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Dean's Visit Energizes
Posted 7-20-2005
Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean was recently
in Pittsburgh for what turned out to be an energizing rally. Despite
extremely hot temperatures outside and even hotter temperatures inside, the
hall was packed with enthusiastic Democrats from all over the region. Dean
is doing what no recent DNC chairman would do; he is rallying the Democratic
Party and energizing it from the bottom up. The event in Pittsburgh was no
high-end fundraiser. Tickets were twenty-five dollars, so, unlike his
predecessor, Howard Dean is willing to engage ordinary democrats, rather
than only those that cut the big checks. That difference alone is
encouraging.
Howard Dean's message was
clear. We are fighting back against the two prongs of the Republican Party
-- its members and its lackeys in the media. We are challenging them on
domestic issues, the tragic misadventure of Iraq, and, on what seemed to be
the buzzword in the last election, values. Dean made it clear that we are
playing offense, not defense, and, if it offends the Republicans, so be it.
Howard Dean's message on
abortion was clear. The Democratic Party is not "pro-abortion," and he never
met a single person that was. Our party has consistently defended a woman's
right to make that decision and not have the government make that decision
for her. He stated it should be our society's goal to create an atmosphere
where abortions are safe, legal, and rare. He also pointed out that
abortions declined during the Clinton years, but have again increased since
Bush took office. He also pointed out that even Democrats, who oppose
legalized abortions, recognize that our responsibility to children doesn't
end with their birth.
Dean also described his
travels around the nation, to places like Mississippi where Democrats are
fighting battles tougher than ours in Pennsylvania. Mississippi is where a
handful of Democratic state senators stand between children having health
care coverage, like the CHIP Program we have, and losing access to health
care. He talked of the need for our nation to recognize what the rest of the
industrialized world knows that universal health care is a "moral value". He
talked of how the opportunity for meaningful employment, with a fair wage is
a "moral value", and how giving citizens an equal opportunity to vote and to
have their votes counted is a "moral value".
Of course, Dean mentioned the
race that next year may be the hottest in not only Pennsylvania, but in the
nation; the race between State Treasurer Bob Casey and the junior Senator
that supposedly represents us, but moved his family to Virginia. I am sure
you know who that person is. He's the guy who when he ran for Congress in
1990, attacked incumbent Congressman Doug Walgren for having his family in
Virginia. Slick Rick has no qualms about having a Pennsylvania school
district pay for his children's cyber education, but he really doesn't
respect us enough to have them live here.
The crowd at the event was a
combination of young and older democrats, with a handful of party officials
from the city of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, the commonwealth and some of
the surrounding counties. People had to wait a little while for Dean to
arrive in sweltering, oppressive heat. But, everyone remained enthusiastic
and really showed Howard Dean that regardless of what Washington insiders
feel about his in-your-face style, it energizes people and gives us hope
that we will regain control of Congress, the Senate, and most importantly
our nation.
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