Howard Dean Meets With Hillary's Fat Cats: Will He Cave?

In 2004, the Democratic leadership could not wait to see Howard Dean flail. The Dean Scream was the dream of John Kerry and the establishment Democrats, because it meant the insurgent candidate stumbled, fell, and never recovered.

Four years later, Howard Dean is running the Democratic National Committee -- he's on the inside, but he's really still an outsider. He is trying to make the Democratic Party brand popular in places other than New York and Boca Raton. This has earned him the animosity of Democratic Party insiders, who think they know better despite the fact that Democrats have had their butts handed to them more often than not in the last seven Congressional races.

He also wants the Democratic Party to follow the rules. That's why Florida and Michigan are not in position to have their delegates counted in Denver. They were told the rules for nominating a president, and they chose not to follow them. The Republican Party looks at the Democrats and says -- of course, the Party won't follow the rules it has set up. The Democrats don't believe in rules, in law, in order. That's what They say.

Howard Dean wants to prove Them wrong. He wants Florida to know it can't count, that the vote in January was not fair, was against the rules, should not count. Hillary Clinton sided with Howard Dean until she won Florida and realized she could not come close to winning the nomination without it.

And so, her top fundraisers are attempting to bribe the Democratic Party. They are going to dine with Howard Dean this week and threaten him. They are offering to pull their money from the Democratic Party if Florida, which didn't count, continues to not count. The fundraisers don't believe in morality. They believe it's all about the money.

Barack Obama's fundraisers are not having the same meeting with Howard Dean because he raised money from a million people, and his bundlers don't wield the same power that Hillary's financiers wield. What's Howard Dean going to do, meet with the nurse who sent a $100 to the DNC because she loves Obama? Meet with the veteran who sent $300 because they like Barack's stance on Iraq? No, he's meeting with the Fat Cats, who really care less about Hillary and more about becoming Ambassadors under a President Hillary.

It's a meeting of the Ambassadors Club, that's what this is. Howard Dean and a bunch of people who want to give him cash to change the rules, to make Florida count, so that -- what -- so Hillary can win? As if that'll do the Democratic Party a great favor. Let's remember how much the Clintons helped their fellow Democrats in the '90s. Oh, that's right, the Republicans took over Congress for the first time in decades, and didn't give it back for 12 years.

Howard Dean -- Howard Dean should scream. He should channel his Howard Beale and tell those who seek to blackmail him that he's not going to take it anymore. He's not a puppet. He's someone who cares about the future of his party more than he cares about the man who wants to be Ambassador to Bermuda.

Comments

[jstock]

Dr. Dean: Remember, just say "no."

[compassionone]

The Fair and Honrable thing to do is split the pledged delegates down he middle and let the Super Delegates in Florida vote for Hillary or whoever they want to.

We should not change the rules as we go.

We all heard the candidates say before the election in Florida and Michigan that they weren't going to count for anything. That right there is premise that the vote shouldn't count since nobody went to the polls other than people who went for other issues on the ballot or to make a statement to declare interest for the fun of it.

[Thatcher]

By you saying split the delegates down the middle - you are changing the rules. ESPECIALLY letting the Super Delegates which PUT Florida in this place vote whichever way they want.

No Florida Delegates, No Michigan Delegates. I'm sorry voters in those states - you are not to blame - your state leadership is - and they are making you pay the price. KICK THE BUMS OUT OF YOUR STATE OFFICES.

[stavros]

Thanks Thatcher.
I live in Michigan and I'm taking it to my state reps.
Many here understand who made the mistake and who to blame.

[XYZ]

But in the end all this does is move the goal post even farther out. You don't hear the Clintons talk about it, because if florida and michigan are re-instated the required delegates for the nomination go up to 2200 somthing.

[Melissa]

That is absolutely not true. People went to the polls to vote for the President thinking that their vote would count and the idiots who run the DNC would realize what a mistake they had made. Now there are many people in Florida who will not vote or vote for McCain in the general. The Democrats have become an amusement for the Republicans. Dean has made many mistakes, I will be glad when he is gone.

[goodsnservices]

Lest we forget, it was Florida's REPUBLICAN state house that passed legislation to move the date of the primary up in the face of clear DNC rules against it. It is also the REPUBLICAN state house that is preventing a resolution to the conflict. To blame the head of the DNC is ludicrous. He didn't make those rules -- the entire party did, and Hillary Clinton was part of that process. Florida is the quintessential house of REPUBLICAN dirty tricks. And, yes, they will no doubt gain from their dirty tricks, as they have in the past, including making daily hay of the fiasco.

I think the entire delegation should be seated, but the delegates should be split evenly between Hillary and Obama's slates. That way, Florida is represented, but neither candidate gets an advantage from these REPUBLICAN dirty tricks.

[CharlesC]

Exactly why would they have gone to the polls assuming their vote would "count" when they were told in no uncertain terms it...you know..."wo­uldn't count"? There was no ambiguity, it was made clear that it WOULDN'T COUNT. There is a reason Florida and Michigan were two of only five states where the R turnout was greater than the D turnout (the others being two rock solid red states and McCain's home state) in the primaries - because an awful lot of Democrats who understood the rules and knew full well it was a non binding vote (ie. didn't count!) stayed home. If people were so staggeringly stupid as to line up and cast a ballot knowing full well it wouldn't matter a whit, that's their own fault. So are you to penalize the people who followed the rules and paid attention and stayed home in favour of those who blindly cast a meaningless ballot? I think not.

