Tactics and Substance in the 2004 Elections GoogleNews: Howard Dean

February 12, 2004

by J

Dems Can Officially Kiss This Indie's Ass

Yesterday, a friend of mine who's ABB and hasn't followed the primary much because, as he puts it, 'I'm voting for whoever's not Bush in November' was encouraging me to reconsider my 'no donation if Kerry is the nominee' policy. I hemmed and hawwed and said, "well maybe the DNC?"

After reading this, absolutely not. This is the vilest, vilest internecine McCarthyism and I will not support a party and a nominee that treats its members this way. Like Todd, there is no party for me -- I am a stranger in my own country.
Officially, the Kerry campaign pledges to bring the party together and to move past such gloating. But some establishment Democrats, both inside and outside the Kerry campaign, still intend to punish the Dean heretics. And, while well-known politicians, such as Gore, Harkin, and Moseley Braun, may endure the most public abuse, the people who may ultimately suffer explicit retribution for their Dean-boosting are cogs in the Democratic machine--people like Daalder, who toil in think tanks or union leadership or groups like the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). As one former high-ranking Clinton administration official puts it, "Will they work again in this town again? I hope not."
"Heretics"? "Dean Heretics"!!??! How revolting.

If 'even the liberal' TNR got this wrong, I would like to see some spirited rebuttals from Terry M and Kerry spokespeople.
Posted by J at February 12, 2004 09:02 PM
Comments

You thought it was about change.

It's not about change. It's about control.

Posted by: genehack at February 12, 2004 09:39 PM

I have no basis of knowing one way or another, but maybe you're just getting upset over the ranting of "one former high-ranking Clinton administration offical", instead of some sort of conspiracy. Kos will get sort of DNC rebuttal disavowing it all, I'm sure. Now, whether it's the truth or not....

Posted by: harveyIL at February 12, 2004 09:59 PM

I've posted a link to the whole Foer TNR article over at DeanIndependents.

Posted by: Todd at February 13, 2004 11:16 AM

From personal experience, I can tell you the same thing happened to Bradley people after Gore's win in 2000. I'd even heard word from my immediate supervisor at the FCC that there was a list running around. Fortunately for proponents of Team Bradley, all was forgiven once Gore crashed and burned in Florida. The institutional memory of politics is vicious, but at least it's also short...particularly when losing is involved.

Posted by: Kevin at February 13, 2004 05:13 PM

As someone over at Kos said, this definitely ain't the way to create yellow dog Democrats.

Thanks for the link, Todd - Harvey, the complete article suggests that it's definitely more than one person. In fact, the quote I pulled mentions at least two (people "inside and outside the Kerry campaign").

Posted by: J at February 14, 2004 08:26 AM

Recommended Reading:

The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir
The Politics of Truth... A Diplomat's Memoir


Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush
Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush


Against All Enemies by Richard Clarke
Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror


LIES by Al Franken
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right


The Great Unraveling
The Great Unraveling


The Great Big Book of Tomorrow
The Great Big Book of Tomorrow


Clinton Wars
The Clinton Wars


Blinded by the Right
Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative


Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat

Subject to Debate: Sense and Dissents on Women, Politics, and Culture

Living History

The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton

John Adams

Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace

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