:

[Cha]

20. What was david brooks..

"red vs blue crap"?

[roamer65]

25. Dean is a great chairman!!!

I hope he stays on after the election. He'll lead us to 2/3 majorities in each house in '08.

[William Bloode]

27. Yes thank you Dr. Dean for not forsaking us!

I remember there was a ton of flap here over the subject. Some could not grasp why Dean was going to waste time in the South and West. We see now why.

He beats Terry Mcwho the hell ever he was( i know, just trying to forget)all to hell.

[krkaufman]

28. Shields appears to not "get it", entirely.

It's not just about "wave" conditions. This year's wave simply rewards Dean's strategy sooner.

The 50-State Strategy is about not conceding anything, fighting for the hearts and minds of every mother-frothing voter in every state. This strategy is essential in spreading the Democratic message throughout the country, and in not allowing the Republicans to take *ANY* races for granted.

[upi402]

30. Go DEAN go!

:bounce: