[Y3a]

What reason did he give for bailing out of Russerts show with the Repub chair?
Did he think he would get hammered?
Where are all the great Democratic ideas and leadership?
Where is the direction that the Democrats want to take us?
Can't Dean articulate this?

Or....is it BS?

[mojo2]

Originally Posted by Y3a

What reason did he give for bailing out of Russerts show with the Repub chair?
Did he think he would get hammered?
Where are all the great Democratic ideas and leadership?
Where is the direction that the Democrats want to take us?
Can't Dean articulate this?

Or....is it BS?

My 2¢?

Smart political move. If he wants to have his message put before the public and not have it muddled, confused, diminished, or unheard due to the back and forth squabbling with his Republican counterpart that TV LOVES but many Americans hate, he did the smart thing.

There will always be opportunities to trade barbs in a TV studio before the cameras. But I think he deftly USED the media rather than playing along.

He will no doubt play along on future occasions but on this one he didn't want to for whatever reason. Perhaps he wanted to make sure his message was sent out as clearly as he could send it.

I may be mistaken. Please let me know if you think I am.

[Y3a]

I think the Democrats are still formulating ideas, and because Dean tends to look crazy when excited, I think his handlers advised him to bail. He may not be able to answer the possible questions about what the Democrats would have done differently without suggesting even more unsound solutions, or being embarrased.

Would have been fun to watch!

[Spliffdaddy]

It's not often a Democrat will debate a Republican.

Howard Dean made a smart decision. He would have been handed his ass.

All he's good for is criticizing other people's ideas. He and his party have none of their own ideas, after all.

[OldManMac]

And the Republicans have lots of good ideas, most of which put the current occupant of the White House in power, and which are now resulting in him having his ass handed to him, as people are beginning to realize that this administration is a disaster.

[Spliffdaddy]

I don't think Bush cares what anybody thinks of him. He's not running for re-election....having already been re-elected last year.

There are 3 more years left in his term. Plenty of time for folks to grow to love him.

[OldManMac]

Bush cares; people who run for political office, especially at the higher levels, do it partially for ego and personal drive reasons; they don't want to be recorded in history books as failures or as ineffective leaders, both of which Bush will be recorded as. Besides this isn't just about Bush; it's about a corrupt administration, and a presidency that is the shame of the world, and a president who has the lowest poll ratings of any president in modern history, and advisors and handlers that are as corrupt as they come, and a public that is increasingly getting fed up with being miseld about invading a country that was no threat to us, and people who are getting more upset daily hearing the news about our soldiers being killed, and people who are beginning to realize that this administration has handed the chicken coop to the fox when it comes the environment, non existant regulation of corporate excesses, and helping in any way it can to widen the gap between the haves and the have nots. This administration is rotten to the core, and 3 years isn't going to help him in any way, shape or form. People are waking up, and smelling the coffee.

[Spliffdaddy]

I said the same things about Clinton.

[OldManMac]

Good for you. Clinton was no angel, but he was a choirboy compared to Troublya.

[SpaceMonkey]

Midterm Congressional elections and the future of the Republican party also give Bush reasons to care about his popularity.

[mojo2]

I believe he has made an attempt to gain support or at least extend an olive branch to the Dems but I'm afraid he's going to have to be content to go home and be happy with the ones that brung him to the dance.

Once he gets back to being the Texas GWB, he may not make any of the Dems happy but he'll at least have the full support of the Republicans. Problem is, and I really believe this, (even though you won't see it printed anywhere else) all the best people have left the administration.

He needs gays in his administration. Someone with smarts and flair and imagination.

Colin Powell, gone. The PNAC people, gone. Like em or not, they had smarts and imagination and drive and enthusiasm.

He tried getting Karen Hughes to return and she said she'd rather work to broadcast info for Mid-East audiences. And that MAY be her most useful position. Lord knows SOMEONE with a brain who understands and can speak "Texas" needs to get the true word out about him to the Middle East.

But, now that the 'bad guys' have neutralized or in one way or another sent the 'good guys' packing the only ones left are those who maybe didn't have much 'weight' and perhaps why they weren't in anyone's crosshairs.

