Dean was out of the country when Carville struck.

[madfloridian]

I had not seen it mentioned, but some of us wondered about it. Was it done on purpose at that time? No one wanted to say anything, for risk of being called petty. Who knows, but interesting. No one has mentioned it, until this article.

http://baltimorechronicle.com/2006/112006Carmichael.shtml

On election night, Emanuel and Schumer were triumphant on the victory podium along with Pelosi and Reid, while Dean was conspicuous by his absence. It is perfectly clear that Dean had been banished from the victory podium by the DLC and their minions. Things took a sharp turn for the worse this week, while Dean was out of the country searching for more votes amongst the vast and groaning diaspora of overseas Democrats, a trip he had postponed until after the crucial election. Americans living abroad are a distinct species of political fauna. No longer mesmerized by the American media, they are able to observe the impact of Washington’s foreign policy from a new and starkly refreshing perspective. Few if any Americans abroad support the outrageous neoconservative policies of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

In a surprise assault worthy of the Ides of March, James Carville leapt into the breach for the DLC. In a savage stabbing lunge worthy of Casca, Carville planted the first dagger into the back of Governor Dean while he was away from Washington attending the conference of the Americas Division of Democrats Abroad meeting in the Dominican Republic to organize voter registration among the millions of US citizens now living overseas.

And earlier I had written a post about the fact that those whom Rahm supported were told not to talk about Iraq...it was a condition of support from the DCCC apparently.

They have told candidates not to talk about leaving Iraq.

And here is what this article says, so it is apparently true.

The internal tension has been building for months. In early clashes with progressive Congressional candidates, Emanuel drew fire for demanding fealty to his support for the Iraq War and obeisance to his stultifying command, “Do not mention the war!” Critics of Emanuel lamented his “obnoxious” style of bullying in interviews with Time magazine.

This article says some things I don't agree with, but it did get these two points across that were needed.

[madfloridian]

1. A comment from me...

I don't know the newspaper's political slant...I want to make that clear. The source is correct about where Dean was when it happened, and it is correct about the way Rahm insisted on avoiding Iraq.

Those are the only two points I am making.

[mod mom]

2. Why was Dean out of the country? Was he banished from the spotlight?

I am a Dean/Conyers Dem and will not support the sleaze spewing from the likes of these Dems.

[madfloridian]

3. Democrats Abroad

It had been planned earlier, cancelled, then rescheduled. He has met with this group in other countries as well.

[Dr.Phool]

4. This would go a long way explaining

The very cold shoulder we got from the DCCC.

Emanuell's biography explains that he is the son of Israeli immigrants, and did, in fact, serve in the Israeli Army (though he tries to publicly distance himself from that now). He has AIPAC up to his eyeballs.

Howard Dean deserves ALL of our support.

[cali]

6. Huh?

That may be the most awkward dragging in of AIPAC I've ever seen. Just what the heck does Emanuel's having 'served' in the Israeli Army have to do with Howard Dean being cold shouldered?

(I've read repeatedly that Emanuel did not actually serve in the Israeli forces, he volunteered for 2 weeks during Gulf War 1, to work on trucks. 2 weeks scarcely counts as serving in the Israeli forces.

[Dr.Phool]

8. I wasn't talking about Howard Dean being cold shouldered.

I was talking about a congressional candidate in Florida who couldn't get a phone call returned from the DCCC, even after he was recruited to run by Nancy Pelosi.

He was an early anti-war activist, a healthcare professional, and defeated the DCCC's favored candidate by 10 points in the primary.

[madfloridian]

9. They totally ignored Russell after he beat their choice.

It's not my district, but we did donate what we could. They had picked the other one and trained him with Harman's SecureUS Pac, and the Third Way. Then when Russell won, they got out of Dodge and let him on his own.

[madfloridian]

10. I think he was talking about an antiwar candidate deprived of support..

here in Florida. He worked hard for that person, I think, and it was heartbreaking to see the party dump him when he beat their chosen guy.

The money just dried up, is my understanding, but he had a great on the ground support.

There were many stories in Florida like this one, so we get a little upset over it. I don't think he was referring to Dean, more to Rahm's admonition not to talk about Iraq. If you did, you got zilch.

[William769]

5. How un American of him leaving the Country!

:sarcasm:

[JGTacoma]

7. Carville a Mouthpiece for Emanuel/Clinton DNC Power Grab

Does anyone doubt that Carville is serving fellow Clintonist, Emanuel's attempted coup at the DNC so that he will hold all the reins driving Hillary's chariot for 2008? In August, US News and World Report called to tell me they were printing a letter I sent supporting their somewhat favorable piece on Dean's 50 State Strategy. I also mentioned the Emanuel tantrum in Dean's office and Paul Begala's denigration of Dean in a CNN interview supporting Rahm's rant. All reference to Emanuel and Begala and the Hillary connection was junked. So far, I have heard no speculation in the media that Emanuel is still a Clinton operative as are Begala and Carville. They are still represented as "Democratic Strategists" not "DLC Strategists" as honesty would dictate. I still marvel that anyone takes Carville seriously. I consider both Carville and Matalin to be "for hire" to whoever pays them sufficiently in cash or the coin of ego-inflation.

