Jim Hightower turned me into a born-again Dean supporter!

[cherryperry]

Okay, okay, I was going with Kerry - not out of any love or respect, but rather out of deferring to who I saw as the only Demo who would get real support from the Demo power structure.

Jim Hightower :loveya: just finished up on C-Span and when asked, he said that while Kucinich and Sharpton were bringing up the best ideas that Dean is a real choice. That's good enough for me! I would vote for a tractor if Mr. Hightower said he could support it.

So, Deanies, I now join you - will you please accept me?

:kick:

[alphafemale]

1. Join a meet-up! Sit down and write a letter!

hee-hee! Welcome! :hi:

[wryter2000]

4. Alpha, please help

I've asked the Dean people a couple of times how I can write some letters without going to a meet up. Can you give me any ideas who I could write some letters and send them to? Are you planning to go to a meet-up soon?

Send me a private message here (or anyone else, for that matter).

TIA

[liberalmuse]

6. Get the names of New Hampshirites...

who will be voting in the Democratic Presidential primaries next year. Write to them and ask them to choose Dean, and let them know why you feel he is the best choice. Dean has already sharply risen in N.H. (7 percentage points above Kerry). There are tons of materials on http://www.deanforamerica.com that you can download, print, and hand out.

[TioDiego]

2. Now that's a real Democrat.

True dynamic thinking at work. Way to go, CherryPerry.

[cherryperry]

20. Hey, Tio, is that a teensy-weensy slam? n/t

[wryter2000]

3. Welcome!

I'm a Deanie, too. I must say, though, I've been very pleased with Al Sharpton. Good for him!

[JNelson6563]

5. Welcome aboard!

:hi:

I'm a Dean supporter too. I plan to vote for whoever gets the nomination (I say cause I am confident Lieberman won't get it) but Dean's my first choice.

Check out http://www.deanforamerica.com/ and find out what's going on in your neck of the woods.

Julie

[CWebster]

7. This IS the inevitable reality, Dems

And it isn't bad...it could be much, much worse. We have a candidate with energy and momentum at a time when we need it so desperately - why are we trying to destroy our strongest potential instead of getting behind and pushing?

[Atlant]

8. Welcome! There's *ALWAYS* room for one more at our table! (NT)

[seventhson]

9. Dean kinda Reminds me of a left-leaning John McCain: a populist

I FINALLY have faced the fact that Gore seems intent on staying out
And I have some fundamental concerns about Dean

BUT - while I prefer Kucinich on the issues I have to realistically say I do not believe he can resonate with voters: he is too shrill, too uncontrolled (his banging the podium always distracts me and I miss what he says cause the mikes pck up tha banging)

I would love to see Kucinich in a Dean cabinet.

IN fACT I THINK WE OUGHT TO ENCOURAGE THE SEM CANDIDATE TO COMMIT TO PUTTING SOME OF THE OTHER CANDIDATES INTO THE CABINET. Gephardt at Labor, Kucinich at DHHS or EPA, Sharpton on Civil rights commission (granted not cabinet but still a good position)

Dean has a lot of very good qualties in my opinion. He is far from perfect (even Gore was not perfect but I preferred him to all comers).

But Dean has one quality that I MUST cling to" ELECTABILITY!!!

Clinton came out of nowhere with the help of the DLC (and a stint as governor in a state where Bush was operating a contra-cocaine operation) to beat the Bush that America was totally sick and tired of.

I think Dean can do the same thing. And (I hope) he does not have a penis problem.

LOOK Charisma means a LOT. Clinton's problem had a lot also to do with his appeal: people found him attractive. He was a consummate actor.

DEAN MUST work on this part of his presentation.

I have issues with Dean on Israel, environment, and I do NOT know his stand on nukes which is critical to me.

But even these are small issues given the circumstances and the dangers of Bush.

Dean would be like heaven, almost, compared to Bush.

And you ALL know I believe Kerry is the BFEE-DLC-PNAC dem candidate

[cherryperry]

10. DLC?

oops, that's hard to swallow, however, Jim Hightower said Dean is for universal healthcare: true?

BTW: thanks for the welcomes!