[Roxanne24]

I have a former student who resides in FL who did not vote because she knew of the rules. Most voters in FL were property owners who wanted to vote on no on increased property tax, my former student lives in an apt.

Do you realize that the ONLY TWO STATES where Republican voters outnumbered Democratic voters were in the states of Florida and Michigan? It's quite obvious that numerous informed voters did not vote because they followed the rules. It's time for the Clintons to follow them and stop trying to change them to their advantage.

[myskylark]

Do you really expect to be taken seriously?

Howard Dean is the poorest excuse for a chairman of the DNC. The Republican Governor and Republican legistlature of Florida decreed the primary to be held early. Howard Dean's response was to punish the Democratic voters and disenfranchise them. Republicans don't count votes. Since when do Democrats refuse to count votes?

You're screaming because you don't like Hillary Clinton. Your infantile over-the-top accusations don't help your argument. You would better spend your time to lobby for a complete overhaul of the party rules for the next election to really bring democracy to the process.

No more caucuses - they are inherently undemocratic by excluding large groups of people because of the narrow restrictions of time and place.

Do away with open primaries. Republicans and Independents have no place in a Democratic primary. The Independents are often fickle and won't vote for our Democrat in the general election any;how, and the Republicans often come in to do mischief.

Don't use apportionment because it can make it impossible for anyone to reach the required number of delegates to be declared the nominee, and the current practic of weighting current primary votes based on the district performance in the past general election disenfranchises current voters..

Do away with superdelegates. If they vote in their professional capacity to pick the better candidate regardless of the pledged delegates, they tarnish the process. If they just underwrite the pledged delegates, what do we need them for?

If now candidate readches the required number of delegates before the convention, then have the guts to bring the matter to the convention and let the delegates vote as many ballots as necessry to pick the nominee.

If the Democrats lose again this year, the biggest culprit will not be Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama - it will be the incredibly stupid, byzantine, undemocratic rules - rules that only the Democrats would be dumb enough to saddle themselves with.

[PROliver]

It is obvious that you do not believe in detrimental reliance by following the rules. If the courts took your opinion, we would be in trouble.

[Thatcher]

skylark -

The rules were set before they moved up the date ... the states knew the consequences. Florida Dems even bantered around an idea to fix the problem themselves last summer, but in the FL Dem Leadership UNANIMOUSLY approved the Jan 29th date - KNOWING their voters would be penalized.

Mi and Fl - KICK THE BUMS IN YOUR STATE PARTY OUT!

[PrdAmerican]

Sorry, title of poorest excuse for a chairman of the DNC still resides with Terry McAuliffe.

[flanardiente]

Oh, for God's sake, just give her the votes. She still can't win without suborning the supers, which will, of course, ensure she loses in the fall, assuming they're dumb enough to roll over for her. I get the feeling she doesn't want to be President as much as she wants to keep control of the party under the collaborationist DLC. As long as these quislings are in power, the Democrats are dead in the water. They'd rather party in Puerto Rico than take power in DC, because then they'd have to, you know, make decisions, some of which might actually be unpopular. Bill & Hillary, man, what happened to you guys? We have a totally bought-and-paid-for media, lapdogs almost to a man, and an electorate so ignorant and apathetic that talking about issues actually turns them off, and the best the Democratic party can do is squabble over what Obama's preacher said or what Geraldine meant. Read history. This party's OVER.

[rjean]

dont blame the repubs in fla....thi­s is a democrat mess......­.

much like the two candidates they put out there.....­..........­.

popcorn is always popping...­..........­..........­.

[gplaw]

This is the exact reason why people do not want HRC to win the election. If Dean caves or even bends, he needs to resign. He should not be held hostage HRC's donors. Go to the public, let them know what the donors are attempting, the DNC will be able to raise all the money it needs. This is ridculous!

[SkipHarv]

Is it me or does this sound like something DON CORLEONE would do? It will be VERY interested to see what does come out of this meeting. I especially want to see how can the Hilster spin this one too.

[LuluDoll]

The Clinton's have been trying to undermine Dean for years. Stay strong Mr. Dean. We are so close to truly building a progressive party.

[moda31]

unfortunately he'll probably cave like the democrats always do. i really hope he proves me wrong. one thing this election has shown us is that big money donors aren't everything, dean used to believe that and i hope he'll show that he still does.

[lizr]

Dr Dean is courageous and fair. I met him in Pasadena at a book signing a few years ago. I trust him to do the right thing for the party and not give in to Hillary's fat cat leg breakers..­.

BTW- the scream was a media dirty trick.

He was screaming over ambient sound, and the mic only picked him up, filtered out that ambient sound, and the media took advantage of that technical glitch to TOTALLY DESTROY the best candidate we had.

He is the author of the 50 state strategy, He is the main defense ordinary Dems have against the Taliban of our party, the scourge of democracy, the DLC!!!

FL and MI, live by the rules. Grow up, bite the bullet, and learn for next time.

[Oldchef]

Thank you. the DLC are worse than the republicans, because they pretend to be for the working people but are rabid corporatists to the man (or woman). They pretend to be progressives but are puppets of the Chamber of Commerce. Business over workers every time. They are the enablers of NAFTA and promoters of CAFTA. The Clintons are not for the people, they are for big business. Hilary Clinton made no efforts to help the workers when she was on the board at Walmart and she won't do anything for us now.