Poignant but terrific interview with Howard Dean by AP today.

[madfloridian]

He knows what a lot of us know...that is was never just about him. That is why I don't mind being taunted about it, and neither does my husband. It is about something much bigger.

http://www.blogforamerica.com/archives/004616.html
SNIP...."Dean is in awe of his rise. He is accepting of his fall. He readily concedes he made mistakes. He has difficulty, though, coming to grips with the sacrifices and trust of his legions of devoted supporters.

"I am pretty overwhelmed," he says and pauses as his eyes brim with tears.

"I don't really feel I let them down, I must say, but I am pretty shocked by not just how supportive they were, but what they were willing to do."

It was an amazing ride and Dean is the first to admit it. "Since the campaign ended I have just looked back and scratched my head and said, `What could you have been thinking of? You started out in a room over a chiropractor's office and you thought you were going to be president of the United States?'"

SNIP..."At times Dean had trouble coping with the force he had unleashed.
"It was a little scary," he said, recounting a stop in Seattle on his Sleepless Summer Tour that attracted 10,000.
"You could look all the way back to these huge buildings and there was no space between any of the people," he said. "I got up there and said `Oh, man! I am going to be responsible for all of these people.'"

And the ending statement:
"Because it would have just been about me - and it never was.""

[madfloridian]

1. This quote tells why it was so important.

SNIP...""There was an enormous vacuum and the Washington guys didn't get it until much later," said Dean, appearing relaxed in a sweater and jeans during an interview over lunch at a South Burlington restaurant.

"Nobody was saying the things that needed to be said. The Democrats were terrified of Bush."

[upperleftedge]

2. A true American, Howard Dean.

And a fine human being.

[bbmykel]

3. Oh darn, now I'm sniffling at work.

Thank you Howard Dean!

Mike

[hedda_foil]

4. Look at the contrast!

Much has been written in the past few months speculating on who and what is to blame for his dramatic fall. Dean dismisses it all. "I take full responsibility for not winning the campaign," he said.

"The reason I don't like all the kiss and tell stuff is there is no need to fight about whose fault this was. I will take all the blame. I oversaw those decisions and I accepted them and I approved them."

There are things he would have done differently: He says he should have had better debate preparation and more media training. "I needed some serious media training," he said. "I did it on the job but I could have saved myself a lot of hassle if I had done it earlier on."

[I thought so.]

5. Ain't that the truth.

Dean's campaign style was a real flop.

[mzmolly]

7. Yea, setting records for fundraising, being the front runner for months

starting an organization that will change politics forever = 'flop' :eyes:

"One of Howard Dean's most poignant memories of his presidential campaign is of a woman in a wheelchair who gave him $50 in quarters at a breakfast meeting in Iowa last summer. The money came from her federal supplemental income check.

"Even now I can hardly tell that story," says Dean, his voice choking in a rare display of emotion.

"She said she had been saving the quarters for two years, when she could, for something that was really important - and this was really important to her."

Flop ey?

[NYCGirl]

12. Would it really have been so difficult NOT to post on this thread?

Why did you have to do that?

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mzmolly]

24. Im confused. What is your issue with my responding to this post?

Or did you reply to the wrong person? :shrug:

[NYCGirl]

25. Sorry, I did mean the divisive person above you. My sincere apologies. eom

NT

[mzmolly]

27. No biggie!

:hi:

I thought that's what happened. ;)

[madfloridian]

10. Oh, gee, do you have to be that way? Do you feel better?

He is a real person, not like some other people in politics. Please do not be insulting. It gets tiresome.

Oh, the huge crowd did not think he was a flop. They just never got their primaries until he was out of the race.

[Bandit]

22. Your guy is the one that is flopping and flipping and flopping some more

Bush* is toast and you need to reconcile yourself to that fact. I have to admit though Bush* shows more intelligence than his supporters.

[Just Me]

34. Dean was hugely successful in inspiring the disenchanted!!!

Some things, many things are far more important and valuable than modern-day, effed-up politics.

Dean started something wonderful,...a movement to change politics!!!

To me, THAT is the epitome of success!!!

And I LOVE him for his integrity!!!! I do.

[madfloridian]

14. "I take full responsibility for not winning the campaign," he said.

That is how he is. It was good to see pics of him and Trippi together at least talking at the VA event. Trippi's Change for America bloggers could really help the cause.

[NYCGirl]

6. Have I said today...

I LOVE that guy! He's amazing.

[madfloridian]

15. You can say it every day.

It's ok to say it.

