Dean's Confederate Flag Comments = W's Speech at Bob Jones

[DemBones DemBones]

"What WAS Dean thinking?" Howard Dean is no fool and no political amateur, either. And he's certainly no racist. Why did he keep repeating a comment guaranteed to offend many blacks and many Southern whites until the issue reached critical mass in the public consciousness? How could such a well-run campaign screw up so badly?

After much pondering of such questions, all pertaining to Howard Dean's Confederate flag comments, I finally realized how Dean's (i.e, Trippi's) Southern strategy parallels Bush's (i.e., Rove's.) Coincidence or deliberate decision? I report, you decide.

The basic plan is to do something that's guaranteed to offend a couple of voting blocs (blocs the candidate could use some help with.) Allow criticism to build in the media and other politicians to call you on it. Then make a show of strength and standing by your view (while your loyal supporters stand by their man -- cue the Tammy Wynette tape.) After making a good show of not being cowed by critics, make a sort-of-apology to assuage any hurt feelings, and call for national unity, tolerance, inclusiveness, etc.

In order to cut down on the length of my post, I'll assume that readers are familiar with the 2000 controversy over George W. Bush's campaign appearance at Bob Jones University and with the current controversy over Howard Dean's comments about wanting the votes of guys who have Confederate flags in the back of their pick-up trucks.


Case I: George W. Bush and Bob Jones University

Results:

1) The anti-Catholic and the anti-black among the voting public knew why he went to Bob Jones and they liked him for it.

2) Some Catholics were pacified by his letter to Cardinal O'Connor because they also liked his unspoken but widely understood position on abortion, made clear by his comments that Scalia and Thomas were his ideal Supreme Court judges.

3) "Tough if the blacks don't like it, they wouldn't have voted for Dubya, anyway."

(That's a paraphrase of James Baker's famous remark about Jews to Poppy Bush back in the day of Bush I. In accordance with DU rules for GD, I'm avoiding the profanity that Baker used while reminding DUers what kind of man the Bush famiglia's consigliere is.)


Case II: Howard Dean and the Confederate Flag

Results:

1) The anti-Southern and anti-black among the voting public know why Dean used the highly charged symbolism of the Confederate flag and they like him for it.

***To the anti-Southern, it plays into their view that Southerners are racists who are too stupid to vote Democratic. "The South should secede again; it's what's wrong with this country."

*** To the anti-black, it plays into their view that Dems lose too many votes attempting to hold onto the black vote. "Where else are they gonna go, anyway?"

2) Some of the white Southerners who felt insulted and some of the blacks who felt insulted by Dean's comments are being pacified by his half-way apology and his call for a serious discussion of racism. This is particularly true of voters who like fiscal conservatism but not the Bush take-from-the middle-class-to-give-to-the-rich policies.

3) "Who cares about the rest of them? Dean wasn't going to win South Carolina, anyway."

** And refer back to Result # 1: "Where else are they gonna go, anyway?" Anyone with centrist to liberal views, either social or fiscal, is going to vote for the Democratic nominee, even if they don't like him. ABB, right?



FDR said "There are no accidents in politics. If something happens in politics, you can be sure it was planned."

[Wonk]

1. =/=

[Jim Sagle]

2. Naaaaaaahhhhh.

[HawkerHurricane]

3. Dean was right on idea, wrong on statement.

He shouldn't have made a reference to the Confed flag. Pickup driving redneck 'Bubba' votes are needed to win the south, but the flag reference...

[MercutioATC]

6. To avoid this BS this has generated, I'd almost agree, but the fact is

that he was right. This is EXACTLY the issue and it needs to be talked about in this language. Frankly, I'm disappointed that his apology was so broad. I believe he should have said that he was sorry if the reference to the Confederate caused pain to some, but he felt if was an important point to make.

[blm]

14. Except Dean made the remark last week NOT in reference to race at ALL.

He made it in defense of his NRA position and never mentioned race relations in the interview. The way the campaign is spinning this into some brave attempt by Dean to discuss race relations is a LIE.

[ComerPerro]

4. You can't be serious

Come on. This in no way compares to Bush speaking at Bob Jones University.

[leftofthedial]

5. one difference between the two is advocacy

Dean is basically right.

