this guy is becoming comical....
In S.F., Dean calls GOP 'a white Christian party'
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Tuesday, June 7, 2005
Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, unapologetic in the face of recent criticism that he has been too tough on his political opposition, said in San Francisco this week that Republicans are "a pretty monolithic party. They all behave the same. They all look the same. It's pretty much a white Christian party."
"The Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people," Dean said Monday, responding to a question about diversity during a forum with minority leaders and journalists. "We're more welcoming to different folks, because that's the type of people we are. But that's not enough. We do have to deliver on things: jobs and housing and business opportunities."
The comments are another example of why the former Vermont governor, who remains popular with the party's grassroots, has been a lightning rod for criticism since being elected to head the Democratic National Committee last February. His comments last week that Republicans "never made an honest living in their lives," which he later clarified to say Republican "leaders," were disavowed by leading Democrats including Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Dean was outspoken -- as usual -- as he trolled California this week, stoking his party's coffers, and meeting with grass-roots activists. His San Francisco visit was at the tail end of a cross-country road trip, and Dean said that he will continue to pound the pavement -- and the GOP -- to get the Democratic message across to new voters, particularly in minority communities.
But Dean's style and rhetoric have sparked increasing criticism from inside the Democratic Party in recent weeks -- and gleeful Republicans say they couldn't be happier.
"Where do I sign up on a committee to keep Howard Dean?" crowed GOP operative Jon Fleischmann, publisher of the FlashReport, a daily roundup of California political news and commentary. "He's the best thing to happen to the GOP in ages."
"I'm thrilled he's the DNC chair," says Tom Del Becarro, chairman of the Contra Costa County Republican Party. "Howard Dean is scaring away the middle. People don't like angry people. They like hopeful people.''
But Simi Valley Councilman Glenn Becerra, a staffer with former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson and a Bush appointee to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars, said Tuesday he was far from amused by Dean's suggestion that Republicans constitute "a white Christian party," and called the Democratic Party chairman "an embarrassment."
"I'm living proof that the (GOP) isn't what Howard Dean is trying to describe,'' Becerra said during a telephone interview. "It's a sad day when Democrats don't have any ideas to put forward, and they have to resort to race politics. President Bush didn't get 40 percent of the Hispanic vote (in 2004) because we're a monolithic, white Christian party."
Dean, speaking in a roundtable discussion Monday, downplayed the controversy over his rhetoric.
"This is one of those flaps that comes up once in awhile when I get tough," Dean said. "We have to be rough on the Republicans. Republicans don't represent ordinary Americans and they don't have any understanding of what it is to go out and try and make ends meet."
Dean said that he had been addressing the matter of Americans standing in long lines to vote.
"What I said was the Republican leadership didn't seem to care much about working people," he said. "That's essentially the gist of the quote."
Still, the words brought sharp rebukes from fellow Democrats such as Biden, who Sunday said Dean "doesn't speak for me ... and I don't think he speaks for the majority of Democrats."
Other Democrats, including Richardson, said such comments hurt Dean's effort to increase Democratic registration, contributions and votes in red states dominated by Republicans.
But Alicia Wang, a DNC member and vice-chair of the California Democratic Party, said that "if there are any criticisms, it comes out of love. It's like family."
Grassroots Democrats "love him," she said of Dean, whose roller-coaster presidential bid drew thousands of new voters and donors to the party before his defeat during the primaries. "People again and again, say, we need him to speak up ... and sound like a Democrat."
But Dean's performance -- and his problems -- have become a concern to deep pocketed donors in California, particularly Silicon Valley, which is the No. 3 ATM for political fund-raising in the country, behind New York and Los Angeles, said Wade Randlett, a key party fund-raiser in the high tech center.
"He's got himself in trouble with social commentary, and that's not what the DNC chair does," Randlett said.
"For small donors, hearing 'George Bush is bad' is enough," Randlett said. "What I'm hearing very clearly from big donors is: tell me how we'll win."
Randlett said Dean has been criticized for not quickly improving the pace of fund-raising for the party with a recent Business Week story suggesting that he has been far outpaced by Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman.
According to the story, the DNC has raised less than half of the $42.6 million raised by the RNC in the first four months of the year.
Dean, whose schedule in San Francisco Monday included the roundtable, a visit to a gay and lesbian house party, and a fund-raiser, called the report "total hooey."
"It's silliness and gossip. We're raising twice as much money as we did in 2003," Dean said. "We're raising a million dollars a week. We're doing fine."
But Republicans note Mehlman wrapped up this third trip as chairman to California last week, and trumpeted an aggressive schedule in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Jose and Sacramento that included hitting Hispanic small business events in Santa Ana, addressing African American voters and women's groups.