[Just Me]

35. Me, too, NYCGirl!!! I love how he reawakened the best in us!!! eom

[nomaco-10]

8. I got it, you got it, alot of other...

people got it, but unfortunately he was not given a fair chance and a closer look by those in the party whose only criteria for the nominee was "electability". Ham sandwich and all that, as I'm sure you remember.

I've been thinking for so many weeks now, how sad it is that Dean is not at the helm of our party and leading the fight to TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY. I will always revere him for telling the truth with clarity and conviction and running the most exciting grassroots campaign in American history. He was and still is, the most exciting and hopeful politician on the American political scene. I will continue to support him in any and all endeavors he decides to take on. He's a rare and wonderful find in the litter of our current political landscape. GO HOWARD GO!!!

[Lavender Brown]

9. He ain't going anywhere, that's for sure

I look forward to hearing what he has to say for years to come.

[madfloridian]

11. Tom Paine award pic....Dean is no "sunshine patriot."

We used to be, but we are not now either. We don't yet have the power to "make the world over again", but it now seems possible.

[madfloridian]

13. Dean appreciates his supporters, the party would do well to do that also

This really impressed us a lot. He was truly surprised at the passion he generated...he really did not anticipate what would happen when he started questioning the way the country was going.
It is what makes it so hard now, the fact that those of us who really truly care so doggone much are not that important now in the presidential race. We just don't count.

This is what people have not understood. They have missed that Dean *appreciated* and was actually awed by his supporters.

SNIP..."Dean doesn't rule out a future bid but is putting his energy and hopes into a Kerry victory in November. "I don't think the country can afford four more years of George Bush," he said. "I would much rather have John Kerry win than position myself for a future race."

He says he doesn't spend much time second guessing the decisions of the past year or reliving the campaign. He thinks often, though, of the people who worked for him, who supported him, who contributed to his campaign and who saw in him a reason to get involved in politics.

"I was astonished by the response of the public - by their enormous enthusiasm. You have no idea what people did for us. I certainly didn't.

"People would work 16 hours a day on top of their job, 60 hours a week on top of their jobs. People quit their jobs. Look at the kids. They just drove to Burlington. It was just shocking to me. I never thought anything like that was going to happen," he said."END SNIP

The Democrats would do well to remember this group of passionate people, not just young people either.

"Since the time of Thomas Paine and John Adams, our founders implored that we were not to be the new Rome. We are not to conquer and suppress other nations to submit to our will. We were to inspire them."
Howard Dean, 2003

[DoveTurnedHawk]

16. I Have So Much Respect For Him, Now

Kudos to his supporters who saw what I could not, back then.

DTH

[Cheswick2.0]

18. thank you

That was really a nice thing to say.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

19. Any Time

I was really moved at how moved HE was about his supporters. He's a genuinely good man.

:toast:

DTH

[madfloridian]

20. That is appreciated.

:hi:

[mzmolly]

26. Wow, Thank You.

:hi:

Much appreciation for that post.

[janx]

31. Wow--DTH, that is so very kind of you!

Thanks!

[Eloriel]

38. Wow. I'm impressed

What changed your mind? I'd really like to know.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

42. Here's the Thing

I really liked Dean from the start, I just had "electability" concerns about him. And to be completely honest, I still think those concerns were at least partially valid, although I know many here would disagree. Be that as it may.

The two things that really turned me against him, however, were the negative things he said about General Clark right after Clark jumped in, and my perception (as the primary season went on) that Dean was taking advantage of his supporters. I felt that his positions on some of the issues were insincere and calculated. I believed that he was just "riding the wave" of his grassroots for his own personal benefit.

Well, the negative things he said about General Clark have faded, just like nearly all of the high emotions of the primary season, at least for me. I know all of that was just politics, it was just hard for me to see that AT THAT MOMENT.

And after seeing Dean campaigning for Kerry, and after reading this article, I now know I could not have been more wrong about Dean's motives and sincerity. He really did mean what he said. I was wrong about Dean, and I regret every bad thing I ever said about him.

Well, I guess I can still stand by my criticisms of some of the negative things he said about General Clark, but that's a really minor complaint now. :-) Water under the bridge.

Dean rocks. I hope he stays active in the party for many, many years. I would really love to see him as DNC Chair, to be honest. I think he would kick some ass and take some names, unlike the spineless wonder currently in that position.

DTH

[Eloriel]

44. Well, in that case

you get a big hug from me. ;-)

Nicely and graciously said.