[DemBones DemBones]

41. Dean is not for universal healthcare. Because of the limitations

of unscripted television, compared to the written word or scripted remarks (like his radio shows), some of what Hightower said was confusing. I transcribed an earlier part of the interview when revcarol asked for what he was saying in my thread about Hightower now on C-SPAN, and it wasn't easy since he tended to talk in one long sentence with occasional phrases stuck in rather haphazardly. I remember that he did mention universal healthcare and mention Dean in fairly close proximity, and I wondered if he thought Dean supported universal healthcare.

Anyway, Dean wants to set up some sort of healthcare program but not universal healthcare. He won't support universal healthcare because "it will never pass."

Kucinich calls for much bigger changes than any of the other white candidates, an approach I prefer. He points out that we can elect a new, more progressive Congress to work with him, just as Americans elected a new, more progressive Congress to work with FDR when they first elected him in 1932. Kucinich supports universal healthcare by expanding Medicare to cover everyone. He'd also set up a program to lower prescription drug costs through bulk purchasing.

Sharpton and Braun also support universal health care, each with a particular plan, and Gephardt supports a plan that isn't universal but that I think is more inclusive than Dean's.

Again, I believe that we all need to be better informed about all of the candidates.

[blm]

11. Hah...except it is Evan Bayh who is closest to Dean

and Bayh's wife acts as Dean's First Lady/escort.

Man...you you can't see the forest for the trees. That Bayh/DLC acting worried about Dean being too far left was a dog and pony show. YOU bought it. Sheesh....Dean is as centrist as they come.

If you want to honor all your stated principles than support Kucinich. Dean cut funding for poor defendants and I know that type of issue is important to you. The head of the public defender's office in Vermont left because Dean kept underfunding them.

[hedda_foil]

12. Oh bullshit, blm.

You're repeating spew from an opinion piece about Dean printed in an anti-Dean, far left rag, as the ultimate truth. Again.

I will repeat my offer to go head to head on this sort of shit by posting truly ugly articles and editorials from the Boston Herald about Kerry, most of which are actually sourced. I've refrained from doing so because we're all Democrats, but Goddamnit, I'll do it if you guys keep this crap up.

Edited to add: Bayh's wife escorted Dean to Governors' Assn. events when Bayh was governor and not an open DLC rat. You keep repeating this as if it's current when it's from the mid-'90's.

[gully]

13. Deans da man!

Welcome. Kucinich supporters always attempt to hi-jack the threads. Ignore em'. The polls show Dean in the lead and Dennis at the bottom. Speaks for itself I think.

:hi:

As a Dean fan your gonna want to have this;

http://deandefense.org



There are many here with Deanis envy as one poster pointed out previously. And, we need to be prepared. :D

[cherryperry]

14. Well, if you want to know the truth,

I would prefer Kucinich! However, he doesn't have a chance and so I figured the nominee just had to be Kerry due to his connections and his wife's money. But, when one of my supreme heroes, Jim Hightower, suggests that not only does Dean have some good ideas but that he believes Dean actually has a chance, I'll work for Dean!

[blm]

15. Go ahead...I've seen as much crap on Kerry...

I don't care what you want to throw down. Like Kerry hasn't had that crap thrown at him for over 30 years. Thankyou, Nixon, Segretti, Cheney, Rove, et al. They have made certain that Kerry has gotten rotten press for over three decades. Why shouldn't you post and add to it? I'm all for it.

And you're wrong, too, on the public defender, hedda...go look up the problems between Appel and Dean. They were always clashing over Dean's underfunding of the pd office, until Appel left. If this story is false, then where is the retraction demanded by Dean? After all, he is famous for demanding retractions.