[liberalmuse]

7. I don't think so.

But nice try. The problem with this argument is, Howard Dean is NOT Bush in any way, shape or form. He's smart, and knows how to go after untapped voters. He's already gotten thousands of people who've never voted before within his grassroots following. He's getting moderate Republicans, Republicans who have never voted Democrat, and he'll get a nice chunk of the South as well. If people are offended by this statement, all they need to do is look at the overall picture and they'll see that Howard Dean is not a racist anymore than he is a homophobe or a misogynist who wants to control women's reproductive rights (like Bush, for instance).

[ShaneGR]

8. You were on the right track... but had the wrong conclusions

Dean did this to get press attention.... he has been saying it for months. Everything he says is intented to gain media attention. I disagree with how he went about raising this issue, but I agree with his effort to get covered.

[billbuckhead]

9. Very good analogy. But then how do we know Howard Dean is not a racist?

Wait till all the NRA, Confderate flag wavers and libertarians vote for Dean in the primaries and then go back to Bush in the main event. This is what this cynical little man is encouraging. HOW DO WE KNOW DEAN IS NOT A RACIST OR WORSE? Endorsed by the NRA 8 times and rewarded with their a "A" rating. Is anyone going to seriously argue that Charlton Heston, Ted Nugent, Grover Norquist are not racists? Look at how black politicans get beat up for associating with Louis Farrakhan even though not all of Farrakhan's followers are racists. Look at the beating Cruz Bustamante got for being associated with an Hispanic organization of questionable racial views. I didn't hear many Du'ers or many Democratic leaders coming to Bustamante's defense. Democrats are selling their soul for this morally corrupt con-artist and setting up the destruction of their party if he somehow becomes the nominee.

[blm]

13. Great point. Dean used that flag to defend his own NRA position

last week and never mentioned race. He did NOT attempt to start a discussion about race as he has now snowed so many into believing. Race was NEVER mentioned in the interview.

His campaign pointed to his Feb. remarks to clean up the shit that Dean stepped in last week defending his NRA support.

[Classical_Liberal]

21. So now people can say clark is a war criminal to get

revenge on you.

[DemBones DemBones]

26. How does that relate to anything said in this thread?

Seriously, you lost me there.

[Classical_Liberal]

28. The poster is a Clarky

.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

44. Wow there's the argument of the day

[blm]

15. Dean wanted attention for his NRA position?

Because that's what he was defending when made that statement that caused the controversy last week.

He lied when he said it was an attempt to disuss race relations.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

10. My views are similar to Buckhead Bill's above

It WAS a cynical ploy to attempt to serve two masters. While the ISSUES he wished to address DO need to be raised, I DO get concerned about one who would raise them in the manner he did. I am ALWAYS concerned when one feels it is NECESSARY to step on the feelings of the base in order to broaden his appeal.

I do think you are SPOT on in the James Baker comparison with this though. If he had ONLY ever invoked the Confederate Flag once..then one could say it was a faux pas and mistake...it wasn't.
It was calculated to get the attention that it did and he will either make a RUN of the issue raised or he won't.

[DemBones DemBones]

11. Yes, it is absolutely not a gaffe, not a case of misspeaking, since

he said it over and over again. I heard the comment in February but did not realize it was a regular part of his stump speech until Dean supporters said so here at DU. They were complaining that people were suddenly making a big deal over something he'd said in many speeches. Of course it was Dean making the comment to a reporter that finally made it an issue in the news.

FDR was spot on, wasn't he?

[billbuckhead]

12. I wonder whether it's OK on this website now to be anti-Dean?

It seems like half the people on DU have drank the cool aid, said the magic words, sent the money and now they see no evil. In a Kulturwar sense Dean is trying to move the party further to the right than any Dem Presidential candidate since......dare I say it, George Wallace. He wants to sit back with the civil union bill he signed as his great liberal accomplishment and it will be all reactionary from now on. That's what I heard on "rock the vote".

[blm]

16. Dean is moving so many lefties from here at DU even, to accept

and praise his centrism which is steeped in a Libertarian core.

[Pez]

18. it's weird seeing dems defend the NRA...

...and the confederate flag heh?

[JohnKleeb]

19. Its whats been getting me

:eyes:

[Pez]

17. we can't really afford someone who is unclear or amateurish...

whoever goes up against dududududubya is going to have to be articulate on the issues and have a strong record in international policy. we can't afford someone who bumbles and makes massive gaffes; s/he will be eaten alive by BUSH INC's stubborn ignorance. people like ignorance unless it is exposed as dangerous.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

20. Dean is quite the bumbler.

and it helps that the press has enabled him thus far.

[Classical_Liberal]

23. no he isn't

He is top of the polls and raking in the most money.

