DISQUS

hunkerdown · 10 months ago

Is this out of character for someone new to power???
Or just a reflection of a great deal of lack of administrative experience?

Bubbles · 10 months ago

None of this "slighting" seemed to have taken place before Ralph Emanual joined the team.

As I understand it, this is 'in character' with him. Just saying.

Bubbles · 10 months ago

By the way - wasn't Emanaul DLC, and wasn't that group at odds with Dean over the 50 state strategy?

Jacob · 10 months ago

"But Democrats with knowledge of the situation"...

Why don't you wait for folks behind this thinly sourced AP piece to identify themselves instead of yakking off, John? Your blog is becoming insufferable.

KarenMrsLloydRichards · 10 months ago

The vicious contempt Rahm Emanuel has for Howard Dean is well-known.

teresaInPa · 10 months ago

but but but, Dean is the original 50 state strategy guy and Obama was the 50 state strategy candidate....
How can this be?

KarenMrsLloydRichards · 10 months ago

OK, that's it, fuckers! Anybody who gets on the fightin' side of my beloved Dr. Dean, gets on the fightin' side of me!

Yo, Rahm, let's take it outside!

catdance · 10 months ago

Can I get a piece of that?

grandma · 10 months ago

Something's rotten in Denmark.....

catdance · 10 months ago

And it stinks like Rahm Emanuel.

lynn47 · 10 months ago

My pocketbook is getting further away from Obama as the days go by!!!

catdance · 10 months ago

Mine's closed to him.
He didn't even make it to the inauguration before he proved he's the love child of Holy Joe Lieberman and Cutthroat Rahm Emanuel.

eclare · 10 months ago

This is just bizarre. What the hell is going on inside this administration?

ezpz · 10 months ago

This is wrong - if true. VERY wrong!

But let's consider the source. AP has had some *flawed* reporting when it comes to Obama and Democrats.

FWIW: both Obama and Kaine praised Howard Dean effusively.
Still, Dean's absence spoke louder than the praises.

jerryCA · 10 months ago

My partner was very leery of Obama and refused to vote for him during election saying he doesn't trust him at all and had a feeling he's a closeted Republican like this character, DINO DiFi. Instead he wrote in John Edwards' name.

Blueflash · 10 months ago

Unfortunately, it may be that you've got yourself a very perceptive partner. I hope not.

Orly? · 10 months ago

Are his policies DINO? >

Apphouse50 · 10 months ago

Wrote in John Edwards' name. Was that supposed to be evidence of good judgment?

Joel · 10 months ago

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

DAinLA · 10 months ago

This is starting to sound much more like a Carter Administration. Lots of infighting....

ezpz · 10 months ago

Isn't Liz Sidoti the donuts with sprinkles for McCain lady?
She's the one who wrote the article John links to.

I'm just saying....

lucky hussein · 10 months ago

personally, I believe nothing from 'sprinkles' Sidoti... thanks.

ezpz · 10 months ago

YW - I saw the the news conference and both Obama and Kaine gave much praise to Dean. EFFUSIVE praise.
They both acknowledged his great work and successful 50 state strategy. Kaine said he had very large shoes to fill.

catdance · 10 months ago

Actions speak louder than words. My Gram told me, and she was never wrong in matters of good behavior and manners.

ezpz · 10 months ago

Yes, and I'm not defending anyone.
Dean SHOULD have been there to pass the torch. No question about it and I do hold Obama responsible for that. He should have made SURE that Dean was there.

It's just that Liz Sidoti did not suddenly become an unbiased 'journalist'. In fact, neither she nor her counterpart Ron Fournier are journalists at all, imo.

FredJ · 10 months ago

It is possible that this was a Dean snub of Obama ... it is no less likely than the current conspiracy theory.

catdance · 10 months ago

I'm not particularly believing the Sidoti story. But, as someone else pointed out, Dean wouldn't have turned down an invitation from Obama. If he'd been asked, he'd most likely have been there.

FredJ says this is possibly a Dean snub of Obama -- but he fails to give any reason why Dean would snub Obama. It is WAY less likely than the theory that Dean was snubbed by Obama -- because we KNOW that the scumbag Emanuel hates Dean with a white hot passion.

Jim · 10 months ago

Obama and Kaine highly praised Dean's contributions. Contrary to those facts, you chose to believe Liz Sidoti at AP who has a record of getting it wrong (especially as far as the dems are concerned)? The tone of this article and the previous one on Burris suggests that John is so mad about the Warren thing that his judgment has become clouded. This blog is starting to feel like Fox-light.

Joel · 10 months ago

As long as you've brought up Warren. Here's more reasons to dislike Warren.
Max Blumenthal, writing at The Daily Beast, has taken a look at what Rick Warren's man in Uganda, Martin Ssempa, has been up to. Max finds an inflential theocratic activist who burns condoms in Jesus name, and publishes the names of gay rights activists who he claims wants to recruit children -- while campaigning for criminal penalties. All this and much, much more.

The short of it is that the Rick Warren product, manufactured in part by the Religious Industrial Complex, has been found to be defective.
-----
I would say that what he found is both shocking and surprising -- except that it isn't. But since the Religious Industrial Complex, joined at the hip with the incoming Obama administration, has never been wrong, we are unlikely to hear even an acknowledgement that the Rick Warren product does not come as advertised.


http://www.talk2action.org/story/2009/1/8/13285...

KarenMrsLloydRichards · 10 months ago

Google: Emmanuel Kolini "moral genocide".

That's the kind of African religious leader Warren loves.

KarenMrsLloydRichards · 10 months ago

Erm, other progressive blogs have also noted the Dean snub. Robert Gibbs is another bitter opponent of Dean's. The Obama inner circle despises and resents Dean; it's not a secret.

teresaInPa · 10 months ago

yeah they praised him right before they kicked him to the curb. When was the last time you even saw Dean speak for the party? He has been shoved in a closet for two years.

Nicky · 10 months ago

I hate to say it ... but you have proven by your last series of posts to have a VERY bad case of Obama Derangement Syndrome.

I am fairly new to this blog, so I do not know your history with the Obama Campaign, etc. ... but I do know Derangement Syndrome when I see it. Quite a number of people had Clinton Derangement Syndorme during the primaries ... and it was just as sad and pathetic.

Did you even bother to watch the press conference? Find out what was said/what happened before believing every "tip" you read on HuffPo or in the AP - one notorious for misleading headlines and the other for inaccurate stories? This afternoon no one received more praise for the rise of the DNC than Howard Dean!!!

I will NOT be reviewing this web site anymore. I like insightful, thought-provoking comments ... and not whining.

Jay · 10 months ago

Bye.

Enjoy Free Republic.

mirth · 10 months ago

Ditto

Jim · 10 months ago

Nicky has it right -- pay attention, John.

John Aravosis · 10 months ago

This blog's history is that we were the first major blog to support Obama a year ago. And Huff Post and AP are not notorious for misleading headlines - I think you have them confused with FOX News. Howard Dean should have been there, and he wasn't - something is up, and now we hear that he was told not to attend. The facts are damning, don't blame us for reporting the truth. Obama is screwing up and it's hurting all of us.

KISSman · 10 months ago

Words are meaningless; actions are everything.

It's nice that Obama praised Dean, but if he wasn't welcome there today than none of it means anything.

What you call whining is really just people speaking with a free mind. If you were looking for a blog where everyone speaks in agreement about everything Obama and other Democrats do, you have come to the wrong place. Goodbye.

FunMe · 10 months ago

You have a KEY player who was extremely instrumental in bringing Obama to the presidency, and you snub him?

And Democrats wonder why we lose elections.

Can we say Masochists?

Orly? · 10 months ago

1) Why would the Obama people have a vendetta against Dean?
2) How does Dean feel about not going?

Orly? · 10 months ago

3) Why are "anonymous" sources accorded weight when we damn sure didn't give them weight before?

Nicho · 10 months ago

Nonsense. Without anonymous sources, Nixon would have gotten off scot-free. These sources are sometimes the only way the story gets out.

Orly? · 10 months ago

Sometimes but this isn't something like that now is it? This isn't a credible journalist reporting an important story. It's an AP propagandist stirring up trouble.

chezjulianne · 10 months ago

I emailed the Obama site to squawk about the treatment of Dean. It is as bad as Rick Warren.
What can we do?
Love this site.

teresaInPa · 10 months ago

wait a second... Donna B has been the boss at the DNC since Obama started running for President. Have you even noticed that Dean was missing in action for two years?

sukabi1 · 10 months ago

Umm, this piece by Sam Stein at HuffPost doesn't exactly mesh with your post...

it may be "happy talk" but says Dean wasn't there because he's traveling... and the AP LOVES to stir up shit that doesn't exist...

John Aravosis · 10 months ago

No it doesn't. Sam's piece says Dean is traveling. AP says Dean was told "don't attend." Why isn't it possible that Dean was told not to attend, so he left town so as not to look like an idiot sitting in his office while Obama was downstairs? And if dean already had plans, you really think Dean told Obama he was busy?

sukabi1 · 10 months ago

Liz fucking Sirdoti is your trusted AP source... really John??? after her GOP propaganda fest during the election you're taking her word for anything??? Thought you had better sense than that.

Steve_in_CNJ · 10 months ago

they both quote Vietor about traveling, and both quote the anonymous source about not being invited. but as you say, it's pretty inconceivable that dean would decline obama's invitation. sounds like a gaffe.

Kathy · 10 months ago

Why don't you get offline, get on the phone and find out, so you're not just publishing unsubstantiated rumor from a known hit-piece writer?

catdance · 10 months ago

I knew Obama wasn't half as liberal/left/Progressive as I wanted a candidate to be. I knew he would do a lot of things I disagreed with, and downright didn't like -- but I supported him and voted for him because I really did feel that he was the President we needed in this country at this time. I figured that, for a while at least after he won, I'd be elated. I really didn't expect the honeymoon to end immediately. First it was the choice of that vicious bastard Rahm Emanuel. Then it was stroking the insufferable prick Lieberman. The completely unacceptable kneeling to the hate merchant Rick Warren. Putting Kaine in as head of the DNC. Sketchy appointments. Kissing ass across the aisle in general. It's beginning to look like we should have elected McPalin; how different would it have been?

This slap to Howard Dean is just icing on the Republican-light cake. It has that fucker Emanuel's bloody little fingerprints all over it. Rahm hates Dean because Dean succeeded where Emanuel failed. It signals that Obama is going to stay true to his DLC roots and worse, give Emanuel free rein.

Who the hell does Obama think made it possible for Democrats to win as big as they did? Does he not have a grateful bone in his body? Or maybe more to the point, just *who* is he grateful to? Obviously not to the people who got him where he is. Obama is spitting on the grassroots that Howard Dean mobilized to put him where he is.

Y'know... ta hell with Obama.

KarenMrsLloydRichards · 10 months ago

Chicago blood (brothers) thicker than Democratic Party water.

FredJ · 10 months ago

"This slap to Howard Dean"

... no an alleged slap whispered to a winger hack of a "reporter" known for biased inaccurate reporting. Oh and the whisperers - anonymous sources who are not even reported to be part of the Obama team themselves.

Cripes - it's just "some say" dressed up a tiny bit.

mtnwoman · 10 months ago

Ditto catdance. Obama can diss Howard all he wants. The historic record will show that Obama won on the shoulders of Howard Dean. He flat out used Dean's populist message and Dean'scampaign template for his own campaign. If it wasn't for Dean's visionary 50 state strategy Obama would still be a senator.

You know, the way the Obama Admin is shaping up -- in a very DLC mold -- we will need Howard on the outside in a year or two to continue to be the Democratic Wing of the DP's advocate. Thank you Howard for your service.

fredndallas · 10 months ago

I'll withhold judgment until we get better sourcing than that McCain donut delivery woman, but I've smelled this coming, hoping like hell I'm wrong.

IF it is true, it hits me as bad as Obama's honoring Bigot Warren and will provide absolute and unmistakable evidence of lack of character in the Ego and Expediency President. (You gotta' admit, there is plenty of characterLESS smoke around BO.)

And speaking of that ...

what in the world is the deal with Obama's treatment of Wesley Clark and why?

Oh and I should not leave unsaid that Dr. Howard Dean is a simply remarkable man -- more sincerely devoted to American progress than most any other person on the national stage. We are so fortunate to have his service. Let's pray that he didn't just pave the way for gigantic regression with election 2008.

KarenMrsLloydRichards · 10 months ago

He could have been the BEST HHS Director or Surgeon General.

But, no.

Clark got radioactive for Obama after being slagged off by Bob Schieffer during the Primaries.

fredndallas · 10 months ago

If that is indeed what put Clark totally and rudely out of the loop -- when he was rightfully DEFENDING Obama. . .

it is plainly obvious what kind of new President we have.