But no, we don't want him as DNC head. Why? Because that would be the surest way to shut him up, co-opt him. Put him somewhere where he's mostly handicapped from telling it like it is. He is MUCH more valuable as a gadfly, slightly outside the system where he CAN hold Kerry's feet to the fire (assuming Kerry wins), CAN develop farm teams of candidates who stand for a little more than we've put up with in our candidates over the last several decades, and so forth. Besides that, I think he's too good for that job -- ought to come in way above that pay grade somewhere (like President -- hope springs eternal).

Thanks for your answer.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

45. Thank You

I appreciate the kind words and the hug, which is returned. :-)

:hug:

And you may very well be right about Dean staying outside of the system. I just think we NEED someone LIKE him to take up the position of DNC Chair. It has really languished, IMO. He would shake up the institution and make it more accountable.

Thank you also for being such a consistent feminist voice on this board. People like you and Slinkerwink really thrill and inspire me when you stand up for women's issues, because even here, it can be a lonely undertaking at times.

DTH

[Ironpost]

17. As for me

Howard Dean surely needs to be part of putting our country back together, since he got the ball rolling in the first place. Please Mr. Kerry have the doctor in the house with you.

[newsguyatl]

21. kick for a great article

:kick:

[loudsue]

28. Dean is awesome -- a truly great man. He never saw what hit him.

With powers far greater than we can imagine gerrymandering the black boxes we are voting with, I have NO DOUBT that Dean was brought down because he was too much of a "wild card" to the powers that run the world (CIA/world bankers/huge corporations). Even though Dean was fairly moderate on a lot of his stances, he was saying too many things that challenged the status quo of the uber rich. And, God forbid! He was saying the TRUTH in a carefully cultivated culture of lies and deceptions.

Until WE, THE PEOPLE get the voting issue straightened out, and get freedom of the press, and get BOTH mandated by law and fully funded, we will never wrestle the PEOPLE of the world out of the grips of the evil ones, and move in the direction of world peace.

Dean was/is a revolutionary. His voice is needed ALL THE TIME. And so is the voice of Dennis Kucinich, and yes, even Al Sharpton. I wish the primaries hadn't ended so soon.

:kick::kick:

[madfloridian]

30. Your first paragraph is loaded with truth.

We are in real trouble in this country from many sources. If not, why would the League of Women Voters oppose verified voting? Why would it be so hard to get proof of how we voted? Why would they even fight it?


"Since the time of Thomas Paine and John Adams, our founders implored that we were not to be the new Rome. We are not to conquer and suppress other nations to submit to our will. We were to inspire them."
Howard Dean, 2003

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

29. Nearing the truth of it all...

Dean dates the beginning of the end to the endorsement in December by former Vice President Al Gore, a move that galvanized the opposition. "Everyone figured, including Bill Clinton, that we were going to win the whole thing when that happened," said Dean. "They figured that was it. The other five guys started having meetings about how to take us down after that happened."




http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=618193&mesg_id=618270

[DoveTurnedHawk]

32. Kick

This is a really great article.

DTH

[kwolf68]

33. Dean = Class

After seemingly having the party nomination wraped up only for the wheels to come off the proverbial wagon, Howard Dean has been a champion by putting aside any animosity he had toward J.Kerry and is working to dethrone King Bush.

The way he has handled himself of late is antithetical to his vibrant speech that was part of his demise.

Dean is showing to be a fine man who would have made a great President. You learn a lot about people when the chips are down and Dean has earned tons of my respect. Kudos to HD

[madfloridian]

36. Thanks. This is the side supporters saw all along.

Those of us, and there were many, who followed the campaign closely....knew when the media was misleading and knew what he was about.

He campaigned just about as well as the others did, they just did not get the scrutiny. Once he admitted on Hardball that the media needed to be re-regulated they had to get rid of him.

[Southsideirish]

37. We owe everything we have now to Howard Dean - the first one to

say the emperor had no clothes. Before Howard - Bush was invulnerable - now we have a real chance to run him back to Crawford - if we use Dean's courage as our model.

[Eloriel]

39. There's a certain nominee I wish would get that message

Don't you?

[madfloridian]

40. The emperor has no clothes. Say it loudly and daily.

He has no clothes.

[xxqqqzme]

41. I read this earlier 2day

and it brought back a flood of memories. Who, if involved in the DFA 1.0 campaign, did not meet some terrific people? The only candidate I ever contributed to, B4 DFA, was Paul Wellstone. I traveled 2 New Mexico for DFA. It was wonderful and I met wonderful people. The DFA campaign was inspirational. As a direct result, I am very active in the Brandt congressional campaign to unseat rohrabacher.

I am going 2 C the Dr. again on 7/6 in LA. It will B special, just like the other 5 times.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

43. Hey, Do You Know the Details on the 7/6 Event in L.A.?

I would love to go!

DTH