>>>>>>
Dean chose not to reappoint Appel for a third four-year term as defender general, the state official who heads the state’s public defender program. In appointing Valerio, of Proctor, the new defender general, Dean had kind words for Appel. But Appel had clashed with Dean on numerous occasions in his efforts to secure for his office the resources necessary to fulfill his duties conscientiously.
Just two years ago Dean tried to prevent Appel from accepting a $150,000 federal grant aimed at assisting defendants with mental disabilities. For Dean to block a government agency from receiving federal money was unusual in itself. But Dean’s openly expressed bias against criminal defendants provided a partial explanation.
Dean has made no secret of his belief that the justice system gives all the breaks to defendants. Consequently, during the 1990s, state’s attorneys, police, and corrections all received budget increases vastly exceeding increases enjoyed by the defender general’s office. That meant the state’s attorneys were able to round up ever increasing numbers of criminal defendants, but the public defenders were not given comparable resources to respond.
The problem with giving a disproportionate share of state resources to prosecution and enforcement is that it throws the justice system out of kilter. A just result occurs in court only when the prosecution and defense both are ably represented. Thus, Appel felt compelled two years ago to notify the court that the Rutland public defender’s office would take no new cases unless the defendant was in jail. The Rutland office was so short of staff that case backlogs threatened to overwhelm the public defenders.
CONTINUED...
http://rutlandherald.com/Archive/Articles/Article/31792

[Rose Siding]

36. "he is famous for demanding retractions"

Can you substantiate that?

And can you supply the restrictions and conditions of the federal grant in the article you linked? That would be important to know in deciding if Dean did the right thing for VT.

[ElkHunter]

16. Howard Dean for president!

Count me among the Dean supporters. Dean will be in Seattle on Sunday for a rally, which I look forward to attending. I hope that all DUers who live in the area will attend as well.

[realFedUp]

17. Great to see Jim on Cspan....

glad he has another book out.

[dragonlady]

18. Hightower on public radio tomorrow

Jim Hightower will be on Wisconsin Public Radio at 9 a.m. (Central) tomorrow. Go to www.wpr.org to listen on the internet and they will give the 800 number to call in.

[newyawker99]

45. Hi dragonlady!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[CMT]

19. Great to have you and Jim Hightower

Hightower will be in Wisconsin Labor day weekend for the Fightin Bob Fest in Baraboo.

[cherryperry]

29. Will you be going?

Are you near enough? I note no location on your profile, so perhaps you'd prefer not to disclose ... I understand if you don't.

I'm in California, but hopefully Hightower will be nearby soon!

:hi:

[farmbo]

21. "Thieves In High Places" on sale in the lobby now!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0670031410/qid=1061556755/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-1147564-7627967

A steal at $17.47

Cherryperry... we're glad you're Keen on Dean!

[cherryperry]

22. Thanks - (ca-ching $$)- hellooooo, Amazon! n/t

[cherryperry]

24. sorry - re-doing this post as reply to my first one!

[cherryperry]

27. Alright, farmbo:

I went to order "Thieves in High Places" and couldn't resist 3 more books ... such willpower I have :eyes: .

But, seriously:

:loveya:

[farmbo]

48. Amazon's bundling "Thieves" with Franken's "Lying Liars" at big discount.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0670031410/qid=1061556755/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-1147564-7627967


(And, no, I don't work for Amazon... it's just a decent sale on two "must reads" for DU'ers)

[cherryperry]

49. Guess who

already found that out? Those are 2 of the books I ordered!

:hi:

[stickdog]

23. My views are very close to Hightower's.

Glad you and he are on the Dean team as well.

[cherryperry]

25. HEY, EVERYBODY!!!:

HERE'S AN EXAMPLE OF WHY I HOLD HIGHTOWER IN SUCH ESTEEM:

BuzzFlash Recommendation

Jim Hightower is the ultimate populist spokesman and activist. He's the Texas antidote to the Bush Cartel.

As a former statewide office holder in the Lone Star State, he well knows the Bush Cartel is nothing more than a contemporary incarnation of the Barbary Pirates. That's why he subtitled his book: "They've Stolen Our Country and It's Time to Take It Back." To Hightower, the GOP is really the GKP, the Grand Kleptocratic Party, composed of corporate fat cats, right wing think tankers, empire builders, extremist media barons and "just plain greedheads." Of course, Hightower also uses his scalpel to lacerate Democrats who live in the shadow of the Republicans. This ignominious group of timid, reactive politicians, he calls "Wobblycrats."

