Whither Dean??

Tags:health care, howard dean, obama, Politics.

So, why is Obama snubbing Howard Dean? 

I was a Dean supporter when he ran for president. He’s an amazing individual who would have made a great chief executive… if the “liberal media” hadn’t skewered him over “the scream.” But Dean didn’t fade into the background after that incident. He went on to develop the strategy that won Obama the election. 

First of all, Dean pioneered Internet fundraising. Before Dean, every campaign was primarily funded by large donors and federal matching funds. Dean blazed the trail to funding campaigns on small individual donations. Dean and Joe Trippi were the first people to fully grasp the power of direct social networking over the Internet. Obama just refined the technique. 

Second, Dean’s so-called 50 state strategy was conceived of before he became the chair of the DNC and implemented after. If there’s any single factor that lead to Obama and the Democratic party’s success, it’s the 50 state strategy. Before Dean came along, the Democratic party had offices in red and purple states that were empty for years. They paid the rent but never staffed them. Dean hired the staff for all these offices and created the infrastructure that allowed Obama to be competitive in states where the pundits said he had no chance. If Dean hadn’t done the ground work, Obama would never have been able to ramp up his ground game as quickly and effectively as he did. 

So, why is Obama ignoring Dr. Dean? In my opinion, Dean should have been named to head HHS. It seems as if Obama appointed Daschle because he needs a point man in the Congress to get his national health care plan through, and I can understand the move as a practical matter given Dean’s lack of experience on the Hill. But what about other jobs? Dean should have been the front runner for Surgeon General, but Obama gave the job to Sanjay Gupta. One could argue that this was also a move to solidify his plans for national health care, making Gupta a high profile spokesman for the plan. Gupta is TV friendly and known to many people with an interest in health care, but Dean is no slouch when it comes to communicating over the idiot box. Additionally, Dean is far better known than Gupta and would have made a solid and authoritative advocate for national health care. 

I’m pretty supportive of the picks Obama has made for his cabinet so far but I’m upset that Dean isn’t among them. All the choice high profile slots are filled at this point and Dean is out in the cold. Unless Obama turns to Dean in the near future I think it’s becoming increasingly obvious that he intends to turn his back on the man who paved the way to his ultimate victory. That’s a very shabby way to treat Dean IMO.

Updates coming…

Tags:announcement, blog, coming, reskin, soon.

Now that I’m clear of a number of projects it’s time to finally ramp this blog up. I’ll be reskining it with a better interface soon and announcing it to my friends and family. The side bar content was just updated and some weird flukes fixed (Twitter and Flickr widgets weren’t updating, but are now). So keep you eyes peeled for big changes at Mod’rn Muse!

Senate.gov overloaded?

Tags:david wu, ron wyden, senate, senate.gov, site down.

Just when I have something to say to my Senator, the entire family of Senate Websites seems to be down. Could it be that their feeble servers are overloaded by people trying to give feedback on the financial meltdown? Seems pretty likely.

For what it’s worth, here’s the email I was trying to send:

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Dear Senator Wyden:

 

I am deeply concerned about the violent and potentially dangerous atmosphere that Senator McCain seems to be encouraging amongst his supporters. The continued insinuation that Senator Obama consorts with terrorists, that his name brands him an outsider and that he places his personal ambitions above the good of the nation create an environment in which the risk of violence becomes very real.

My father, Harold Hughes, was an associate editor at the Portland Oregonian for many years. Previous to becoming an editor, my father covered national politics for the paper. While working in that capacity, he covered the assassinations of both John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. In fact, he was standing just a few feet away from Robert Kennedy when he was shot. I have a deep awareness of the events that led up to these two heinous killings and I see disturbing similarities between what happened then and what’s happening at Senator McCain and Governor Palin’s campaign rallies. It is my reasoned opinion that the creation of a mob mentality in order to curry favor with radical elements is reckless and that silence from the McCain campaign on this issue represents tacit approval of this behavior.

I’m calling on you and on my Congressman David Wu to join with your Republican counterparts and publicly denounce this escalation of harmful rhetoric. We must demand that the McCain campaign address this issue by telling their supporters that shouting “terrorist,” “traitor,” and “kill him” at rallies is unacceptable and does not represent the kind of values that the candidate and this nation stand for. The threat posed by fomenting this level of anger impacts not just Senator Obama but every man and woman who seeks public office. It is of vital importance that our public officials understand that they have a fundemental moral responsibility to speak out against this and do everything in their power to defuse the situation. The last thing this nation needs, particularly in this time of world economic crisis, is a repeat of the disasters of the JFK and RFK assassinations. If we as a community fail to make our opposition to violent rhetoric heard, we will have blood on our collective hands should the unthinkable come to pass.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

-Christopher G. Hughes

Back from Vacation

Tags:los angeles, photos, san francisco, vacation.

Just back from my ten day vacation to San Francisco and Los Angeles. It was a great trip, filled with all sorts of sight seeing, visiting of friends and generally having a great time. Make sure and check out my Flickr photo stream for pictures. I’ll be uploading a lot of them over the next few days. Enjoy!

Chamber Music Northwest

Tags:chamber, Music, northwest, oregon, portland.

Attended Chamber Music Northwest last night. The performances were excellent. The theme was “French Favorites” and included a couple of pieces featuring harp. Of particular interest was Maurice Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet and Strings. The show didn’t go off without some hiccups. The originally scheduled pianist injured his wrist and was replaced by Shai Wosner, who put on an excellent show. Unfortunately two cell phones went off during the concert. Very annoying. Other than that it was a fun evening.

Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go

Tags:basye, books, children, dale, tweens.

A good friend and former co-worker Dale Basye made his auspicious debut this week as the next JK Rowling – or so I’m sure he hopes. His tween-targeted book Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go is the story of two siblings who find themselves in a sort of supernatural reform school. Think middle school populated by demons both mythical and historical. Lizzy Borden, Blackbeard and Richard Nixon figure into the story, as do a whole host of others. The book features fantastic illustrations by Bob Dob. Do yourself (and your kids) a favor and go grab a copy today! Available now at fine Internet browsers near you… and in every bookstore across the nation. It’s published by Random House after all. Congrats, Dale!