Howard Dean Goes Off The Reservation Again

The worst thing that happened to the Democrat Party in 2004 wasn't that John Kerry lost to George W. Bush. It was that Howard Dean lost to John Kerry.

Not because Dean could have beaten the president in the general election, but because Dean would have been trounced by the president -- and Dean would have disappeared like another New England governor who lost to a Bush. Instead, Dean became a folk hero to the Left, and his star shined a little brighter after the pitiful campaign Kerry ran -- or should I say the campaign actually ran over him.

Dean engineered the chairmanship of the Dems, and to this day, I'm uncertain what good he has done for the party. I can, however, point to several embarrassing moments. The latest is his appearance on whack-job Pat Robertson's network. Just agreeing to appear should have been embarrassing enough.

But no. Doctor Arggggggh and his famous smugness had to take it a step further, and the smartest kid in the class couldn't get his facts right:

Dean told Christian Broadcasting Network News that the 2004 Democratic platform declares "marriage is between a man and a woman" -- just one of the points he made in reaching out to religious conservatives who are largely hostile to the party.

But the platform does not define marriage that way, and his remarks prompted the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to return a $5,000 donation from the Democratic National Committee.

Dean later acknowledged his misstatement, but the group sent back the money anyway. "We need for Governor Dean to demonstrate real leadership on our issues," executive director Matt Foreman said in an interview, "not to equivocate depending on the audience."

Now no one could expect even the political party's chairman to know every single policy stance. But one would think he could get the big ones right. Maybe he's so use to his party's "anti-" positions on almost everything else, that he assumed it's against gay marriage, too.

The platform (which was the losing platform) states: "We support full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of our nation and seek equal responsibilities, benefits, and protections for these families." Which when you read it doesn't really say the Democrats support gay marriage or even civil unions. Maybe that's in another part of the platform. I haven't read the whole thing, which I guess means I'm qualified to be the DNC chairman.

One could look at this as gay-baiting, which Dean has treaded closely to at times and crossed the line on others -- even including his so-called bold decision to sign the Vermont civil union bill into law.

This decision and his shameful attacks on gay marriage supporter Ralph Nader are covered in detail here. Many of us were never sure where he was going with the "guns, God and gays" comment. The media tells us he was admonishing Southerners who left the Democrat Party over its positions on those three issues. But for those of us who live here, we were left wondering: "Why did he have to bring us into it?" Instead of resonating with Southern voters, Dean's tin ear simply reminded the rednecks who the enemies are.

And, most recently, Dean fired the Democrat Party's gay outreach adviser after the adviser's partner (also a party activist) chided Dean for inaction on issues he considers important to gay Americans. Dean claims there was no connection between the criticism (made public on April 27) and the firing (on May 2). Five days later. Yeah, no connection there.

Maybe Howard Dean is simply mad at the gays. Is he holding this guy against every homosexual? Blame Toby if you must, but not us all.