That he is not McCain is hardly enough to make me happy, proud and optimistic. I'm increasingly disgusted and a little ashamed.

ezpz · 10 months ago

Great comment.
Yes, Dr. Dean is one great human being.
It felt really good to vote for him in the 2004 primaries, even though by the time the primaries were held in my state, it was a fait a compli that Kerry would be the nominee.

Still, it felt good to vote my heart.

Older_Wiser · 10 months ago

Until I know who those "Obama's advisers" are, I won't believe a word of this hit piece by old Liz.

KarenMrsLloydRichards · 10 months ago

I'll take a guess: Rahm Emanuel and/or Robert Gibbs.

Older_Wiser · 10 months ago

If true, this won't be the last of the dissing. And I'm tired of these corporate parties as well. Obama should be listening to The People, and if he continues to be deaf, all hell will break loose. I can see a repeat of the 60s already, except on a higher level. We were promised change, not the same old, same old...

Chris From Maine · 10 months ago

Obama to Dean :

"Thanks for getting me nominated, elected and handing me a large majority in both houses. Now go F yourself."

KarenMrsLloydRichards · 10 months ago

Dean: pro-gay.

Kaine: indifferent-to-gay.

Nuff said.

Older_Wiser · 10 months ago

Also, Kaine: Totally corporate whore.

Soundboy_jeff_meanie · 10 months ago

with the economy the way it is... and my current employment seeming to be on a day to day basis... and foreclosure looming...

any advice on how someone becomes a corporate whore? I'm willing.

regular whoring doesn't seem to work... carrying small change gets tiring.

Chris From Maine · 10 months ago

Kaine is also pro-life.. /sigh.

from wikipedia :

Tim Kaine has stated he is personally opposed to abortion[31] but he opposes overturning Roe v. Wade. He supports restrictions on abortion, such as requiring parental consent and banning so-called partial-birth abortions in cases where the woman's health is not at risk.[32] Kaine also opposed an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that would define marriage as that between one man and one woman, though he has publicly stated that he personally opposes same-sex marriage.[33]

nogo postal · 10 months ago

This is snark...right?

An_American_Karol · 10 months ago

i hate to see this. I understand the need to make his own mark in DC, but Obama needs to tread lightly.

Chit · 10 months ago

Good God, man, get a grip. Obama somehow managed to take on the most powerful politcal force in the country (the Clintons) and win. Give him a little credit that he knows what he's doing.

teresaInPa · 10 months ago

the Obama camp managed to get the DNC through Donna B to rig the primaries for the candidate who got less votes. I said at the time that James Baker had nothing on these folks.
When will it kick in that we get what we deserve? The country deserved Bush because they allowed Gore to have the election stolen from him knowing full well that is what happened, and now the democratic party is getting what it deserves because the candidate with more votes was knee capped in favor of the one who had more money to pass out and because people have a bad case of CDS.
Clinton, Hillary that is, has always been to the left of Obama and twice the populist.
Do you get yet that Obama is telling you with his every action who he is and it is not what you bargained for?

FredJ · 10 months ago

This sounds as delusional as the Palin rant today.

The DNC rules for the nomination came mostly from the Clinton camp and were in place for YEARS.

teresaInPa · 10 months ago

ROFL... okay...how about the rule that if you campaigned in FL or MI you would get NO delegates from that state? How about when five states moved their primaries only the two which were sure to go for Clinton were punished.
Please do not waste my time with ignorance of what happened. I had enough of that from republicans in 2000.

timncguy · 10 months ago

I may be wrong, it's happened before, but I believe Donna B had something to do with deciding how the apportionment of delegate rules worked in the primaries. That being the districts who had voted dem in the past elections received MORE delegates than their actual population would give them. And of course the districts who voted most reliably dem in the past were those districts that were majority black.

catdance · 10 months ago

Clinton = DLC. Emanuel = DLC. Lieberman = DLC. Schumer = DLC. Obama = DLC.

Dean wasn't DLC. They fought his candidacy for President, and they fought his run for head of the DNC, because he was an outsider.

mirth · 10 months ago

If true, this is Rahm Emanuel in action.

g'dammit

Bush_Bites · 10 months ago

Should we really believe what Liz Sidoti writes?

We wouldn't have believed her three months ago.

cosanostradamus · 10 months ago

.
Paying lip-service to someone is not the same as paying them. Especially not when their actual payment is getting shuffled off without a position in the "new" Administration" or the "new" Party.

