The Informationist

The Informationist:

Life during the transition from industrial age to information age.

Bruce Abramson

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Why I Don’t Like Howard Dean

Part 1 of what may become a long running series. . .

Matt Yglesias had some nice things to say about Howard Dean today. Matt seems to think he’s getting a raw deal. I don’t:

Dean cannot possibly be building an effective party because he’s repeating the same mistake that led us to nominate John Kerry: He puts “thou shalt not offend anyone who dislikes Bush” at the top of his list. There are plenty of Republicans with reasons to dislike their party’s current leadership. It’s hard to see how anyone who values social liberty, free trade, fiscal responsibility, or effective nation building can remain a Republican. On the other hand, other than those who elevate social liberty above all, there’s no reason that any of these folks should become Democrats either. Dean continues the Democratic Party’s post-Clinton slide into believing that Republican ideas are so bad that Americans will wake up one day and vote Dem. His unique contribution is to extend that nonsense from Republican ideas to Republicans themselves. Meanwhile, those of us who value free trade, fiscal responsibility, effective nation building have to wonder why we should remain Democrats. It’s fairly clear that, at this point in history, neither party much wants us. If Dean—or his successor—wants to build a winning party, he’s going to have to figure out how to convince disgruntled Republicans to cross the aisle.

Earned some more support from Petey, thank you very much.

Posted by Bruce Abramson from on 06/12 at 06:01 PM in American Government, Politics, and Domestic Policies