My Dinner With Howard (Dean)

The Curmudgeon had dinner with Howard Dean last night. (Ok, there were like 40 other people as well, but we were sitting close, we did shake his hand and we did ask a question.)

The Curmudgeon liked what Howard (now that we're on a first name basis) had to say and where he's taking the DNC.

A few highlights: the DNC is (finally) constructing a voter database. For years, Dems have left this task up to individual candidates, letting vast amounts of valuable data and information go to waste when the candidates' campaigns were over. Now, DNC will put together the info and share it for free with individual candidates--all they have to do is give back updated info. Now that's what a national party ought to do.

Dean and other party leaders are working on a list of Democratic "values". This is much needed.
Sample: Dems believe in a balanced budget.

Talk about coming full circle! For years in the 70's the GOP was the party of fiscal responsibility, decrying deficits and even supporting a "balanced budget amendment." Then along came Reagan and Bush I. Reagan tried to blame Congress, even though he never even made the pretense of submitting a balanced budget. Under Bush I, deficits ballooned and the red staters stopped talking about the issue.

Then Clinton managed to produce not only a balanced budget, but a series of decent surpluses, only to have Bush II and his congressional allies squander it on tax cuts tilted to the rich, combined with a Republican spending spree. Call 'em Credit Card Republicans.

Fiscal responsibility is a good issue for Democrats. Yes, it takes some discipline, but Bill Clinton was able to achieve it.

There are a few other core values to come, but the Curmudgeon doesn't want to spoil the suspense!

Dean also wisely avoids talk of "programs." No one outside Washington has any interest in new (or expanded) federal "programs." What we really need is to make existing programs work better. (Again, many executive branch inititatives under Clinton did just that.)

Dean notes that independents and "Reagan Democrats" really don't want anything from the government (other than good, honest government, duh). This group of voters, however, knows they've gotten a raw deal from Bush--while the richest 20% of the country has done well, most of the middle class has seen an erosion of the value of their paychecks, and they know it. (Hence the reason for W's low ratings despite a supposedly booming economy.)

In Howard's view, what Rove has been so good at is tapping the anger of these disaffected voters. That is certainly true. And now they're getting angry at Bush and the Republicans in Congress.

Howard also noted that in congressional elections foreign policy--except Iraq--is practically a non-issue. True again.

And just what did the Curmudgeon ask Howard about? Why, the Virginia Senate race. Howard, of course, avoided endorsing either Jim Webb or Harris Miller in the Democratic primary (the Curmudgeon has strongly endorsed Webb), instead concentrating on George Allen and his vulnerability. (Howard noted a recent speech of Allen's in Utah where he said he was tired of serving in the Senate.)

We look forward to more from Governor Dean.