"(Ken's) an operative, a tactician," said Fleischman, of FlashReport. "Dean is a politician."
Randlett said he hopes and expects party leaders will soon "have a sit-down" with Dean over his message "that we're smarter than they are, and we ought to be running the country."
It's an approach that appears "shrill, angry and dismissive of all things Republican," Randlett said.
Garry South, a leading Democratic strategist, said of Dean, "the only thing we can hope is that he understands the difference from being a shadow president to being the head of the party when we're out of office."
His job is to "get the Democratic Party ready for the next election," South said. But "if he views himself as the public face of the Democratic Party, then we have a problem."
Dean says the criticism doesn't bother him.
"I'm used to it. Look, this is a tough job. But it's not as tough as running for president."
In His Own Words
Here are some Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean's comments while speaking this week with minority community leaders and journalists at a roundtable in San Francisco:
On Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Gov. Schwarzenegger has been a big disappointment to a lot of Californians ... Americans are tired of politicians that break their promise, especially in an area like education ... so I think there's going to be a lot of questions about whether the governor really cares about average Californians."
On Schwarzenegger's endorsement of the Minutemen: "This is why I don't agree that there's no difference between Republicans and Democrat ... you would never have heard a Democrats talk like that ... I think the Republicans are always like this. I remember (former Republican Gov.) Pete Wilson ... got elected by victimizing immigrants. Republicans always divide people."
On illegal immigration: "(Democrats) understand we have a border problem. But we think that if you enforce the laws you already have, the people who are already here ... they haven't broken any laws, they paid their taxes, a lot of them are paying into the Social Security system and getting nothing. Those people ought to be on a reasonable track toward citizenship."
On past promises by Democratic officials to minority communities: "It does make a difference that we now have senior management that is African American (and minority) ... which means we're not going to have the white boys' club make all the decision anymore. Everybody's going to be included."
On San Francisco politics: "It's always a pleasure to come to San Francisco because I don't look so liberal when I come to San Francisco."
On the Democrats' strategy for the 2008: "We're trying to resurrect this party. We're going to be in every state. You're not going to see any 18-state strategies. We're going to be in places like Mississippi and Kansas and Idaho. We're going to be in the Republican counties of California from now on; we're not going to try to win by getting San Francisco and Oakland and Berkeley ... we're not going to sit around anymore. We are going to fight back. We haven't been fighting back."
In S.F., Dean calls GOP 'a white Christian party'
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Tuesday, June 7, 2005
Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, unapologetic in the face of recent criticism that he has been too tough on his political opposition, said in San Francisco this week that Republicans are "a pretty monolithic party. They all behave the same. They all look the same. It's pretty much a white Christian party."
"The Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people," Dean said Monday, responding to a question about diversity during a forum with minority leaders and journalists. "We're more welcoming to different folks, because that's the type of people we are. But that's not enough. We do have to deliver on things: jobs and housing and business opportunities."
The comments are another example of why the former Vermont governor, who remains popular with the party's grassroots, has been a lightning rod for criticism since being elected to head the Democratic National Committee last February. His comments last week that Republicans "never made an honest living in their lives," which he later clarified to say Republican "leaders," were disavowed by leading Democrats including Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Dean was outspoken -- as usual -- as he trolled California this week, stoking his party's coffers, and meeting with grass-roots activists. His San Francisco visit was at the tail end of a cross-country road trip, and Dean said that he will continue to pound the pavement -- and the GOP -- to get the Democratic message across to new voters, particularly in minority communities.
But Dean's style and rhetoric have sparked increasing criticism from inside the Democratic Party in recent weeks -- and gleeful Republicans say they couldn't be happier.
"Where do I sign up on a committee to keep Howard Dean?" crowed GOP operative Jon Fleischmann, publisher of the FlashReport, a daily roundup of California political news and commentary. "He's the best thing to happen to the GOP in ages."
"I'm thrilled he's the DNC chair," says Tom Del Becarro, chairman of the Contra Costa County Republican Party. "Howard Dean is scaring away the middle. People don't like angry people. They like hopeful people.''
But Simi Valley Councilman Glenn Becerra, a staffer with former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson and a Bush appointee to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars, said Tuesday he was far from amused by Dean's suggestion that Republicans constitute "a white Christian party," and called the Democratic Party chairman "an embarrassment."
"I'm living proof that the (GOP) isn't what Howard Dean is trying to describe,'' Becerra said during a telephone interview. "It's a sad day when Democrats don't have any ideas to put forward, and they have to resort to race politics. President Bush didn't get 40 percent of the Hispanic vote (in 2004) because we're a monolithic, white Christian party."
Dean, speaking in a roundtable discussion Monday, downplayed the controversy over his rhetoric.