By acknowledging Dean's tremendous contributions to his own victory, and those in Congress in the last TWO elections, Obama would have to admit that he hadn't done it alone. The question is, will he be able to do it alone in the mid-term elections in 2010? Because he will be very, very alone if he keeps pissing off both "The Left," (i.e., those of us who actually voted for him, right from the start), and all the DINO's & Republicans he's beginning to ham-hand, with help from Mr. Diplomat, Rahm Emmanuel, et al.

I expect a rout in the next elections, just like the one Clinton caused.

And in fiction, gunfight at the ohana corral, live from Honolulu.
.

teresaInPa · 10 months ago

Clinton didn't cause a rout in 1994, the rampant corruption in the democratic party did. Clinton was, if you remember, wildly popular during his presidency even when his job approval was not stellar.
But of course CDS is a strange and logic resistant disorder.

cosanostradamus · 10 months ago

.
Yeah, OK, Hillbot!
.

teresaInPa · 10 months ago

brilliant... you should write for SNL.

cosanostradamus · 10 months ago

.
Please do not feed the Clin-trolls.
.

ezpz · 10 months ago

John, I agree completely that Dean should have been there, but again, let's consider the source and the possibility that this is an exaggeration at best?

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/time-to-make...

http://www.americablog.com/2008/06/aps-liz-sido...

http://www.jedreport.com/2008/06/ap-scribe-who-...

http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200812100001

http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/20/hatchet-jobwi...

All of a sudden, Liz/Ron/AP are credible?

teresaInPa · 10 months ago

this is not poorly managed public relations, this is a whole sale takeover of the democratic party by people who are telling you who they are and it ain't pretty. Now do you believe them?
I was a full time and ardent Deaniac... and guess what, I have no idea if he didn't know he was being railroaded during the primaries or if he thought rigging the DNC decisions in favor of Obama was a good idea. Either way, I am having a hard time feeling sorry for the guy who should have stood up for the votes of all democrats and not just AA and the liberal elite.

taylormattd · 10 months ago

Liz Sodit is a known Obama hating, McCain asskisser, who spent the election writing shit about Obama that would make Nedra Pickler blush. Here she is kissing McCain's ass at an AP press event, giving him sprinkled donuts: http://www.jedreport.com/2008/06/ap-scribe-who-...

Contrast that to Obama's appearance where he was likened to a terrorist.

Butch1 · 10 months ago

This is incredible. Dean was instrumental in setting up the grid and starting the grass roots system that helped Obama win the nomination and presidency. What are they thinking? Use someone, then toss them under the bus. This will not last, eventually, there will be no one else on our side of the isle to throw under the bus and you can bet that the republicans will not be Obama's friends when there is no one left. This is painful to watch. Obama is not even in office yet and already, I'm having second thoughts about him keeping his promises.

Dudical · 10 months ago

Even without knowing about reasons to be skeptical of Liz Sodit's reporting after reading some comments, by skepticism meter surged from reading this blurb. In general, whenever sensationalistic "news" is "reported" by citing "anonymous individuals with knowledge of the matter," I am skeptical that the story is not mostly or fully made up.

cjfb · 10 months ago

This just doesn't ring true! What possible reason would the Obama team have for doing this. They are not a vindictive lot. Dean hasn't done anything wrong. if the Obama folk can go easy on Lieberman and welcome him back into the good graces of the party, would could Dean have possibly done to generate this type of rejection?

Joel · 10 months ago

They are not a vindictive lot

Really?

Garrett in SF · 10 months ago

Anyone got any hope left?

lpeggy · 10 months ago

Liz from AP? No credibility, unless you want to talk about donuts. LOL

catdance · 10 months ago

One thing you can do to avenge the rejection of Howard Dean: reject the DNC. Don't contribute one thin dime to those jerks. Donate to candidates directly, or through ActBlue, or other grassroots organizations. Show Rahm and the rest of the self-proclaimed gods that the grassroots is more powerful than them. Dr. Dean taught us that.

KISSman · 10 months ago

I like that plan a lot. I will never support a DNC that doesn't treat Howard Dean with the respect that he deserves. He's the first politician who truly inspired me and he was the showed Democrats the way when it came to criticizing Bush and opposing this stupid war. This is pretty sh*tty treatment towards someone that our party owes a lot to.

falloch · 10 months ago

I know Liz Sodit's a shit, but I'd feel a lot better if Rahm-bo Emanuel was a few thousand miles away from the President Elect...

nogo postal · 10 months ago

Is it that difficult to have a headline such as..
"Sources report Obama tells Dean he is not welcome."
Isn't this the fact?
This headline is stated as a fact...and yet..
Where is the transcript?
Where is the youtube?
Why isn't John attempting to dig a little deeper?
Why hasn't John..with his contacts attempted to contact the Obama folks to confirm or deny? Where is the attempt to contact Howard Dean?