Hightower lost his statewide office in Texas a few years back as a result of dirty tricks carried out by Karl Rove and a rogue FBI agent. But Jim's not the kind of guy to get discouraged. He's the ultimate populist optimist. He believes in the greatness of America and its people, but he also has learned -- from watching the Bush Cartel at work -- to always keep one hand guarding his wallet. Otherwise, he knows, the "thieves in high places" will pickpocket him through tax breaks for the rich and taxpayer money spent on corporate welfare. Sound familiar?

[Sweetpea]

26. Cornel West is supporting Sharpton's campaign

I hold him in high regard yet I still am leaning towards Kerry.

[cherryperry]

28. completely understand his position;

but, I believe him to be intelligent enough to choose someone else in the voting booth; not that he's at all hypocritical, but I just have a hunch that with what's at stake, in the end he'll support nearly anyone to throw the Halliburton Group OUT!

:hi:

[DemBones DemBones]

30. Hightower did NOT endorse Dean -- I replayed the interview

several times to see if I missed it. He praised the ideas of Kucinich and Sharpton and said that Dean had surprised everyone by running around the party structure. He said something to the effect of Dems having a good chance with Dean OR KUCINICH. Also something about there being a good field of candidates, something good about each one.

I like Jim Hightower a lot myself and respect his opinions. But he didn't offer his opinion on who was the best candidate or who he was supporting. Maybe he thinks it's too early in the campaign. I often think that all of us who have chosen a candidate to support, no matter who we're supporting, are being too closed-minded, and not learning enough about all the candidates.

I believe that Kucinich is best on progressive principles and am pleased that his campaign is growing and is raising money. Kerry's got the most money and his war record is an asset, Gephardt's got a lot of union support, Braun's gotten NOW's endorsement, Dean's gotten a lot of support, most of it internet-based, and raised a lot of money, i.e., there's something to say for each, including Graham, Edwards, and Lieberman.

We should be looking at all the candidates because this is a political race and only one of them (or possibly a late entry like Clark) will get the nomination. After that. we all have to support the nominee, whether he was our favorite or not. The other options are voting for a third party candidate, not voting at all, or voting for Bush*.

[gully]

32. Where can I see it?

Thanks B-)

[cherryperry]

34. I did NOT write that he "endorsed" him - jeesh! n/t

[Rose Siding]

38. I saw Hightower on c-span

and he sure leaned Dean, as far as I could tell.

Man, I like the way he handled callers. Never rattled. Always remembered every part of the call, no matter how involved. He doesn't miss a note.

[DemBones DemBones]

39. No, you didn't, but others are inferring that from what you wrote.

And it's easy to see why they are inferring it when we examine what you did write:

"Jim Hightower turned me into a born-again Dean supporter!"

"Jim Hightower just finished up on C-Span and when asked, he said that while Kucinich and Sharpton were bringing up the best ideas that Dean is a real choice. That's good enough for me! I would vote for a tractor if Mr. Hightower said he could support it."


Hightower didn't say "Dean is a real choice" or "I could support Dean." Exactly how what he did say turned you into "a born-again Dean supporter," I have no idea, and it doesn't matter except that other people are getting "Hightower supports Dean" from what you've said. It's shown up in other threads,

Did you read the rest of my post -- about all of us needing to realistically examine all of the candidates? I will not be surprised if Kerry ends up as the nominee and I wonder if a lot of Kucinich supporters, Dean supporters, Clark supporters, etc., aren't painting themselves into a "my guy or the highway" corner in these early days.

I believe Kucinich is the best candidate; you believe Dean is. My concern is whether constant "Dean's the best!" / "No, Kucinich's the best!" / "No, Dean's better!" "You're wrong, Clark's the best!" posts at DU are causing many of us to become so intensely loyal to our favorite that we won't be able to accept the candidate that the primaries lead the convention to nominate. I'm all for supporting our favorites all the way and I believe Kucinich can win and strongly want him to win, as I'm sure you think/feel about Dean. But after the nomination is made, that ONE person is the one who'll go against Bush* in the general election. Will we all support him?

[molly]

47. Very good points!

we need THE candidate best able to take back our country. We seem to have different views on who that person should be. We need to examine all of the issues in realistic light.