[blm]

25. Corporate media. You trust them. I don't.

.

[MercutioATC]

27. So Dean ISN'T at the top is money and at least near the top in polls?

Is this all a massive media conspiracy?

[DemBones DemBones]

33. Yes, the press/ media have aided Dean all through his campaign,

just as they aided Bush in 2000. Dean has corporate backing via the media.

[Classical_Liberal]

36. Dean has been bashed and bashed by the media

You are being ridiculous.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

45. You must have missed this kiss ass-ed in Thursday's Times:

where they bascially anoint him the next Bill Clinton.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/06/opinion/06THU1.html?pagewanted=print&position=

[Classical_Liberal]

47. The article trashes Dean.

Now, Dr. Dean is going to have to demonstrate that his Confederate flag moment was a one-shot, recoverable gaffe and not a symptom of something more haunting, like a pattern of misspeaking or a hardheaded combativeness that makes it impossible to give way with grace. He obviously is no racist, and no one who criticized the flag comment imagined that he is. But he waded unthinkingly into an issue that almost anyone experienced in national politics knows must be handled with great care.

rimary politics is a gantlet of rapid-fire challenges. All manner of ponderous issues and explosive tangents will pop up in the 10 weeks remaining until the Iowa caucuses. After his run-in with the pickup truck, Dr. Dean now has the chance to show that, like Bill Clinton, he can turn on a dime, recover from his mistakes and make the voters want to move on to the next question.

[paulk]

31. Sometimes I feel like I've stepped through the looking glass

There are a lot of people here on D.U. who a year ago were excoriating the Democratic party for being too centrist; for moving too far to the right. Now those very same people are singing (loudly)
the praises of a centrist, even right leaning Democrat, a man whose positions on many issues mirror that of Joe Liebermans' - who is possibly the most despised candidate on this board.

I think you've hit the nail on the head with "reactionary".

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

42. Amen.

[Nicholas_J]

29. Yes, pretty much it.

Dean is trying to court blacks in one area of the country, and white in another.

He came to my town two days ago, and I was able to verify my suspicians what Dean does to ty to create the appearances of wide support in an area. First he came to the largest city in the Northeast of Florida, on the border of Georgia, and then went to the capital, which you can hit Alabama from by falling down in a northward direction. I went to the Omni Hotel, where Dean was holding a fundraiser, and checked the local parking areas, and the vehicles with Dean stickers from out of state and from a few other counties in the states were in large number, but there were virtually no cars (one that I found) with Dean stickers from my own county. There were also few blacks in the auditorium/meeting facility, which is highly indicative, as blacks make up a substantial portion of this county's democrats. There were about 100 people in attendence, to give you an idea of Dean support here as oppposed to support in other areas, and as I said, not many were from this city itself.

On the news, very little attention was paid to Dean and his platform itself, only one stations actually covered about five secondds of him saying anything, and the rest of the news on Dean was related to his statements on the confederate flag, and state and southern democratic party consultants all stating that Dean did this the wrong way, that regardless of what his message was, his attempt was the most divisive wayt of trying to do this. Mary Landrieu's campaign consultant was also interviewed and he said that it was the right message, but Dean was attempting to create a divisive message to try to hurt other candidates and this was inppropriate and a mistake.

On the whole 95 percent of the people in the room were younger than 30, I would guess many younger than 25, and most were not locals(If you live here, you can tell locals).

The other consultants referred to Deans use of what Sharpton later called stereotypes of southerners. Dean may have gone over well with the people he brought along with him or those who all decided to drive several hours to show up, but by and large there were very few locals here.

Most important is that virtually all of the Democratic Party's representatives in the state legislature and the House of Representatives from this area are blacks and only Corinne Brown was there, and while Dean supporters claim that she endorsed him, if it was an endorsement it was very guarded and very,very,tacit. I have been involved with the Democratic campaigns of virtually all of the Democratic candidates in this area and this appeared to me to be Ms Browns usual polite charm. Neither was the Democratic Party's last candidate for mayor in 2002, the Ex-Sheriff, who is also black was not present.

Right now Joe Lieberman is still the strongest competitor for Bob Grahams seat in this state, but Kerry is a strong second, very close behind Lieberman, In Norith Florida, Kerry has more support than Liebeman, in South Florida Lieberman is has more support than Kerry.

