Dean and the Dems

I have two stories involving the Democratic Party. First, this poll shows just how well the Democrats are doing under Chairman Dean. For some reason I want to make an irrevent salute at the sound of that, but I'll forgo it for the time being.

"A poll on the political mood in the United States conducted by the Democratic Party has alarmed the party at its own loss of popularity.

Conducted by the party-affiliated Democracy Corps, the poll indicated 43 percent of voters favored the Republican Party, while 38 percent had positive feelings about Democrats.

"Republicans weakened in this poll ... but it shows Democrats weakening more," said Stanley Greenberg, who served as President Clinton's pollster. "

Dean was supposed to fire up the base. If he has, it's come at the expense of moderates. I told him it wouldn't work (see my March, 20th post). Despite all his rabble-rousing, the Dems just can't get off the ground. If they do pick up some seats in the 2006 off-elections, it will only be because people are mad at Bush. As of now, the Republicans control the debate.

"Greenberg told the Christian Science Monitor he attributes the slippage to voters' perceptions that Democrats have "no core set of convictions or point of view." "

That's part of it, but Dean has "core values". If someone could tell him to quit making stupid comments about the Republicans for once, we could see, once and for all I believe, that his core values just don't appeal to the American public.

The other Dean story is pretty funny, but it also has a point hidden in all of it.

"Howard Dean was a no-show for a state Democratic Party fund raiser Wednesday after bad weather in Philadelphia kept the Democratic National Committee chairman grounded."

Republicans aren't ones to sit around and mope just because everyone's favorite socialist isn't in town. Nope, they had a scream competition.

"The state GOP's scream-off was intended to poke fun at Dean, whose attempt at a troop-rallying "yeah" after the 2004 Iowa caucus became the most laughed about moment of the campaign. Dean lost the next 16 contests, including a next-to-last showing in South Carolina a couple of weeks later.

The scream-off drew a handful of high school and college Republicans who were judged on "lack of poise in appearance" and "extent of angry, insane ranting."

Contestants had to repeat Dean's cry that his campaign was "going to South Carolina and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico. We're going to California and Texas and New York, and we're going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan. And then we're going to Washington, D.C. to take back the White House - yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Richard Hahn, a Dreher High School student, won the contest - embellishing Dean's itinerary by adding Canada and Puerto Rico as campaign trail stops."

Humorous. Oh, and the Republicans out fund-raised the Dems again, bringing in 22 grand to the Dems 20--which was later refunded.

The biggest point is this: "The contest didn't impress McIntosh, who said it is time for Republicans to "stop screaming and start trying to lead again.""

If the Republicans only become anti-Democrats, their poll numbers will continue to slide. The screaming is fine, but let's try coming up with some ideas.

For starters: just how and when are we going to wrap things up in Iraq?