Howard Dean: The Message of Massachusetts Election Results Is 'We Gotta Be Tougher' (VIDEO)

Last night on The Rachel Maddow Show Howard Dean warned his fellow Democrats not to engage in a circular firing squad over Republican Scott Brown winning the Massachusetts special election for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat.

Dean said the message he takes away from the election is not that voters were marshaling against health reform but instead were expressing displeasure with Washington in general. He advised Democrats that the lesson to learn from this is that his party simply needs to be tougher:

I also think that we're going to have to not have a circular firing squad. The message that I think, the anecdote I give is that we have to be tougher. The Democrats haven't been tough enough. George Bush would have had the health care bill done a long time ago. It would have gone through reconciliation and been what we wanted.

WATCH:

Comments

[wipeout]

12:16 PM on 01/21/2010

Howard Dean and his friends pioneered the "internet direct fund raising"

This meant a candidate could go directly to the people and not be beholden to special interests.

- Barack Obama uses the direct fund-raising method to win, and distances himself from Dean.

then turns his back on that very base that funded his campaign, and appeases the corporate interests necessary for the old-fashioned way of funding campaigns. So Dean's revolution was taken in vain by the Obama handlers.

They did Dean wrong when they back-room-dealed "Mr Macho" Kerry in, at the last minute for Iowa (for the security-mom vote)

The Obama did him wrong for not giving him credit for the funding tactics he pioneered, that helped Obama to win.

The Democrats also did Dean wrong for not noting the fantastic job he did with health care in his own State.

These people are reaping what they sow.

[JollyD]

11:10 AM on 01/21/2010

Can we waterboard Scott Brown to find out how many mistresses he has?

[goldgoose]

04:42 AM on 01/21/2010

The 2008 success of the Democrats went to their heads; they thought they could run Minnie Mouse for the Senate in Massachusetts and still win but alas Minnie lost.

[CubfanBudman]

03:43 AM on 01/21/2010

It was LOL funny to watch the republican leadership today explain that the people of Mass didn't want government controlling their medical care.

Uh, this watered down pos bill they are working on now wouldn't even effect the people of Mass who have a strong single payer system (grossly underfunded, but it was Mit that had to sign it).

Every 'blue ball' democrat should be facing a strong progressive in their next election, otherwise this party without a clear focus will whither and die.

[Tom Sito]

03:05 AM on 01/21/2010

Amen Howard Dean! All last year progressives watched the GOP kiss the keisters of every Right Wing, Teabagger Flat Earther freak, while lefties were told to " be patient, be patient, learn to accept less.."

WELL, DON'T EXPECT US TO COME OUT FOR DEMS LIKE WE DID IN 2008, WITH PROMISES LIKE THAT!!

The GOP has NO MESSAGE, NO IDEAS, and they still won!!! DEMS GOT TO BE TOUGH!!

PRESIDENT OBAMA- DECLARE MEDICARE FOR ALL, BREAK UP CITIBANK, PUT CHENEY AND KARL ROVE IN JAIL, REPLACE HARRY REID WITH SOMEONE WITH GUTS, REPEAL DON'T ASK DON'T TELL, DECLARE A MORITORIUM ON FOSSIL EMISSIONS BY EXECUTIVE ORDER,
THEN WATCH US WIN EVERY ELECTION!!!

[Clark D]

12:22 AM on 01/21/2010

II

[notwaff]

12:08 AM on 01/21/2010

============================
According to his interview with Chris Matthews, Howard Dean determines the message from voters by polling those who did not show up at the polls.
============================
In this interview Dean demonostrates just how delusional he is.
http://www.breitbart.tv/msnbcs-matthews-vs-howard-dean-youre-whistling-past-the-graveyard/

[fflambeau]

12:57 AM on 01/21/2010

Notwaff, an idiotic post. Pollsters actually poll lots of people who don't show up at the polls. Dr. Dean is spot on: the Democrats under Obama have lost their way, they've shown no fight for the agenda Obama campaigned and won on. Obama still doesn't get it and is quoted as saying the problem in Mass. was due to "communications problems". That's coming from the dude who is a nonstop talker but nondoer. We want action, not words. Dean should primary the hapless poseur President.

