This past weekend, I caught the debate on C-Span’s program “On American Perspectives” between former Presidential candidate and new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean, and former member of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board, Richard Perle.
Richard Perle, a good friend of Donald Rumsfeld, “has been called the ‘high priest’ or the godfather of neo-conservatives”.
In other words, Governor/Chairman/Dr. (no one on the panel could seem to agree on a single honorific) Dean went mano-a-mano with a key member of the Dark Side’s own inner circle.
And did well.
Howard Dean has the right stuff for debates like this: street-smart, fast, great command of the facts, witty when appropriate and combative when appropriate. He makes the deposed Terry McAuliffe look like the amateur that he was.
As the Republicans have made Reagan part of their permanent iconography, in recent days. the Dems seem to have latched on to JFK, ignoring Johnson, Carter and Clinton.
That’s a smart move, and I hope it resonates with the public, even though many are too young to have a personal recollection of November 1963.
C-Span followed this program with a recap of the keynotes at the Conservative Political Action Conference, which included Karl Rove, Senior Political Advisor to President George W. Bush and his introduction by Wayne LaPierre, president of the National Rifle Association.
After watching both, I think Dr. Dean has the “stuff” to take on this dorky bunch. The “Conservative’s” 40 year old pitch – guns at home, guns overseas, borrow-and-spend fiscal policies, “family values” exclusivity – is starting to SOUND tired, in contrast to Dean’s energy and commitment.
I think Rove & company have run out of ideas. They’ve emptied their barrels in the latest quail shoot. Their rehashes sound like electionin’ and not governance. Dean’s point that decisions made today have long-term consequences rings true to those of us, for example, who are counting the days until Social Security eligibility kicks in.
The Dems have been looking for a super star for a while, and maybe they’ve finally gotten their heads out of their butts long enough to latch on to one.
Given the inevitability of John McCain’s nomination as the 2007 Republican candidate for President, the midterms next year may be the best opportunity the Dems will have in the next 10 years to grab control of the Federal government.
That is, if the public is sufficiently bored and/or disenchanted with the cacophonous rehash from the Republican camp, and if someone figures out a way to force accurate counting of votes.