Howard Dean -- the latest big name Dem to sell out the anti-war movement even as public opinion is moving against the war:
Dispatch: The Turning of Middle America
In the heartland, Americans are turning away from George Bush and his war in Iraq; unfortunately, Howard Dean and the Democrats aren't.
By Stewart Nusbaumer
Interstate 70, Indiana -- He blasted out of my car radio as I zipped along Interstate 70 past boundless Midwest farmland.
“I’m no bleeding heart, understand? I’m a Republican. But I got to tell you I’m not feeling good about voting for Bush?”
“Why is that?” the radio host asked.
“You know, I really don’t care if they kill each other over there in Iraq. It's not my concern. What I’m concerned about is every time I pull up to the gas pump I have to pay $2.50 a gallon. I’m concerned about our border -- illegals are pouring across! I don’t care what they do to each other in Iraq.”
It was the voice of a straight-talking Joe Six-Pack from the Heartland of America. It was an angry white male who is now angry at President Bush. It was a Republican regretting that he voted for Republican George Bush. This sounded good.
“And I’m concerned about the economy, it’s not looking good. I don't care what they say, it ain't looking good.” Then he repeated, but slower this time, “I’m not feeling at all good about voting for George Bush.”
While Republican Joe from Indiana has changed from supporting the war in Iraq to opposing it, along with millions of other Americans, Howard Dean, the former antiwar Democratic presidential contender and now Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has changed from opposing the war to supporting the occupation of Iraq. Several weeks ago in Minneapolis, speaking at the American Civil Liberties Union convention, Dean, said: “Now that we’re there [in Iraq], we’re there and we can't get out.”
Not all Democrats agree with Howard Dean's view that we must stay in Iraq. Tom Hayden certainly doesn't.
I do not believe the Iraq War is worth another drop of blood, another dollar of taxpayer subsidy, another stain on our honor. Our occupation is the chief cause of the nationalist resistance in that country. We should end the war and foreign economic occupation. Period.
To those Democrats in search of a muscular, manly foreign policy, let me say that real men (and real patriots) do not sacrifice young lives for their own mistakes, throw good money after bad, or protect the political reputations of high officials at the expense of their nation's moral reputation.
Although Joe Six-Pack probably has a negative view of the former 1960s activist, if he knows who he is, he agrees with Hayden that the war is not worth “another drop of blood” and we should not “throw good money after bad.” This conservative Republican from rural Indiana agrees with Jane Fonda’s ex-husband and the former leader of a radical 60s organization, Students for Democratic Society (SDS), yet disagrees with the chairman of the mainstream Democratic National Committee. If that doesn’t make Democrats nervous, they’re brain dead.
Opposition to the Iraq War is crossing the ideological divide. In the bars of America (which I know something about), non-liberals are getting fed up with this war. Although seldom said, there is the growing feeling that Iraq is becoming another winless, bloody Vietnam. In Republican strongholds in the Midwest, conservatives are slowly, reluctantly turning against not only the war but also George Bush. Unfortunately, mainstream Democrats appear to be on the wrong side of this change.
Although Howard Dean (along with Dennis Kucinich) carried the antiwar flag during the Democratic presidential primaries, possibly costing Dean the nomination, he has now abandoned that position at the exact time Americans appear to be catching up to his antiwar stand. Polls consistently show that a majority of Americans believe it was a mistake to get involved in Iraq, and the numbers are steadily increasing. The realization that Iraq was a mistake is now reaching even solid Bush supporters.
What this Republican from a Red state who voted for George Bush said -- he wants our troops out of Iraq and wants our government to refocus on improving the economy, securing our national borders, and reducing the soaring price of gasoline -- certainly sounds reasonable, and represents an opportunity for Democrats. Yet, if mainstream Democrats continue to believe that we must stay the Bush course in Iraq, then we will spend more billions of dollars -- we’ve already spent $300 billion -- and the United States will lack the resources to improve the economy and strengthen our security. In short, Democrats will lose the opportunity to grab the Joe Six-Pack's of America.
Will Democrats, then, step forward and present a plan to withdraw our troops from Iraq? Or will they simply mimic their Party’s chairman to stay the Bush course? Will Democrats craft a domestic agenda that focuses on the economy and national security, unlike Bush, whose agenda focuses on tax cuts and business benefits? Or will they continue to remain quiet? Will Democrats address the growing frustrations and disappointments of Bush supporters? Or are they just too timid? We're waiting to hear, and so is one angry Republican in Indiana.
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