"The fact remains that important, powerful people are feeling slighted - are being slighted - and the list is growing"
Please provide this list..outside of Difi..Rocky..and Arlen I don't know...
but you could provide them.
When it came to Warren this place provided "facts", which strengthened your position. Since then...and it is probably jist me...it appears, from a distance...Facts and/or confirmation are not necessary....

NMRon · 10 months ago

Like many who read news items frequently, AP has become a less than reliable source. I'll wait and see how this chases out as reliable journalists begin to report. That said, I have to agree, petulant revenge from Emanuel is something to be expected. Especially against Democrats (or should I say always against Dems). Defeating BushCo and the Rethugs was not the end of corporate ownership of our government, but only the first step. Those interested in returning freedom to America need to realize the Democratic Party apparatus is an ally in name only. We may have changed the faces in the front office, but that doesn't mean the country's under new management.

captainj1 · 10 months ago

I think you need to dig a little deeper on this one. Between the tax cuts and shunning Dean, I am beginning to get a feeling that Obama's team is not listening to the folks who voted him in.

catdance · 10 months ago

I have the feeling he never did.

Polly_Tics · 10 months ago

This simply does NOT make sense to me. Why on earth would Obama try to slight Dean when they both agreed on the 50 state strategy AND IT WON!

Something here is missing or obscured because I just cannot swallow (errr, sorry about that) that Dean and Obama are somehow rivals...they joined forces during the primary in Chicago, they were together on the 50 state thang plus they seemed to agree on most other issues promoted.

I read this piece from Huffington this morning and it didn't jive with what I have read, heard and seen thus far in the campaign, so I am holding back any opinion until I learn more substantial facts concerning this issue. This smells of BAD and PARTISAN hackery to me and I will put money down (hear that boys?) that this is simply phony clap trap to make trouble for Obama at a sensitive time.

Dean has been a huge boon to the Democratic Party and IF they think they can throw him aside for some odd reasons, then I suspect they will learn a thing or two in the coming elections...

bluebear · 10 months ago

Joe Lieberman is only singing ONE SONG, OK?

ComradeRutherford · 10 months ago

"There is a real problem when Joe Lieberman is treated better than Howard Dean"

As I say here in almost every post, it's because the Democratic Leadership are controlled by, or are are themselves, Republicans. That an open GOP operative Lieberman is accorded more respect is one more proof that Obama is also a GOP operative and not a Democrat.

That Dean is being replaced by GOP operative Kaine is yet another proof that Real Democrats like Dean have no place in the Party anymore. Dean is the reason that Obama got elected. If Emanuel had his way, Obama never would have won.

The Democratic Leadership doesn't *want* to be in the White House. They are already doing every thing they can to subvert the electorate and continue the failed Republican policies designed to destroy the US economy.

BTW, I didn't vote for these fake Democrats, like Obama. I voted for a Real Democrat, who got about 1% of the vote....

pat · 10 months ago

deans' DNC staff did an amazing job with what they had,
we should look at starting a Dem 2100 caucus which can be headed by howard dean

Amanda · 10 months ago

do we completely trust the AP, which has reported all kinds of drivel aimed at doing the Republicans' strategic dirty work? not that i don't believe that the AP report might be correct completely or in part -- but they've got a pretty lengthy record of being a GOP public relations agency.

when i read something like this, i wonder: "Who benefits" by these UNNAMED Democrats being quoted in this article getting this spin out there and pissing off the netroots against Obama? Sure there are some Dems who hate Dean and want to see him undermined. But the Republicans benefit more by the divisions within the Dem party being enflamed and the netroots becoming alienated from Obama. I'm guessing we're going to see a lot of this kind of strategy. After all, the Republicans have basically zero in the ideas department. Their goal is ro obstruct and tear down. So enflaming the division between the netroots and the Dem leadership/Obama Admin must be high on their to do list, I would guess.

just a thought...

jwazzz · 10 months ago

Shameful - Howard Dean should be celebrated; instead, he's ignored. Obama may not be where he is today without the 50-state strategy, fathered by Dean. Rick Warren, Tim Kaine, Sanjay Gupta and now this - there's a new affront seemingly every day.