I say the White House should recruit some of us here at MacNN.

I'll do it, if asked.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by mojo2

He needs gays in his administration. Someone with smarts and flair and imagination.

[spacefreak]

Originally Posted by KarlG

Bush cares; people who run for political office, especially at the higher levels, do it partially for ego and personal drive reasons; they don't want to be recorded in history books as failures or as ineffective leaders, both of which Bush will be recorded as. Besides this isn't just about Bush; it's about a corrupt administration, and a presidency that is the shame of the world, and a president who has the lowest poll ratings of any president in modern history, and advisors and handlers that are as corrupt as they come, and a public that is increasingly getting fed up with being miseld about invading a country that was no threat to us, and people who are getting more upset daily hearing the news about our soldiers being killed, and people who are beginning to realize that this administration has handed the chicken coop to the fox when it comes the environment, non existant regulation of corporate excesses, and helping in any way it can to widen the gap between the haves and the have nots. This administration is rotten to the core, and 3 years isn't going to help him in any way, shape or form. People are waking up, and smelling the coffee.

That's the story the Democrats and their liberal media buddies have been hammering home for 5 years now. Of course, all the dire economic predictions failed, as did the "we're going to lose tens of thousands of troops in Iraq".

Still waiting for a solid terrorism or Social Security solution from the left. 4 years and counting on that one. Other than obstructing and bashing Bush, 74% of Americans could not name a key Democrat accomplishment.

They must have missed the massive Democratic push to allow criminals to vote, and to ban ID requirements from the polls.

[OldManMac]

I see you haven't around here much lately. Must have been sleeping, and not keeping up with current events. Bush and his cronies are finished.

[smacintush]

Originally Posted by KarlG

Bush and his cronies are finished.

Finished with what? Be more specific.

[Spliffdaddy]

Bush isn't going anywhere for the next three years.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by KarlG

I see you haven't around here much lately. Must have been sleeping, and not keeping up with current events. Bush and his cronies are finished.

Unless the constitution is changed, you are right, GW Bush will be finished when he is term limited in 2008.

[spacefreak]

Originally Posted by KarlG

I see you haven't around here much lately. Must have been sleeping, and not keeping up with current events. Bush and his cronies are finished.

Yeah, we've heard the same tripe from you and your ilk for 5 years now. At the end of GWB's second term, you'll finally be right.

As for current events, it's pathetic that you equate participation on these Mac-centric forums with keeping up with current events. Here's a hint: There's a whole lot more to life than spending one's days repeating and rehashing DNC talking points on Mac forums.

As usual, conservatives will continue to work hard for this nation while the liberals do nothing but bash and obstruct.

[OldManMac]

Originally Posted by spacefreak

As usual, conservatives will continue to work hard tearing this nation apart.

Fixed.

[Millennium]

I'd say Dean is a coward, but for a very different reason. I've mentioned them many times before on these forums, so I won't go much into them here, but my basic problem is that he should have endorsed Nader -someone who really goes along with his beliefs- rather than Kerry.

The Democrats' fatal mistake in 2004 was that they focused too much on defeating Bush and not enough on promoting their own ideals. Dean set a very bad example as far as that goes: selling out his beliefs for what he thought might be a better chance at Bush losing. Bush and his team capitalized on that move, categorizing the Democrats as people with no beliefs, and that strategy more than anything else is why they won.

This is something that the Anybody-But-Bush crowd doesn't get: they hurt their cause more than they help, because the message that "anyone is better" doesn't offer anything that is better, and that doesn't draw voters. Bush and his ilk may paint a broad brush over modern liberals as "evil" or "ignorant", but they're also careful to explain their own "goodness" and "wisdom," and that is why they can make the tactic work. They combine vilification with offering an alternative; neither tactic works well on its own, but together they can be devastating.

The Anybody-But-Bush crowd has learned the lesson of vilification quite well; they've honed it to a fine art. But they need to learn to offer alternatives if they want any hope of success.

[saab95]

Howard Dean is a scream machine