Who believes Dean is doing his job, by staying out of the way?

[george_maniakes]

Best analogy i can think of is like being a referee or an umpire. The best ones dont get noticed. Dean is surely doing his best to not leave his mark on this contest, and to let these two candidates just run by the rules.

[Demeter]

1. The Good Doctor Has Yet to Make a False Step

His firm and fair guidance and willingness to make change is the only reason we have a Democratic Party left.

[endarkenment]

2. He hasn't stayed out of the way, he has stayed neutral as he enforces the rules.

He is in fact being a good referee - which is not the same as staying out of the way. Good referees sometimes get run over as they pay attention to the action to make sure the rules are getting enforced, taking literally the idea that they are just another part of the playing field. Good referees are also everyone's enemy.

[george_maniakes]

16. To me "staying out of the way" means only adding his two cents when necessary.

Ive seen plenty of refs and umps who delight in becoming more central to the game then they should be. The point is this primary is about obama and hillary, not dean. By keeping a low media profile in this primary, he is doing his job by keeping the spotlight on the candidates.

[Cant trust em]

3. Fairly interpreting the rules of the game

Florida and Michigan broke those rules.

[Debi]

4. He's doing a great job! n/t

[napi21]

5. He's doing a great job. He's staying out of the limelight as he should,

but I suspect there's a LOT going on in the background. He was on quite a few tv shows in the last 2 days, and as usual, the good Dr. is encouraging everyone to keep focused and work out the wrinkles.

I think he had the best advice for everyone too. Let the primary voting play out, and the super delegates vote by July 1st to cement the will of the voters and chose our candidate.

[SoFlaJet]

6. a current DKos poll

Do you approve of the way DNC Chairman Howard Dean is doing his job?

Yes 91% 10663 votes

No 6% 674 votes

Don't know 3% 386 votes

http://www.dailykos.com/

[Cha]

23. Kos bloggers understand

what Dean is doing..thanks.

[Swamp Rat]

7. I support Howard Dean.

Thank goodness we have him.

[psychmommy]

8. he is a stand up guy

sadly there aren't more of him stepping up in our party.

[lefty from jersey]

9. Dean out kicked his coverage

Dean has done a miserable job partly because he is a wimp, but mostly he has no juice. It used to be candidates needed the leadership for money so the candidates had to follow the rules. They don't need the money and they are not going to listen to the noise.

Dean overstepped his authority, or as they say "out kicked his coverage" by trying to impose his meaningless rules on states desire to get into the primary meat and potatoes. States look at the benefits of being on the front end of the primary season. First of all candidates pay attention and the primary brings in millions of dollars, providing the candidates pay their bills. (Anyone listening out there in Hillary accounting and payables?)

Who the hell is Dean to dictate to a state about when and where and why they are holding THEIR primary. Dean again is overwhelmed by his misguided sense of self importance. A yell here would be appropriate...

[Awsi Dooger]

12. I agree with plenty of that

We're in this mess because of Dean. DUers may not see it as a mess, but the vast majority haven't been in Florida since December 13, as I have. One person after another is disgusted their primary votes may not count. That doesn't automatically transfer to November but particularly in Florida we have almost no margin for error. And the state's 26 electoral votes are a trump card in any route to 270. The state is only 2 points more red than the nation as a whole. That's nothing but so many DUers are content to pessimistically write it off. Then at the same time they'll marvel at Obama's skill at prioritizing tiny caucus wins in small states, squeezing delegate advantage where there should have been parity. Unreal.

Jeopardizing electoral votes in vital states is probably the biggest gaffe a party leader can make, and Dean is perfecting new ways. It's a typical flaw of Democratic politics, lack of every-variable foresight and waiting until the last minute to throw together a patch remedy.

[lefty from jersey]

20. Dean has been a disaster

The worst mistake a leader can make is to issue threats he can not back up. Dean threatened Florida; Florida didn't blink, now we have a disaster of Dean's making.

I do not even want to get into the Super Delegate fiasco that will be unraveling soon on a TV screen in your home, but the selection of Super Delegates was supposed to be a little perk for the parties biggest jerks just to keep them happy. Now these jerks are going to create turmoil because that is what they always do in order to get attention.

If you think Florida and Michigan are disasters made by Dean, they will look like artwork when we get to the Super Delegates. Remind me then what you think about your leader Dean.

