Dr Dean: "This Is Not Real Reform" Me: Send Senate Bill to Death Panel

Obama, Hillary, and Dean's 50-state strategy

Much has been made about Howard Dean's 50-state strategy over the past several years.

Not familiar with the 50-state strategy?

Well, to sum up, Dr Dean realized that it wasn't enough to spend money to grow the party in places like LA and New York. He realized that there were Democrats in places like Utah, who, if given some resources, could build a strong party. We now have 2.5 paid DNC staffers working with the state party, and we are starting to see some return on the DNC investment in Utah.

The way Barack Obama has run his campaign, he is a firm believer in the 50-state strategy. By concentrating resources in lesser-populated areas of Nevada, he was able to capture one more delegate than Hillary Clinton, who "Won" the state. He has taken the lead in the delegate count by being dominant in small states like Utah and Idaho, while staying relatively competitive in large states like California and New York.

The Clinton Campaign?

From Daily Kos (Hat tip: D4U)

They were not oddly unprepared. They were completely prepared to run their campaign. A national campaign that focused entirely on large populations and big states. They were completely prepared to reject the 50 state strategy in its entirety, almost, I think, to prove Howard Dean and his progeny wrong. Hillary Clinton wanted to win this race the Clinton way. Indeed, you hear time and again that Bill Clinton looks at his wife's campaign as some sort of vindication of himself and his presidency. Thus, there was never any chance that the Clintons would ever follow the sound advice of Dr. Dean and the 50 state strategy. For they viewed that strategy as a challenge to them and their accomplishments in the 1990's. In fact, I think they viewed Howard Dean the 50 state strategy as a repudiation of everything they stood for.

11 Articles of Faith for the Democratic Party

Howard Dean spoke at the National Baptist Convention over the weekend. From Democracy for Utah:

As Democrats, we believe:
*That no child should go to bed hungry.
*As Democrats we believe that it is a moral issue that we no longer be the last industrialized country on the face of the Earth that doesn't have health care for every single person. And we have acted on that in Congress by giving every child under 18 health insurance.
*That war should be a last resort only after diplomacy has been exhausted.
*That we should properly equip our troops before we send them to war.
*That we should properly take care of our veterans when they come home.
*That everyone deserves equal rights under the law.
*That we should be good stewards of the Earth.
*That hardworking people should earn a living wage and be able to take care of their families.
*That we shouldn't pass debt onto our children and our grandchildren.
*That faith should not be used to divide people.
*That you and I have more in common than we have differences.

Howard Dean

OK, so yesterday, instead of a powerful Butt-Kicking Day worth of blogging, you got only one post. I decided to see a movie instead.

However, I thought I'd pass along Howard Dean's interview from yesterday's Today show (just don't wait 'til tomorrow to watch...(Ü)).

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/01/26.html#a6871

-Bob

DNC fundraising *UP* under Dean

I heard it from all over: "If Howard Dean becomes DNC chair, fundraising will go down."

The answer?

From Politics1:

The DNC reported raising $51 million in 2005 -- 20% better than the DNC's take for 2003 -- and a DNC record-high for an off-year. Not bad for a party that controls nothing in DC. DailyKos also notes that when Dean goes on fundraising trips around the nation, most of the money stays with the respective state parties (unlike in past years).

Up 20%. So there.

-Bob