[catzies]

13. Welcome to DU

That's some mighty fancy writin there, pardner.

[madfloridian]

14. Interesting editing you mention for your letter to the edittor.

"I also mentioned the Emanuel tantrum in Dean's office and Paul Begala's denigration of Dean in a CNN interview supporting Rahm's rant. All reference to Emanuel and Begala and the Hillary connection was junked."

Amazing how editors do that. I wrote one to our paper not long ago, mentioned some critical facts..."facts"...about our congressman. They left out the critical facts, and the letter was lame.

Welcome to DU

[madfloridian]

11. Wow, comment from the article about Carville and Greenberg's company....

They are busy guys.

"Greenberg’s polling and Carville’s consultancy frequently argue for middle-of-the-road positions that defuse the message of political campaigns and focus on peripheral issues that they deem safe, ie. cheaper prescription drugs for senior citizens and opposition to gay marriage. At a talk in London early this year, Greenberg actually proposed opposition to gay marriage as a central theme in this year’s Democratic campaign. From another perspective, this type of centrist campaign would have played directly into the hands of the Republicans by appealing to and activating their base. In the closing days of the campaign, Republicans from Bush to the back of beyond attempted to activate their faltering base by raising the spectre of gay marriage as a probable by-product of a Democratic victory. While Greenberg was lobbying for a campaign predicated on opposition to gay marriage, progressive political consultants urged the Democratic Party to adopt the theme of: “Change the course in Iraq.”

http://baltimorechronicle.com/2006/112006Carmichael.shtml

And a very interesting observation about the Labour Party in the UK and the connections to the Carville Shrum Greenberg group...and I also heard Carville was in Canada in October speaking to the Liberal Party. Some are putting out press about Dean not being welcome there this month...makes me wonder.

After winning his office in early 2005, Dean announced that he would launch a vigorous reconstruction of the political architecture of the Democratic Party by refusing to kowtow to the group that he termed, “the aristocracy of consultants.” As the most financially successful political consultants in Democratic Party circles, Dean’s remarks have been interpreted as a stinging rebuke of the circle surrounding Carville and Greenberg who have become wealthy while the Party drifted into paralysis and coma. Another consultant who is identified as a leading figure in this ancien regime of the centrist school is Mr. Robert Shrum, who has the dubious distinction of having been the lead consultant in at least eight losing Democratic presidential campaigns. It seems rather odd that Mr. Gordon Brown, the hand-picked successor to Tony Blair, is an admirer of Mr. Shrum. But, Greenberg is an advisor to Tony Blair and New Labour, where his business interests are represented by his British partner, Philip Gould, a long-serving confidante of the deeply unpopular prime minister whose approval rating is in the low 20s - and trending lower because of his support for Bush’s war in Iraq.

The article is written by Michael Carmichael. He is a historian and author based in Oxford, England.

[madfloridian]

12. Meant to post the link to their polling company websitte...Democracy Corps

http://www.democracycorps.com/

[madfloridian]

15. Interesting tidbit about the visit to the Liberal Party next week in Canada.

I know Carville, his group, the Clintons, have spoken there, and there is no outcry, at least not publicly. So I found this interesting...sounds like just a few are making a lot of noise about Dean's being keynote speaker. Interesting....

"Behind the scenes, the Liberal candidates' own internal differences may be playing into the Dean contretemps. Dean was an early opponent of the United States military action in Iraq, which could serve as a reminder to delegates that Ignatieff once supported U.S. President George W. Bush's move to depose Saddam Hussein.

Steve MacKinnon, the Liberals' national director, said it's only a very small minority of Liberals who oppose Dean's choice as keynote speaker. "Our emails are running about 50 to 1 in favour, with people saying, `Wow, what a coup.'" Dean's strategy in the mid-term elections and "his virtual reinvention of the way political parties operate are responsible for the Democratic Party winning big and also winning in unexpected and non-traditional places, said MacKinnon. He also believes Dean took the fight to the right in ways that were both unexpected and creative, MacKinnon said. "He's got a lot to say about that and he brings an enormously positive perspective in terms of confronting a very rigidly ideological right-wing foe and that's what we are confronting now in Canada."

MacKinnon noted that Dean is not taking a penny for his appearance. At the 2003 convention where Paul Martin became party leader, the keynote speaker was the rock star Bono of U2."

Sounds like our Democrats are not the only ones having internal struggles.

[Cha]

16. That's so cool they are not

paying Dean to speak!

One thing struck me about the rahm and "no mentioning of Iraq" was Tammy Duckworth. HOw do run someone like her and not speak of Iraq?

[madfloridian]

17. That is one of the main races Dean is being blamed for...

by Rahm. Or at least mentioned as not being helpful. Many of the ones who spoke about it though told not to do so...won.