Friday, October 19, 2007

Hero Of The Week: Howard Dean

Howard Dean hasn't been in the news at all this week. Why am I naming him Hero of the Week?

When he took over the reins of the Democratic National Party, he made it clear that the traditionally Republican constituency of evangelical Christians were not out of play. He began organizing in all 50 states, regardless of how red they were, and encouraged Democratic candidates to begin speaking about their traditional values.

And the results of his foresight have been in the news this week:

• Evangelicals are no longer locked in to supporting Republicans.
• The top concerns voiced by evangelicals are no longer abortion and gay rights; rather poverty and healthcare.
• Many conservative Christians are supporting Rudy Giuliani despite his more liberal social views.
• Right-wing evangelicals are considering starting their own party, thus splitting the Republican party.

Years ago, I encouraged the PAC where I serve on the Board of Directors to invite then-Governor Dean to be the Keynote speaker at our annual fundraiser. He accepted, gave an outstanding speech met with an extended standing ovation, and I'd like to think one of the reasons he later decided to run for President.

For his strategic thinking, Howard Dean is my Hero of the Week.
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3 comments:

evilganome said...

I love Howie. He was the governor of my home state and my older brother who still lives there raved about him and he (my brother) is not a wild eyed liberal. It's too bad the media and the democrats didn't like him. While I don't agree with everything Governor Dean has said, I did like his message about everyone making some personal sacrifices for the general good.

Unfortunately, good Americans go shopping Bush was re-elected. Because he told people what they wanted to hear and not what they needed to know. So much for feel good politics.

michael sean morris said...

I never really understood what the fuss was about that shouting incident (that derailed Dean's 2000 campaign), but did Leno and Letterman ever crucify him for it. Which just goes to show you, people say they want sincere politicians, but don't know what the word sincere means.

RG said...

Love Howard Dean. He says what is needed to be said - whether you like it or not.

Remember when he said he wanted to be the President for the people who have Confederate flags on their pick-ups and gun racks in their rear-windows and was crucified for it in the press? He told the truth. We can't handle the truth! LOL