[mohc]

25. You keep saying "threats that he can not back up"

In what way has he made a threat he can not back up? The rules in place are not Dean's rules, they are the Democratic Party's rules. But whose rules they are is beside the point, because the rules are very much enforceable. The purpose for which FL and MI moved up their primary was to gain influence in the nomination process, something they have completely lost to this point. Now that it seems unlikely that either state will be able to submit a new delegate selection plan, it means no matter what is agreed to from now on, the two states will go into the convention with no delegates. Any agreement worked out between the campaigns would be something where they would direct their members of the credentials committee to select a particular plan, and then the full convention delegates would have to approve of it. There is nothing FL or MI can do on their own that will get their delegates seated, they must appease both campaigns. Effectively, this means the FL and MI delegations have no say in the nomination. If Obama is leading by enough to seat them as is with all other votes fully counted, he will agree to seat them. If Clinton is leading at all, she will probably be able to get them seated, but again this does not change the actual outcome. In the event Obama is leading by a smaller amount, any agreement made would not change the results, Obama would still be the nominee. If Clinton refuses to support an agreement that reduces the FL or MI delegations such that seating them does not give her the nomination, then they simply will not be seated. So at this point the only person who can truly prevent some sort of seating of the FL and MI delegations is Clinton herself.

[lefty from jersey]

26. We all know the story

Our leadership should have been able to anticipate the story and avoid the disaster. They did not! They would not bargain or cajole or lead, they let events unfold. That is not leadership.

Good thing for Dean that the Super Delegate disaster that has yet to unfold will make all but historians forget how we screwed up an easy win, a dominant Democrat Congress and a better Supreme Court because of incompetent leadership. This will be one for the history books.

[mohc]

27. FL and MI had all the time in the world

From the time the decision, and it was indeed the only correct decision, was handed down until the primaries started, FL and MI had plenty of time to submit a new delegate selection plan. They waited to make a show about "revotes" until after the fact, because they knew supporting a legitimate primary before their scheduled fake primaries would only further erode their legitimacy. The truth of the matter was FL and MI believed they were right and should be allowed to do as they pleased. What should Dean have done to make them submit a valid plan? It would have been a far far bigger disaster had the DNC accepted the FL and MI plans, more and more states would have moved their primaries seeing that the DNC was too weak to enforce its rules. The DNC did bargain, but the FDP and MDP were not listening. Now the state parties believe it is too late to submit a new plan, and they are mostly correct, and neither the DNC or the state parties can really do anything now. It is all up to the campaigns.

[applegrove]

10. I think he is doing great. He refuses to change the rules to favor one candidate

over the other. And that will do alot to get people to accept their nominee lost. Fair is fair.

[lefty from jersey]

13. What about FL and MI?

He created the mess in Florida and Michigan by making threats he could not back up. They told Howard to shut up and sit down and voted anyway. A leader leads. Dean has created this farcical tale because of his hubris. This should have all been settled months before the primary.

I don't know what his specialty was as a doctor but there are many people still alive because he is no longer practicing.

[Hawkeye-X]

18. Got proof Dean said such statements?

Oh please.

I'm waiting for that. Enjoy your brief stay in DU.

[george_maniakes]

19. crap, my mistake, i was taking you seriously, disregard my post below. n/t

[Whisp]

11. I like his stubborn muleness about the rules.

I'll bet he's under tremendous pressure to jam out, but hangs in there.

good man.

[LiveLiberally]

14. He's doing the best anyone has a right to expect in an impossible situation. /nt

[lefty from jersey]

15. Staying out of the way?

Are you kidding. Leaders are not elected or appointed to "stay out of the way." They lead. Dean has led this party into oblivion. Moron.

[george_maniakes]

17. One, make clear who your calling a moron, or else your opinion means shit.

Two, Dean isnt supposed to be leading this election, otherwise his candidate would have an edge. He's making sure its fair.

Three, i wouldnt call the elections of 2006 oblivion, would you?

[lefty from jersey]

22. A thousand pardons

Unless the shoe fits, I meant the moron exclamation for Dean.

[Florida22ndDistrict]

21. re:

As far as I remember Dean wanted to help democrats take the country back for the people. He touted a 50 state plan to make sure we the people were represented across the nation. Then all the sudden he decided to toss that out the window and disenfranchise the voters of Florida an Michigan. Actions speak louder then words.

[lefty from jersey]

24. Like I said

Dean has out kicked his coverage...