Gary SF · 10 months ago

I would have voted for Dean over Obama or Clinton. This shows Obama's insecurities.

KISSman · 10 months ago

I am a big Obama supporter, but I would still support Dean over anyone.

KISSman · 10 months ago

Well, this was a pretty douchey move by the Obama camp.

If the DNC Chair had been a Clinton-friendly person, Obama would have had Florida and Michigan problems and it would probably be Hillary getting inaugurated in a couple weeks. Dean played it 'down the middle' which was really him being able to enjoy a little get-back at the Clintons who did their best to thwart Dean in both is effort to be the Democratic nominee in '04 and the DNC Chair.

Anyhow... I know the 'Obama advisors' can't see me right now, but trust me that my middle finger is raised and pointed in their direction today for doing this.

Indigo · 10 months ago

What's a one term wonder gonna do?

A Gay (he sold us out, too) · 10 months ago

And you're surprised because......

moda31 · 10 months ago

it's amazing how quickly any source becomes absolutely trustworthy and everything becomes an egregious snub when people are already upset with someone about an entirely different issue. both stein and the AP cite an unnamed source who offers what sounds like at least quite a bit of speculation; yet all of a sudden it's a hard fact? as far as i can remember obama has never had anything other than praise for howard dean and what he's done during his time at the DNC; he fully embraced the 50 state strategy and opted to keep dean on when he started running the show at the start of the general election; i find it hard to believe that he suddenly has some vendetta against dean. some people are pissed that dean hasn't been given a cabinet spot, or that he's not staying on at the DNC (never mind that every indication is that he chose to step down and wasn't forced out) and that's reasonable, but in the end obama pretty much gets to appoint anyone he wants to his cabinet, and failing to appoint dean doesn't mean that there's some great rift or that he has no respect for dean and what he's done for the party.

mtnwoman · 10 months ago

I am a news hound and I have never (until today) heard Obama give Dean any credit for his win. John is right. Obama bends over backward to reward assholes like Lieberman, to put Republicans and coward, Bush-enabling DLC-ers deep into his administration, but for one of the most effective, most right-on, most principled Democrats all he has is the door.
It is another troubling sign from Obama, as to what he is all about.

moda31 · 10 months ago

wow so now obama was supposed to lay credit for his winning the presidency at dean's feet? sorry, but that's a wholly unrealistic expectation of any politician; he's praised dean and what the 50 state strategy has done for the party on many occasions, expecting a whole lot more than that seems like an exercise in folly to me.

Squarepeg · 10 months ago

I'm glad to see so many people jumping ship. Separate the chaff from the wheat early. If you're not down with obama, get the f** out the way, bitches.

KISSman · 10 months ago

I bet that Kool-Aid you are drinking is pretty tasty, no?

SCLiberal · 10 months ago

This bitch is definately getting the F out.

teammarty · 10 months ago

No, you got that backwards.
Stand in the way as much as possible.

Republicrat light.
"Change" you can pretend to believe in

mark · 10 months ago

That sound is the Progessives walking out the door.
F*CK Tim Kaine, anti-queer, anti-CHOICE, anti-Labor, Lousey on enviroment, and hawk on Iraq war...I know this Party, it's the G*D DAMN RNC.

mark · 10 months ago

Dean screwed gays too, but he at least bought us dinner first.

poe · 10 months ago

Carter made the same mistakes by p.o. alot of insiders. Will O be a one hit wonder too?

Yankee · 10 months ago

Depends on your definition of insider. If you mean grassroots liberal popullist people...no. If you mean monied, connected, business....Yes.

mark · 10 months ago

Obama,
When you were picking out the head of the DNC,,,what was Santorum busy that day?
I heard Norm Coleman and Mitt Romney are free. Or you could just go whole hog and give it to Karl Rove.

brad · 10 months ago

IF THIS IS TRUE I AM VOTING FOR PALIN IN 2012

Lauren1959 · 10 months ago

Seriously-isn't he in South Africa? They both talked about what a fantastic job he had done and how effective his 50 state strategy was.