It is very odd that Deans support is not strong in South Florida, as Miamo has a relatively large gay community, but a little known fact is that Fort Lauderdale also has a very large gay community, perhaps larger than even Miami, given that Ft Lauderdale is a major area in which gays choose to come to live, after San Francisco and New York, and the local county has passed a number of local gay civil rights ordinances and the local governments have for many years had rules allowing gays to provide benefits for their sigificant others, and other similar benefits. I do not beleive that Dade County, where Miami is has passed similar legislation or had not passed it when I moved from that area a few years back, as there was strong opposition to it from the Hispanic Community in Miami.

Until last quarter, Kerry was second to Graham in fundraising and support in Florida, and it has again, oddly enough, beem groups who in other areas have been part of Deans support base . Lirberman recently made up ground in fundraising in this area, but Kerry had mande large inroads into young professionals.

The people who supported Lawtin Chiles are mainly those who are now supporting Kerry, and Graham basically tapped into the retired community for support, so that Kerry and Graham did not cut into each otther support. Deans sttements about Medicare are not gaining him much inroads with the elderly in this are, as well as his statements about Bob Graham. Dean has stated that Graham is on his short lost for VP but down here it is well known that Graham really does not like Dean in anyway, and that whoiever Graham throws his support behind will win Florida. Other polls state that whoever Graham supports will immediately gain ten percent in Florida's primary. Everyone already knows that while Dean is stating that he wont take part in the Florida Straw polls, that he will simply have his campign people make certain that his own supporters disregard that statement.

There is one thing that Graham does not forget, and that is an insult.
Deans insult about Graham earlier in the campaign is something that Graham will not forget, and for th most part neither will most of those who were Grahams support base. Either Graham will truly retire from politics, or assist someone who is running against Dean.

Dean's "hints" about Graham's age and running for the presidency just dont seem to be playing well with people who are at Grahams age or older. It would be an immensely long shot if Dean got Grahams support in any way, and no matter what, whoever gets Grahams backing, or whoever gets Grahams supporters, gets Florida.

Deans showing in Florida this week was not indicative of his being able to win the nomination in this state. Anything is possible, whut Florida and Florida Democrats are the most opposite in political position and characteristics of Democrats in New Hampshire. Many of those who supported Graham are likely to support either Liberman or Kerry, or if Dean ends up being the nominee to vote for Bush himself rather than Dean.

Graham also had rather large support among Florida Blacks, so wherever Graham leans, so will those supporters as well.

[Classical_Liberal]

22. I don't agree

I am sick of explaining why. Nobody is saying this but campaign operatives for other candidates. Everyone else thinks this stuff is just dumb and it is.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

24. oh bullshit

Nobody that I know of on this thread is a campaign operative for anyone else. PROVE IT.


You are NOW defending a ploy even YOUR candidate admitted was offensive.

[Classical_Liberal]

30. The very first post in this thread has a kucinich banner.

.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

32. So what? That makes her an OPERATIVE?

Get real.

[Classical_Liberal]

34. Yeah

. It makes them biased. It is really shameful too. I respect Joan walsh and Paul Krugman more than you.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

37. Wow.I'm hurt.

Perhaps you should consider that three fingers are pointing back at you as far as bias is concerned.

I haven't chosen a candidate yet and have defended Dean as much as I have taken him to task on issues where I disagreed. I am sorry that is difficult for you to fathom.

[Classical_Liberal]

48. I don't trash other candidates when they are right.

. I wouldn't trash anyone of them for this comment. The most stupid thing about this whole affair is that you all know full well Dean is right and they are all going to have to shelve the stupid flag to win.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

50. Gee, then let's shelve all the African Americans who organized

the BOYCOTT of that racist symbol in South Carolina to win.

NO WE DON'T NEED TO SHELVE THE VERY CORRECT POSITION THAT THAT FLAG REPRESENTS RACISM AND OPPRESSION TO A HUGE SECTOR OF OUR BASE TO WIN>.EVEN HOWARD DEAN DIDN'T SAY THAT

How unbelievable calloused of you to suggest that those who organized very effective BOYCOTTS due to that flag should give in.

Any other principles we should abandon so your guy can get the nod?

[Classical_Liberal]

55. So it would be correct to have gay marriage too.

. Care to run on it? In the scheme of things the issue is not very important.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

58. Gee let's just change the subject rather than address the content of the

post.

[Classical_Liberal]

59. What flag flies over SC isn't relevant to Dean either

He has no control over it. He can get those voters to care about real issues like Health Insurance and Education. Frankly I think blacks in the south that make the CSA flag the top priorty given all the blacks in the state without running water have some misplaced priorties.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

61. I think it is arrogant for you to pass judgement on southern blacks

as though they actually make the flag a PRIORITY over running water but I have come to expect this from you.

