Dean, Hillary, JFK, and the Democratic Party

Now that Howard Dean is the head of the DNC, I'd like to express my frustration. Not because I hate Dean. Nor because I am convinced that he will be a poor chair. Rather, I am deeply frustrated that Democrats picked the ultimate Republican straw man to be their head. This would be OK except for one small thing.

HOWARD DEAN IS NOT A PROGRESSIVE POLITICIAN!!!

It would be one thing if this was Paul Wellstone and the left was somehow taking back the party. But Dean is to the right of Kerry on many issues and so many progressive Democrats were grumbling that they were voting Nader in 2008 because Kerry wasn't progressive enough and we lost anyway. So why should we give the Republicans a golden opportunity for a politician well to the right of me and many progressive Democrats who I count as friends? It makes absolutely no sense.

Related to this is the movement for Hillary for president in 2008. This is the same thing as with Dean. Hillary is not particularly progressive, especially after the demise of the health care plan in 1993. But she is hated by Republicans and distrusted by many moderate voters. So why would we give the Republicans such a golden opportunity? Why would we hand them their ultimate candidate to run against?

A better question for me is why would someone support Hillary Clinton for president?

I think one trend among many Democrats for a long time is to overlook actual policy and be taken by someone's image. Neither Dean nor Hillary are very progressive, yet they are beloved by many who are far more progressive than they. The best analogy I can see for this is Baby Boomers' fascination with John F. Kennedy and the whole Kennedy family. Kennedy, along with Reagan, are the most overrated presidents of the 20th century. What did JFK actually do? Yet he is still beloved by many Democrats even today. On the other hand, Lyndon Johnson, who was never much liked or trusted in his time and is not generally remembered fondly today, did much more for the liberal cause than JFK ever considered. Facts such as the Kennedy's chummy relationship with Joe McCarthy and Johnson's pushing through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 are often ignored by the general Democrat when thinking about these presidents. They love Kennedy and LBJ got us into Vietnam so he was bad. Never mind that JFK had the same policy toward Vietnam as Johnson.

Thus so many Democrats continue to be blinded by image over policy. Dean is a symbol of opposition to the war and attacking Bush so he is idolized despite his moderate to right policies on many issues including the environment. Hillary is a strong woman so she is idolized, despite her questionable financial dealings and rightward-trending politics. We are so blinded that we just gave the Republicans their ultimate DNC chair and may give them their ultimate Democratic candidate for president. Sad state the Democratic party is in today.