Lauren1959 · 10 months ago

Sorry, not South Africa- American Samoa...from the Huffington Post
"But Dean likely didn’t see the event. Instead of basking in accolades from the president-elect and his own successor in person, the chairman was in American Samoa, completing his effort to visit every state and territorial Democratic party."

mtnwoman · 10 months ago

Saw this Bloomberg story about Dean's DNC replacement: Kaine is chairman of the Southern Governors Ass. and will not relinquish it when he is DNC Chair. The Southern Gov Ass is "a group that raises money from tobacco, oil, energy and pharmaceutical companies in exchange for access to governors and other state officials."

Oh great. We go from Dean, a populist, bottoms-up progressive to Kaine in bed with corporate lobbyists. I really feel had by Obama. He used Dean's 2004 campaign "we the people" grassroots populist template, and seems like we are getting DLC centrism, corporate ass kissing all over again.

SCLiberal · 10 months ago

So will this be the last time we progressives will be fooled? I'm ready for a Progressive party, led by people like Dean, Kucinich, Feingold, Boxer, Conyers, etc.

SCLiberal · 10 months ago

"The Republican and Democratic parties are not the same. The Republicans are an extreme right wing party. The Democrats are a centrist party tilting, perhaps, a little bit to the left but they are not aggressive enough on protecting the interests of working people and the middle class."-Senator Bernie Sanders - October 26, 2007
Anyone interested in a Progressive Party can go here.

LuZenMyMnd · 10 months ago

I saw Dean on a program this past weekend stating he wanted to go to the private sector, make some money and kind of lobby for democratic causes. He didn't sound upset to me.....

cwazycajun · 10 months ago

Some obama advisers didnt want dean ther?? dont they mean rahm didnt want dean there??? if it wasnt for deans 50 state ground plan obama might not be where he is today and rahm cant stand it as far as kaine goes he is not the change we can belive in ....mabey the the dems dont want to stay in power they are know for snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory and this is just one more example........and we could have had KUCINICH

smkngman3 · 10 months ago

Quote

“If he had been asked to go to that event, he would have been there,” Jim Dean, the chairman’s brother, noted twice in an interview.
-snip-
A fourth Dean admirer found some gallows humor in the doctor’s disappearing act: “He said he wanted to be in the Cabinet,” joked the source. “So they stuffed him in the Cabinet and locked the door.”
-snip-
“He was never afraid to challenge the way party establishment in Washington did business, and that doesn’t win you friends in either party,” Trippi said by way of explaining the friction.

Getting closer to the point, Trippi added: “You don’t have to look any further than Rahm Emanuel.”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17254...

HarpoSnarx · 10 months ago

I'm wondering why Dean was not included in this administration if his work is so valued?

Other commenters have nailed it - that smarmy shitbag Rahm Emanuel.

The mild bloom was off this rose when the Inaugural Glutton was chosen as the homily pimp.

Actions speak louder than words, no matter how cloying. Obama and company will spit in the base's face and then expect us to be there when it suits them and others expect us to keep quiet about it. Well, that's not going to happen.

I'm glad he won but if he's going to act like Gooper lite, what was the point? Given the resistance to his tax cut plan, many other thoughtful Americans are feeling the same way.

As they do for the ungrateful, mistreatment of someone who dragged the Dims off their knees only to have the Gooper fellators reap the rewards of Dean's and the base's hard work.

If this keeps up - we NEED A NEW PARTY.

Kathy · 10 months ago

With all due respect (which at the moment isn't much), time for you to grow up and act like you're reporting. First you give Tom "Suck on this" Friedman credit because for once (and, I might, add, too little, too late) he said something you like, now Liz frickin' Sidoti? Get your ass on the phone and confirm this. It's idiotic to pitch a hissy fit when you don't actually know what did or did not happen.

I think I may have to go find a website that doesn't read like a left-leaning Freep joke. How far you have fallen. For shame.

Apphouse50 · 10 months ago

It sure will be nice when someone actually knows and reports what the hell went down here instead of adding it to the new list of things to bash Obama for without substantiating it.

When the MSM whacks bloggers for crappy reporting, they are pots calling kettles black, but damnit, sometimes they're also just plain correct.

loyaldemo · 10 months ago

I supported Dean in 2004. He has energized the Demo party with his 50 state strategy. Obama and his advisors need to remember who put them where they are now. Dean should be offered a post in the administration. Did Obama snub Dean or was it someone else who did the dastardly deed? I also think that the Democrats in the administration and in Congress need to worry about their own and not worry about what the Republicans think. When has the GOP cared about the Demos?