Still A Dean Believer

I caught a few minutes of Crossfire on Friday... just enough to hear so-called Democrats lament the possible election of Howard Dean as the new Chair of the DNC. God forbid the most succesful candidate at online fundraising and activism in the party's history be our new leader! God forbid the only presidential candidate to consistently speak out against the war in Iraq - which the majority of Americans now believe was a pretty crappy idea - be our new leader! We certainly don't want anyone to speak their principles before the Republicans have stuck us in a corner and prelabeled any opinion we might have as unpatriotic.

I understand that Howard Dean isn't universally loved. But let's get real. We've played it safe the past few years by putting a fundraiser, not a leader, in charge of the DNC. We've played it safe by making the uber-moderate Sen. Harry Reid in charge of our diminished minority in the Senate. We need someone who will yell a little. And yes, I know... there was that scream. But if the biggest criticism we have of someone is "He gets too excited when thanking the volunteers who worked for him," um, are we trying to make sure we never lead the country again?

I'd much rather have a DNC head who speaks Democratic principles first than one who sits around waiting for public opinions polls to be conducted and reconducted and reconducted until we're absolutely sure that maybe we won't annoy one swing voter in one county in Okahoma who might consider voting Democrat this year if we make sure not to stand up for our party platform when it comes to those silly little issues like civil rights and reproductive rights, which only affect the strongest Democrat supporters, not the "much needed" swing voters!