"This is one of those flaps that comes up once in awhile when I get tough," Dean said. "We have to be rough on the Republicans. Republicans don't represent ordinary Americans and they don't have any understanding of what it is to go out and try and make ends meet."
Dean said that he had been addressing the matter of Americans standing in long lines to vote.
"What I said was the Republican leadership didn't seem to care much about working people," he said. "That's essentially the gist of the quote."
Still, the words brought sharp rebukes from fellow Democrats such as Biden, who Sunday said Dean "doesn't speak for me ... and I don't think he speaks for the majority of Democrats."
Other Democrats, including Richardson, said such comments hurt Dean's effort to increase Democratic registration, contributions and votes in red states dominated by Republicans.
But Alicia Wang, a DNC member and vice-chair of the California Democratic Party, said that "if there are any criticisms, it comes out of love. It's like family."
Grassroots Democrats "love him," she said of Dean, whose roller-coaster presidential bid drew thousands of new voters and donors to the party before his defeat during the primaries. "People again and again, say, we need him to speak up ... and sound like a Democrat."
But Dean's performance -- and his problems -- have become a concern to deep pocketed donors in California, particularly Silicon Valley, which is the No. 3 ATM for political fund-raising in the country, behind New York and Los Angeles, said Wade Randlett, a key party fund-raiser in the high tech center.
"He's got himself in trouble with social commentary, and that's not what the DNC chair does," Randlett said.
"For small donors, hearing 'George Bush is bad' is enough," Randlett said. "What I'm hearing very clearly from big donors is: tell me how we'll win."
Randlett said Dean has been criticized for not quickly improving the pace of fund-raising for the party with a recent Business Week story suggesting that he has been far outpaced by Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman.
According to the story, the DNC has raised less than half of the $42.6 million raised by the RNC in the first four months of the year.
Dean, whose schedule in San Francisco Monday included the roundtable, a visit to a gay and lesbian house party, and a fund-raiser, called the report "total hooey."
"It's silliness and gossip. We're raising twice as much money as we did in 2003," Dean said. "We're raising a million dollars a week. We're doing fine."
But Republicans note Mehlman wrapped up this third trip as chairman to California last week, and trumpeted an aggressive schedule in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Jose and Sacramento that included hitting Hispanic small business events in Santa Ana, addressing African American voters and women's groups.
"(Ken's) an operative, a tactician," said Fleischman, of FlashReport. "Dean is a politician."
Randlett said he hopes and expects party leaders will soon "have a sit-down" with Dean over his message "that we're smarter than they are, and we ought to be running the country."
It's an approach that appears "shrill, angry and dismissive of all things Republican," Randlett said.
Garry South, a leading Democratic strategist, said of Dean, "the only thing we can hope is that he understands the difference from being a shadow president to being the head of the party when we're out of office."
His job is to "get the Democratic Party ready for the next election," South said. But "if he views himself as the public face of the Democratic Party, then we have a problem."
Dean says the criticism doesn't bother him.
"I'm used to it. Look, this is a tough job. But it's not as tough as running for president."
In His Own Words
Here are some Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean's comments while speaking this week with minority community leaders and journalists at a roundtable in San Francisco:
On Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Gov. Schwarzenegger has been a big disappointment to a lot of Californians ... Americans are tired of politicians that break their promise, especially in an area like education ... so I think there's going to be a lot of questions about whether the governor really cares about average Californians."
On Schwarzenegger's endorsement of the Minutemen: "This is why I don't agree that there's no difference between Republicans and Democrat ... you would never have heard a Democrats talk like that ... I think the Republicans are always like this. I remember (former Republican Gov.) Pete Wilson ... got elected by victimizing immigrants. Republicans always divide people."
On illegal immigration: "(Democrats) understand we have a border problem. But we think that if you enforce the laws you already have, the people who are already here ... they haven't broken any laws, they paid their taxes, a lot of them are paying into the Social Security system and getting nothing. Those people ought to be on a reasonable track toward citizenship."
On past promises by Democratic officials to minority communities: "It does make a difference that we now have senior management that is African American (and minority) ... which means we're not going to have the white boys' club make all the decision anymore. Everybody's going to be included."
On San Francisco politics: "It's always a pleasure to come to San Francisco because I don't look so liberal when I come to San Francisco."
On the Democrats' strategy for the 2008: "We're trying to resurrect this party. We're going to be in every state. You're not going to see any 18-state strategies. We're going to be in places like Mississippi and Kansas and Idaho. We're going to be in the Republican counties of California from now on; we're not going to try to win by getting San Francisco and Oakland and Berkeley ... we're not going to sit around anymore. We are going to fight back. We haven't been fighting back."