Fake it if you can't make it right?

[Desertrose]

38. So we can't see what is going on if we have another "banner" ?

we used to be all united to get here to get ridof the bushwa regime....and now suddenly- because we have different banners on our posts we are suddenly the enemy and unable to think straight??

Its good to have so many different perspectives on what is happening...if we can't be objective at least occasionally...no way can we win anything.....or change anything....

Aww come on...we aren't the enemy for cryin' out loud.....we want the same result- to get rid of bushco...we just have different ideas of what we think will work....

Peace
DR

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

41. Te poster you are talking to said there was NO difference between

Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzennegger. There goes your proof. :eyes:

[Classical_Liberal]

49. No I didn't.

but I'll just let you dig in with the personal attacks.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

54. I'll dig it out of my bookmarks if this survives your alert

You MOST certainly did.

[Classical_Liberal]

56. Go ahead, because I didn't say it..

.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

63. Classical Liberal's GREATEST HITS!

Classical_Liberal (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-03-03 12:29 PM
Response to Reply #29

30. I don't slam dems every chance I get

Edited on Fri Oct-03-03 12:32 PM by Classical_Liberal
I challange you to prove that assertion. Since I am a Dean supporter, it will make you look pretty dumb. I am critical of Davis however, who is too conservative for me, and merely a lessor evil. I believe he is going personal and avoiding deregulation, because he could have reregulated and didn't which proves he wasn't opposed to it. You yourself said PG&E wasn't a natural monopoly, which is a position one sees in republicans mostly. I think the worst thing about Davis's campaign is partisans like yourself, who smear people who aren't automatically for Davis. I preferred Arianna, until she dropped.


Funny, Davis never got a 100% rating from the NRA...

Classical_Liberal (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-03-03 01:03 PM
Response to Reply #46

51. I said I didn't much care, and didn't think it would be catastrophic


because Arnold is relatively moderate, so I was going to vote Arianna. Arianna dropped. I am not a straight ticket voter in all instances. Most Americans aren't. There is less incentive to be a straight ticket voter now that we have people in our party who don't believe that companies like PG&E aren't a natural monopoly. That is a republican prosition NSMA believes. You dont' think I am a good dem. I don't think davis is a good Dem.


Classical_Liberal (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-03-03 12:51 PM
Response to Reply #41

44. I don't deliberatly obfuscate


I call them how I see them. Davis is a conservative Dem.



Classical_Liberal (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-03-03 01:09 PM
Response to Reply #47

54. Centrist is a conservative Dem


I think a Liberal Dem would be better, which is why I liked Arianna.



Classical_Liberal (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-03-03 04:01 PM
Response to Reply #60

64. I didn't call Dean a liberal Dem

Edited on Fri Oct-03-03 04:08 PM by Classical_Liberal
and you know that, so you are being obtuse. I said I am a Liberal Dem. This is pretty obvious even with your quote, which I believe you deliberately misread. Dean is more open to progressivism than Davis. I will accept a more conservative Dem in the nation because the nation at large is more conservative. Davis on the other hand is in a liberal state and is just taking up space of someone who would be better in my view. Dean would be better. I also distinguish between people who have the blessings of the DLC and those who don't. The DLC doesn't like Dean so I figure he intends to be a progressive. So there.

Classical_Liberal (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-03-03 07:37 PM
Response to Reply #66

70. He is a conservative Democrat

Edited on Fri Oct-03-03 07:38 PM by Classical_Liberal
which is a moderate. I want someone who is liberal on economic issues as well. His opponant isn't a social conservative, so the fact that Davis isn't doesn't mean much.


So here we find you claiming you are a social liberal and then you MINIMIZE the pain of those for whom the confederate flag represents racism so that a MORE CONSERVATIVE DEmocrat than Gray Davis whose record (which I DID post) was actually FAR MORE LIBERAL than Dean's

Yeah yeah you never said they were the same you just SLAMMED him as though they were...lesser of two evils? My ass.

[DemBones DemBones]

40. Yes, I support Kucinich -- and you support Dean but

don't indicate it with an avatar or sig line quote.

Supporting Kucinich doesn't mean I'm a "Kucinich operative." My level of connection with the campaign is that I send money to the national campaign and I get a newsletter from them.

