Dean supporters......help soothe my main reservation please

I am an undecided who is convinced that Kerry or Dean are our only choices. I'm overly enthused about neither of them. I think both men have great potential, and I think both men are deeply flawed in both their policies and approaches. But since my main goal is getting a dem elected in '04 then electability is my main criteria.

Even though I have several issues with Kerry (Iraq vote, tendency to talk too much and too long, etc.), his electability isn't necessarily one of them since I think his combat experience would be an invaluable asset. And if he were to pick Clark as his running mate I think they would be unstoppable.

Now my main reservation about Dean isn't his inherent electability. I think his social progressiveness combined with his fiscally conservative policies will appeal to a great number of people. My question and reservation is this:What is his and his campaign staff's plan for counterbalancing the inevitable spin that he is "too liberal" that will come from Roveco and their media? No matter what the actual positions are, he is going to be spun as an out there, vermont socialist liberal. And while his supporters ability here on DU or Moveon or TBTM or MWO amongst reasonably receptive Dem's to address misrepresenting articles or statements or quotes is very easy and also very helpful, it's just not realistic to expect that this level of counterbalance will be possible in the "real world". So while here on DU if someone posts an anti-Dean article it's great that you have 25 or more people who will respond to counteract the spin of that article. But what is the proposed solution to when the Washington Post or the NY Times or MSNBC or CBS Nightly News report something that is completely misrepresentative of Dean's stances and positions and that reaches not the tens of thousands of DU'rs but millions of people watching or reading those articles/news segments? To write letters? How do you guarantee those letters will be printed, read, or even anything done about them?

Now I know this is going to be a factor no matter WHO gets the nomination? But I worry most about it with Dean because whereas other candidates are getting tagged with things such as being boring or long winded or having funny voices or being no different than Bush, the fact is that a large chunk of change of people in this country (even many Dems) regard being "too liberal" as a very bad thing. So what is the realistic plan for counteracting that if Dean is the nominee? It is my main reservation about him and one that I can't seem to get past or get a straight answer from supporters on.

I hope this won't be a nasty flame fest, or to have to hear for the umpteenth time how he "speaks the truth" or how he appeals to people. All those things are well and good. But put up against the RNC media machine rather than just some democratic internet message boards like DU and Move on or Bartcop or Liberal Oasis, who is team Dean going to realistically counter the inevitable spin? I've had my reservations about may of his positions answered and soothed with very concrete and reasonable and fact based answers that have helped me along the way in this process. But whenever I've seen this question more or less asked, all I've seen is platitudes. Can anyone help me get over this reservation please?

P.S. why do I think I'm going to regret starting this thread?

The media have lately been trumpeting how moderate he is. I saw one article called "Fire-Breathing Moderate." It was all about him, and it was in a major news source.

He can point-out the budget-balancing, the NRA grade, the fact that he peeved the VT liberals so much that they ran a candidate against him (and many other instances where he angered them), and he's pro-death penalty. The gun issue alone is probably going to make him competative in at least WV/MO/TN/AR/NH, and it'll help greatly in holding onto industrial midwest states that Gore carried. And a recent poll shows that Americans are willing to give-up their tax cuts for healthcare - about 2/3 of those surveyed.

Hope that helps a bit. Cheers!

That's based on the concept of the dem candidate getting equal time to * to explain his positions. But considering that there are 3 networks, 4-5 cable news channels and god knows how many newspapers, I just think its going to take much more counterspin than any one candidate can muster. I know what his positions are, and I know that he is a moderate. But that's only after spending so much time on these messageboards. Most people aren't political news junkies.

The media are treating him pretty well. Articles surfacing everywhere telling of his moderation.

One thing I think he'll need is a very kick-ass nomination speech.
The other thing I'm trying to get out to the campaign: two infomercials.

Bush's nomination bounce is after ours, putting us at a disadvantage. One infomercial during the week after Bush's nomination (to dampen the bounce), and one on November 1 - to influence the 7 to 10% who are still undecided. They worked for Perot, they gave him plenty of time to clearly describe his positions, and the pundits weren't on instructing voters on how to feel - it was up to the voters themselves.

With Soros funding GOTV, we can move some money from GOTV operations to these infomercials. I hope they give this a serious thought if the nomination really is his.

love to follow the 'winner', its like a -see we told you he was the one-kinda thing. they did a similar thing with Clinton.
they prefer the easy route than actually doing their jobs REPORTING on issues and boring stuff like that. this is nothing but a horse race to them.

tedoll78 - where is this recent poll? I work in government relations at a liberal healthcare advocacy group and would love to have that statistic to use in our debating - 2/3 would rather have healthcare than tax cuts - wow!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

I'd seen it somewhere in General Discussion a few days ago. Let me do some hunting for it.

