All the ire of liberals is directed at Joe Lieberman for scuttling what was left of the public option, but what about Howard Dean? For liberals who also identify as Democrats, the former DNC chairman is playing a dangerous game in encouraging Senate Democrats to vote against health-care reform in its scaled-down form.
Dean is a hero to progressives. He was against the war in Iraq before it was cool, and he ran for president in 2004 as the candidate of "the democratic wing of the Democratic Party," challenging the traditionalists in Washington as captives of the special interests. His credentials as a bomb thrower are unquestioned, but lobbing grenades at the Democrats' fragile coalition of 60 won't make health-care reform better and will add to Democrats' woes in the upcoming midterm elections.
One thing Democrats agree on is that if they come up empty-handed after a year of partisan wrangling, they will pay the price next November. As the White House scrambles to put a good face on the positive reforms in the bill, Dean is on television leading a progressive revolt against the bill, and the grassroots political organization he formed, Democracy for America, that is run by his brother, sends out a fundraising appeal "to get Howard's back" as he takes on the leadership of his party.
A lot has been said about the bad blood between Lieberman and the Democrats who didn't show him enough respect, but there's a bit of a grudge match going on with Dean and the White House as well. The Obama campaign in '08 faulted Dean for failing to resolve the impasse over the Florida and Michigan primaries and for allowing Hillary Clinton's campaign to continue unchallenged beyond the point where she could win.
They thought he was a weak leader, and after the election, when Dean, who is a physician, made no secret of his wish to be named secretary of Health and Human Services, he got the cold shoulder. The Obama team never considered him for that position or anything else, and now they're paying the price. It's a tale as old as politics, and it's what inspired LBJ to say of his decision to keep FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, "I'd rather have him inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
