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September 16, 2003

Why Dean Not McGovern II

Really, I like TAPPED. I love the American Prospect. I've written for them.

But why are they aping the rightwing line now on how Dean is McGovern.

Yes, Dean's focus on the Internet could have been dangerous and attracted a narrow segment of the population, however seemingly vibrant. I said that a while ago here and here.

But that's last month's story. Dean has smartly turned around and is aiming his politics and army at the broadest base of progressives possible, towards labor activists and communities of color. As I noted last week in arguing The Silliness of Dean-McGovern Comparison (when it was rightwing media making the argument), the singular fact of McGovern's candidacy was he is the only Democrat since FDR not to have the AFL-CIO endorsement.

It was not McGovern's mastery of new technologies of grassroots mobilization that doomed his candidacy. It was his failure to master the old techiques that built the New Deal.

Dean seems to be mastering both. Just look at him using his web site to send activists to promote his campaign at Freedom Ride sites-- that's the meshing of old technology with nitty-gritty organizing.

Posted by Nathan at September 16, 2003 08:49 PM