I think he should not have to take a background role, and I feel it is probably something being pushed on him..like it was not pushed on McAuliffe. I think it affects enthusiasm and probably fundraising when he is not visible.
From an April interview.
OK Blue NotesOn sharing the role of party spokesman with the leaders of Congress:
“In the beginning I was pretty outspoken but now others have that role. When you have the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader you don’t need the chairman of the party being on the talk shows. But early on I was on a lot of those talk shows because I felt I was one of the leading spokesmen for the Democratic Party.
“You know, I am happy…but I am not as visible as I was…because we have the majority in Congress and the House. That is real power. We didn’t have that when I started and now we do. My object is not to make sure I am the center of power. My object is to make sure things get done. I am very satisfied with what is going on in Congress. I am very happy. I think Sen. Reid and Speaker Pelosi are both doing a great job and I wouldn’t say so if I didn’t think so, as you well know.
Now there appears not to be many being outspoken, so he is wrong on that point.
I wonder if he feels the same confidence after the last couple of weeks about Congress's actions? He said this in a phone interview with Helen Thomas. I guess it is to the point that he could not go on TV and say it. Thus there is really no one saying it in a public way. We need public right now. We need outrage on TV.
Dean says not to be over-confident
Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is warning Democrats not to be too overconfident about their election prospects in 2008. Dean expresses optimism that the Democrats will keep control of Congress and also win the White House but then he injects a note of caution.
"This election is far from over," Dean said. "Republicans are good at winning elections. They've got lots of money. They are very tough."
In fact to be even more blunt about how I feel....I think we need to get the soft-spoken, play-nice strategists off the air and put more outspoken on.
I fear the talk of bi-partisanship is winning the day.