[cherryperry]

50. I'm truly sorry if you and others felt misled!

I also believe Kucinich is the best candidate w/o question. However, I have been searching among the electable candidates (sorry, don't think the American electorate will vote in Kucinich at this time!) and so I grabbed onto the tiniest bit from one of my heroes. That's all! Please forgive me ...

:loveya:

[burr]

31. What would we do without Hightower?

(From his book..If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote, They Would Have Given Us Candidates.)
"Some Say WE Need A Third Party, I Wish We Had A Second One. Tolstoy's dying words reportedly were: 'I don't understand what I'm supposed to do.'

It occurred to me that maybe this is the problem with the Democratic Party-it's been so long since leaders actually included the demo portion of the party in their thinking that they've forgotten how."


This time we have some candidates, lets just hope for our sakes..that they don't get Tolstoy syndrome.

[gully]

33. CSPAN VIDEO HERE. Jim Hightower says ...

His comments on the presidential candidates begin at 31:35

Quote:

"I think Dean is the one or somebody like Kucinich...??" Seems he likes a few, but leaned a bit Dean while being diplomatic ;) ???


Oops, guess you'll need that link...click on the top choice...


http://www.cspan.org/search/basic.asp?ResultStart=1&ResultCount=10&BasicQueryText=hightower&image1.x=0&image1.y=0

[cherryperry]

35. Thank you!

That IS kinda what I remembered. Please recall I am searching for someone electable, who doesn't make me want to vomit, to support. Hightower's statement is all it took for me to hold onto and go with Dean.

:hi:

[DemBones DemBones]

44. After he said "Kucinich," he said "with stronger programs"

or words to the general effect -- maybe you'll transcribe it for us. Anyway, I listened to it five or six times the day it aired and it is unclear what he meant by "Dean is one -- or Kucinich, with stronger programs."

He may be suggesting that either one is a viable candidate but Kucinich is the one with better programs.

Or, he may be suggesting that both have stronger programs and are potentially good candidates.

As a Dennis Kucinich supporter, of course I believe Dennis has better programs than Howard Dean! ;-) But Hightower himself talked elsewhere about Kucinich and Sharpton having good ideas. To my best knowledge, based on five or six replayings of the interview, he never mentioned Dean's ideas, only that he was successful at running around the party structure, had surprised people, etc., suggesting to me that he was impressed by Dean's campaign but not by his ideas, which are centrist, not progressive. Kucinich is a progressive (founder/ leader of the House Progressive Caucus.) Hightower describes himself as a progressive populist. That fits with him voting for Nader in 2000, too -- not liking moderate Dem ideas.

I believe he said, by the way, that "Dean is one," not "Dean is the one." We need a transcript and I can't get the C-SPAN link to play for me. (I erased the recording on my TiVo after listening to it the other day.) I've checked Jim Hightower's website and found no discussion of any candidate to clue as in as to who he favors. I think he doesn't want to back anyone right now.

[cherryperry]

51. Let it go already!

Hightower, you and I all believe Kucinich is the best one, but you can't really believe DK could win in the general election, can you?

[FluxRostrum]

46. You People Must Be Tripping

Yes, he said Dean and Kerry were front runners...

He also spent over a full minute praising Dennis Kucinich's Plans and Integrity.

He also said Dean had a health care plan for "everyone". THAT"S NOT TRUE. Dennis Kucinh has THAT plan.

He also said How much the current administration would LOOOOVE to have Dean in the White House.... that's not much of an endorsemnet in my book.

[snyttri]

37. He stuck with Nader in '00, didn't he? Is he realistic about electability?

[Ein]

40. Maybe not.

Maybe he is interested in ending the plutocracy (that he talks about in his IE america segments).

[DrFunkenstein]

42. Nader Picks Kerry After Kucinich

Based on his actual progressive policies, as opposed to just sounding like a progressive.

Electability and substance, not cheap demagoguery.

[Ein]

43. Same here.

People in the Democratic Party can bitch about that man all they want, just hold the same standards to thier own party representatives.

[cherryperry]

52. WOW,

look what happened to what I thought would be a short, simple thread! The last thing I want is for people to fight so hard among themselves. Please, let's not get so intense that some of us don't go to the polls and vote for whomever the Democratic nominee is in November 2004, okay?

:toast: :hi: :kick: