Virtue Magazine

“I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for.”
“Many Republicans have never made an honest living in their lives.”
“[The Republican party] is pretty much a white Christian party.”
Quick! Which of these quotes came from a respected Democratic leader and which came from a raging madman? The answer is, they came from both. Huh?

It seems that the Democratic Party has a new face, and it’s an angry one. Howard Dean, the current DNC chairman, has been spewing hate at Republicans for months. From his anti-Bush campaign for president (it wasn’t about why Dean was a good choice – it was about why George Dubya was a bad one) to his latest outrages, Howard Dean has been making headlines with his loose tongue. Here’s a little about Dean for those of you who can’t remember.

Back in late 2003, Howard Dean came on the national scene. He wasn’t that remarkable – just another name on a long list of Democratic presidential hopefuls. It wasn’t long, however, before people realized Dean was different. The left-tilting governor was so opposite the President that all of Bush’s opponents seemed magnetically drawn to Dean. He was projected as the obvious winner months before any primaries took place. Then there was the Iowa Caucus. Kerry won, Dean lost, Dean screamed, and Dean faded into obscurity.

After the election, the Democratic National Party needed a new chairman. Dean stepped up. Somebody somewhere must have thought that his radical say-anything tactics were exactly what the party needed; he won the chairmanship. Now aren’t they regretting it.

Dean started out mildly. In February of 2005, he stated that he “hate[d] Republicans and everything they stand for.” Yep, Dean was a great leader. He realized that instead of calling Republicans names, we should just…uh…yeah, it was a good plan. Antagonize Republicans and all like them. That’s how we can take back the country. Right.

He’s followed his plan, too. On the 14th of May, Dr. Dean stated that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay “ought to go back to Houston, where he can serve his jail sentence” – a jail sentence that did not and does not exist. The good doctor has never apologized for his comment.

His most recent travesty, however, was in stating that “Many Republicans have never made an honest living in their lives,” and that “it’s pretty much a white Christian party.” The “honest living” part has been mostly ignored by the media, but the “white Christian” comment has generated a lot of heat from both white Christians and black conservatives. Now, technically, Dean is right. 82% of Republicans identify themselves as white Christians, but so do 57% of Democrats and 67% of all Americans. Maybe next time he should just say that “America is pretty much a white Christian country.”

So what does the Democratic Party have to say about their doctor? Well, that’s where things get interesting. Officially, the party supports Dean. They have responded to any complaints about Dean’s anger by saying that a vast right-wing conspiracy is diverting attention to Dean so they don’t have to talk about “the real issues.” But Dean has now made himself an issue, and not all democrats are going along with the standard party rhetoric. Many Democrats including Sen. Barack Obama, Rep. Harold Ford, Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi are distancing themselves from the mad doctor, Sen. Ben Nelson even saying “he doesn’t speak for me.”

Is Dean tearing the Democratic Party apart at the seams? It sometimes seems that way. Yet, the recent election showed the weakness of the hardliner Democrats in America – their message is no longer being accepted by the public. With this message being spouted by Dean all over the media, is it any surprise that people are getting turned off? If Dean’s rants separate the hardliners from the moderates, or even weaken the stranglehold of the two party system in American politics, a bit of madness may be exactly what the doctor ordered.

Sources:

• Chicago-Sun Times
• Fox News
• The New York Times
• Associated Press