Dean is a leader, not a leftist (articulate,integrity, humor bring voters)

http://www.zogby.com/Soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?ID=6266

Dean is a leader, not a leftist

A number of American conservatives seem to have gotten it into their heads that the Democratic Party's presidential candidates are too left-wing to win in 2004. <snip>

Americans don't like fiscal irresponsibility, government waste or aggressive interventionism. They do like tax cuts, federal health care programs and spreading democracy. Notice that these are the same issues, phrased differently.

The current president does not share the values of most Americans. But they don't care. They like his personality, they like what he says. And most importantly, he comes across as a leader.And that is what is going to make or break the Democratic presidential candidate. The candidate has to project a strong persona and a sense of vision — in short, he has to be a leader.
<snip>

"Since when did it become extreme and elitist to balance the budget, extend health care coverage, offer equal educational opportunity and protect our environment?" Jeffords remarked. "I have heard such charges coming from Republicans most of my political life, but I find it incredible to hear such charges coming from Democrats." Or, as the other Vermont senator, Patrick Leahy, put it: "He inherited a deficit, balanced the budget, pinched pennies, provided health care to all Vermont's children, protected the environment and created jobs. That is a record of accomplishment, achieved with the broad support of Republicans and Democrats in Vermont." <snip>

(11/13/2003)
- By Craig Stern, The Daily Trojan

"More centrist candidates like Dick Gephardt and John Kerry would not be following on Dean's coattails if Dean weren't doing so remarkably well to begin with. And Dean would not be doing so remarkably well if he hadn't brought an oddly infectious personal conviction to his campaign.

This is a function of his personality, not his stances on the issues. His outspoken opposition to the Iraq war got him the attention of the media, it is true, but it is his personality that has gained him such a loyal following. He is articulate, he has a sense of humor and he radiates integrity. Voters respond to that."

:-)

Dean is more centrist than Kerry.

What an interesting article, thanks.

Just got back from dinner with him & Mom. He actually believes Dean can beat Bush -- more than I do, and I'm a registered Democrat (he's registered Repub but is pretty sick of both parties).

He said Dean's style reminded him of John McCain - for what that's worth. I don't think my Dad has bought into any of the "Dean is a radical leftist" media tripe at all -- now my dad's no fool, but I thought he might have picked that up since he (dad) is a fairly mainstream media consumer.

So he likes Dean and thinks he should run with Clark as VP. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

:)

Also had lunch with a Repub yesterday, who is fairly tuned in but also thinks Bush is getting a raw deal with the media reporting only negatives about Iraq. He also sees Dean has having the appeal to bring in a broad range of voters, including Repubs tired of Bush.

in these two points.
.
"This does not mean that Democrats are going to become unelectable. Americans are not so consistently ideological as the pundits would have you believe. More important than a candidate's stance on the issues is how he frames the debate and how his personality appeals to voters.


The current president does not share the values of most Americans. But they don't care. They like his personality, they like what he says. And most importantly, he comes across as a leader"

Bush "won" the debates because of his personality, not because of his facts. Gore had the facts, but lost.
Why?
I think it has a lot to do with the quoted ideas.

"centrist" democrats. They are not centrist, necessarily; they are merely D.C. insiders.

What makes them centrists--the fact that they voted for this disaster in Iraq? I don't call that centrist. I call that radical.

The current president does not share the values of most Americans. But they don't care. They like his personality, they like what he says. And most importantly, he comes across as a leader. And that is what is going to make or break the Democratic presidential candidate.

Bush is a leader in the mold of Captain Smith and Ismay, the White Star line president.

:dem:

Great. Glad to see we're willing to sell out the core values of our party just so we can get yet another candidate who doesn't support our core beliefs.

If you want to make our party even more irrelevent than it's currently perceived, go right ahead. If you want REAL CHANGE, a REAL alternative to the road this country's been headed down since the 80s, then the choice is clear.

I thought every intelligent person knew that.