Great post by Booman, one of my fav bloggers..progressives did well.

[madfloridian]

I have said I like Booman's posts. He is one of the sensible people who are most of the time center, but makes sense. People here think differently of me, but the real me is a mixture of liberal, moderate, and some centrist stuck in there. Booman is that way pretty much.

I like this post of his which really belies what the MSN is putting out about how it is all about "centrist". Good post.

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2006/11/8/175517/555

"Juanita Millender-McDonald (California) stands to chair the House Administration Committee. She's a New Democrat but she is also an African-American woman, and the first ever to chair a permanent committee of Congress. Rep. Silvestre Reyes (Texas) might get the chair of Intelligence (if Alcee Hastings is denied). He's a new Democrat, but he's also Hispanic. That would also be a first as far as I know. John Spratt (South Carolina) will be chair of the Budget Committee. This is the full extent of DLC power in the new house.

Here's a list of the Progressive Caucus. Sherrod Brown in now a Senator from Ohio. Bernie Sanders in now a Senator from Vermont. John Conyers, Jr. will now chair the Judiciary Committee. Bob Filner will chair the Veteran's Affairs Committee. Barney Frank will chair the Finances Committee. Tom Lantos will chair the Foreign Relations Committee. George Miller will chair the Education Committee. Charlie Rangel will chair the Ways and Means Committee. Louis Slaughter will chair the Rules Committee. Bennie Thompson will chair the Homeland Security Committee. Nydia Velazquez will chair the Small Business Committee. And Henry Waxman will chair the Government Reform Committee.

So, don't listen to naysayers, or to the media, or to Rahm Emanuel. Progressives WILL NOW DOMINATE in the House. Progressives HAVE NEVER WIELDED THIS MUCH POWER IN HISTORY within either chamber of Congress.

He says the senate is another matter, but not bad.

"The Senate is a different story. Adding Brown and Sanders and Whitehouse and Klobuchar is great. Adding Casey Jr. and Webb? Not so much. Overall, it's more significant that Kennedy will take over Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Leahy will take over Judiciary, and maybe Boxer and Murray might wind up with committees. It's progress."

I am very happy and proud for our Democrats. They all deserve credit in each of their roles. I only get riled up when "we must be centrist stuff" starts, cause that just ain't true.

And on The Daily Show tonight, Howard Dean's smile lit up the whole screen. He deserved to have that smile. When the primaries were over he got right back into the fray, formed his group to support candidates, and supported Kerry. He never looked back. He said we were going to have change. He deserved that smile.

[Morgana LaFey]

1. You're right about the smile

It's been a very, very long time since I saw that radiant a smile from him. He looked relaxed and genuinely happy. You're right -- he deserves it.

[madfloridian]

2. Well deserved. He stands for honest "centrism"...the real middle.

Real centrism is what Howard Dean is about. Maybe he is a little more than I am but mostly in the fiscal area. His belief that government has an obligation to its people is part of that type of centrism.

There is a "faux centrism" which has been pushed on our party for a long time now by some think tanks. The goal of this type is a set ideology of bowing to the wishes of corporations. It is why their power over the party had so many voting for Iraq to be invaded. It is why they frontpage a blogger who calls the people of the party the "chattering nutroots." It is why they have people who call real moderates names and put them down.

Yep, Howard Dean, true centrist, deserved that smile last night.