[suzukimom]

04:37 AM on 01/21/2010

fflambeau, if you are the same fflambeau who writes at the dailykos and FDL, I want you to know that I agree with what you have written here, and I look for your writing at those sites as it is always informative, insightful and honest. I just thought you might like to know that i am one of your fans.

[Racso]

10:54 PM on 01/20/2010

Democrats are done if they dont get Health care,Immigration reform and Gay Marriage past THIS YEAR

[Lairs]

11:00 PM on 01/20/2010

Howard Dean is the stupidest man on earth. Eweeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[SiameseTrainer]

11:28 PM on 01/20/2010

Why did the DNC shuffle Dean off into the sunset again? And who is the lamebrain they replaced him with? No money for the Coakely campaign to run tracking polls, what kind of stupid is that? You are right Dr., no circular firing squad, but can't we have just one or two of the traditional kind, up against a wall?

[Y3rMawm]

12:28 AM on 01/21/2010

They are also done if they do. All of those straw-men, will appear to give rights to some minority, but could come at the expense of the rights of others. Two of your straw-men are not in the Federal Goobermint's job description.

All are solved by taking govt and it's money away.

[MaybeMilo]

09:47 PM on 01/20/2010

Amen, Gov.

[tbonehead]

09:45 PM on 01/20/2010

DEM stands for the DEMolition Party; these people can't do anything right!!!

[Sievehead]

09:24 PM on 01/20/2010

At least one Democratic figure with some amount of clout understands what happened and is willing to state it bluntly...

[James Croteau]

02:15 AM on 01/21/2010

Dr. Dean has "clout"? So why was he shipped off to VT by the BullDog?

[AsISaid]

08:59 PM on 01/20/2010

It didn't take a genius to see this coming. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Howard Dean is right on the mark.

As soon as Democrats began to waffle, began to negotiate with themselves, began to empower Republicans, continued to coddle bankers and the wealthy interests against the interests of the middle and lower classes, they lost the respect of many voters - specifically independent voters.

When you say you're going to change things - try to change things. Be bold and try - even if you fail.

When you gain super majorities - use the majorities. Don't empower the minority party to control the process and the message.

When you act like you have no spine, you lose respect. When you don't stand for something and fight for it, you lose respect.

Americans want things done. Democrats, I hate to say, are blowing it.

[Y3rMawm]

12:29 AM on 01/21/2010

more to the point...we want things undone.

[wipeout]

12:06 PM on 01/21/2010

Right on - tell it like it is, brother/sister

[Robin08]

08:47 PM on 01/20/2010

Dean is right IMO. As part of the I get it shake-up I'm advising Obama to undertake, he'd be smart to appoint Dean to something. Should have left Dean in as Chair of the DNC.

[dugmaze]

08:51 PM on 01/20/2010

That's why they don't want Dean around.
Obama is probably moving along just as planned.
Forcing big pharma and insurance to pay him off or else he'll pass the bill.
It's a tatic well known in Illinois.

[dugmaze]

08:46 PM on 01/20/2010

Howard Dean is right.

This election was a win for Progressives.

And Republicans had zero to do with the turnout.

[wipeout]

07:35 PM on 01/20/2010

The fatal mistake the Democrats made was modeling a HC bill in the Senate after Massachewsetts instead of modeling it after Vermont's health care, which is far superior and stood the test of time.

But that would have had to have a public option, which we now know was never intended to be a part of this bill from the start. They just kept us progressives hanging on with ambiguous inneundoes of support for the public option (the same progressives who delivered the energy/money to win in 2008.) Leiberman tells us he was never even contacted by the White House on the issue.

That's hope you cannot believe in.

[Thabiti]

01:05 AM on 01/21/2010

Wipeout:

At what point in this political process, regarding healthcare, did you believe that there was EVER the votes to pass a HC bill with a public option? That was never a possibility.

So, Deans suggestion is get tougher. Well, How? Pull a Tonya Harding on a couple members of the Senate?

These people vote the interest of thier districts or states. Because the voters are the deciders of thier political fate. Not the President.

[wipeout]

02:48 AM on 01/21/2010

Votes need to be debated and campaigned-for. Predicting the outcome of that process to pre-empt the process is not the democratic process.

The public option never had a chance because the plan by the leaders was against it. without leadership fighting for the people, it wont happen That's not the democratic process. This was something a majority of the USA people wanted. How do you come off with "not enough votes?