Here's the link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=149150&mesg_id=149150

Welcome to DU! Cheers!

My impression from the Dean team is that they are a lot like Clinton's "war room" during the '92 election, i.e., they have a rapid response team ready to not only defend but to go on the offense.

Also, a strength of Dean, in my opinion, is that he has done an incredible job getting his message out to the public in spite of the mainstream media (which have either been dismissive of him or negative, until recently).

I share your concern about the effectiveness of whatever candidate we have in battling the Rove Smear Machine. I think the Dean people have demonstrated a tightly organized ability to not allow the "liberal media" or Bush define them; they are defining themselves and getting grudging responsiveness from the media.

Just my opinion. I hope whomever gets the nomination will fight like hell against the Bush junta and its propaganda apparatus.

I think you are correct.

And no one seems to have a plan. Clinton relied on the "goodness" of the vast majority in the media - and a "war room" to get the truth out -and look at what that got him.

The fact that viewership is down again may make them decide to make the choice they have been avoiding - either Honest News or Fox Like niche entertainment news.

They have been on an entertainment slide for years as bottom line profits has been the mantra of the MBA enhanced legacy hires of friends tried to add value.

CBS is making a stab toeard more honesty - and ABC has adopted a more balanced tone (indeed Howie Kurtz calls it a left leaning network!! :-) )

Jack Welch whoring for the GOP via GE's control of NBC has not ended despite Jacks leaving.

Go to the next Dean Meetup or other Dean event (if you can get one where he is in attendance and speaks do it!) in your area and just talk to other people there. When you speak one on one with his suppoorters, you can SEE how revved up theyare about his candidacy. Once you feel that energy you will understand.

Honestly I don't intend to be mean. But "feeling the energy" of a group of already receptive supporters does not really answer my question as to how he will counteract the RNC media spin about being too liberal. Really, I'm sure if I went to the College Republican convention a few weeks back I'd feel a ton of energy as well. Or a meeting of Leiberman supporters. I have no doubt that his supporters have a ton of energy and commitment. But to my knowledge none of them own tv stations, radio stations or newspapers.

even as we post.

And when Dean gets media mistreatment, they get on their phones, their e-mail and thir word processors and let the media know about it.

That's one of the reasons for the relatively good treatment from the media.

I really do. But I'm afraid that this nice treatment stops the minute he starts running against bushco and all the currently fair treatment will dry up and we will be left standing their with our you know whats flapping in the wind while they represent our candidate however they want and we end up powerless to stop them.

Sorry if I'm feeling rather cynical today.

Shrubco is going to slam whoever runs against him. It won't matter if it is fair or not, just look at Al Gore. The one with the best chance of winning is the one who is best prepared to fight. In your objective and honest opinion, who is most prepared to fight right now?

undecided. They just wanted to come to get some more info about one of the candidates they were interested in.

It seems like a good way to learn even if you haven't decided on any one candidate!

this reputation is being challenged and eroded.

Doesn't any Democrat have the same problem? Although Kerry voted to go to war and struts his military prowess, isn't he liable to be branded "liberal" and isn't part of his strategy a deliberate manuever to avoid that image?

will the "too liberal" label stick to him.

Julie

But they already are starting to do this with Dean so I imagine it will be more of a problem for him.

And yes, Kerry will have the problem but like I said his military experience and foreign policy experience will at least negate the L word on that important issue (National Security).

Graham will be spun as a Florida socialist liberal, etc., Even Clark will be spun as a socialist liberal. That's the playbook. It doesn't matter whether or not it is true -- Republicans think they have enough money to carry it out.

In other words, picking a candidate based on how republicans will spin him/her is foolhardy. We have to be prepared for vicious, lying, negative spin no matter who we nominate.

That's one of the reasons I support Dean. Because I think he, with his unique ability to attract grassroots volunteers, is in the best position to fight.

Obviously, we need to raise as much money as possible (and Dean has proven that he can raise money), but we won't be able to complete with republicans on money alone. Not even if Kerry uses his wife's money (which he said he doesn't think he can do).

Fortunately, knocking on door and talking to people is more effective for Democratic candidates than TV, anyway. But, Dean is the only nominee we have that has shown he can run a truly national grassroots campaign. The now over 70,000 meetup volunteers will be hundreds of thousands by the time the nominee is chosen. There are volunteer coordinators in almost every city there's a meetup, volunteers will print their own flyers, etc.

Very cheap, very effective, revolutionary and uniquely Dean (in this campaign, not in the future).