[Classical_Liberal]

51. So you are a supporter.

. Granted that doesn't mean squat, becauuse most Kucinch people probably know this issue is shit as well.

[farmbo]

35. The content of Bush's BJ speech wasn't as important as the Location...

Which totally blows your analogy.
Bush's message --talking to the Caveman Conservatives at BJU-- was, in essence, I'm here and I'm with you, and I'm one of you.

Dean's statement was impromptu, made on the street to a reporter in Des Moines.

(But I like the way you researched and presented your argument...a good read!)

[DemBones DemBones]

43. My thesis is that Bob Jones University and the Confederate flag

are the symbols used by Bush and Dean, repectively, to accomplish their goals. And when Dean talks about wanting the vote of the guy who drives a pick-up truck with a Confederate flag in the back, his message is also about being with those people.

To my mind, that makes BJU and the Rebel flag analogous symbols, YMMV.

Also, although Dean's statement to the Des Moines reporter may have been impromptu, it was derived from a longer statement he's made in many speeches, going back at least to February. He wouldn't keep saying it in speech after speech unless he wanted it heard.

Thanks for your positive comment about the way I developed and presented my argument. :hi:

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

39. No, it's Dean's version of Bush Sr. checkout scanner

Dean, being the rich Park Avenue liberal that he is, doesn't understand the white working class, African Americans, nor the rest of the country.

[DemBones DemBones]

46. You make a good point. Dean's clearly not as out of the reality loop

as Poppy Bush, but in fact he's never been more than a tourist in the everyday world. It's kind of sad, really, that the rich are strangers in their own lands, nevermind how strange or how normal those lands may be. They can never really understand our lives, poor things. Fortunately, though, with all that dough, they really don't give a shit about the human experiences they're missing out on!

[Classical_Liberal]

52. He understands me very well

The confederate flag is a low priorty for me. I care about the future.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

57. The confederate flag is a low priority for you and one that has

been at the FOREFRONT of two states in the south where the African American population DOES vote with us. Were it NOT for the balck community we wouldn't get any votes at all In South Carolina but for longshoremen.

BTW: No surpirse Howard Dean understands you very well..aren't you a white northeasterner?

[Classical_Liberal]

60. The white people in those states don't vote with us

and the don't vote with us in such strong numbers the black vote is rendered irrelevant. We get a repuke president. There are you happy now?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

62. The WHITE PEOPLE in that state won't vote with us if HOWARD

dresses UP in that fucking flag. And STOP acting like only Dean can get elected and ONLY Dean can save us...it is a crock of shit.

[DemBones DemBones]

64. So you think the NAACP doesn't care about the future?

Since you're neither black nor a white Southerner, you -- like Howard Dean --
don't understand why this issue is important, don't understand the divisiveness of his comments.

It's not only the Rebel flag that's been raised, though. It's also Dean's statement this week in Jacksonville, Florida, that Southerners need to stop basing their votes on "race, guns, God, and gays."

How many more ways can Dean find to say "Southerners are stupid but vote for me and I'll save you from yourselves!"

The hubris never ceases to amaze.

[Catholic Sensation]

65. Now that's more ignorant

than the flag comment. I can see making an issue out of that, though not complaining about it a week after it was said.

By the way, apparently WASP Yankee Airheads (Coulter) take pride in the confederate flag too. Since when did Connecticut become part of the south?

[DrWeird]

53. Buuuuuuuuullshit!

Bush and Bob Jones- I'm a racist, just like you, so vote for me and we'll put those niggers back in their place.

Dean and the confederate flag- It's too bad that all these racists are so damn ignorant that they're voting for tax cuts for the filthy rich party.

[DemBones DemBones]

67. You don't get it. You show it by your scatological

retort (an example of "When the facts are against you, pound on the table") and by your mistaken analysis:

"Dean and the confederate flag- It's too bad that all these racists are so damn ignorant that they're voting for tax cuts for the filthy rich party."

Re-read my post and perhaps you'll get it the second time.

[deutsey]

68. Good distinction

I'm baffled by all the pretzel logic going on around here by Dean critics.

[Hep]

66. I think

Every person registered here should start their own Dean Confederate Flag thread. Because I never ge tired of saying the same thing over and over to people who aren't interested in my opinion anyway.

Dean did just fine. He's past it, the country is past it, and DU is still seeing a half dozen threads per day on this issue.

[Skinner]

69. I'm locking this thread.

After 8 hours, it didn't need to be resurrected.

I don't think any of our candidates should be compared to Bush like this.

Skinner
DU Admin