Democratic contender for the presidency Howard Dean has some 'plaining to do in regard to a remark he made during a debate that might lead some people to believe he is sympathetic to neo-Confederates.
BOSTON (AP) - Howard Dean, under fire from his Democratic rivals, stubbornly refused to apologize Tuesday night for saying the party must court Southerners with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks.
``Were you wrong, Howard? Were you wrong to say that?'' Sen. John Edwards challenged the former Vermont governor in a hot, hip campaign debate.
``No, I wasn't, John Edwards,'' Dean shot back, adding that to win, Democrats must appeal to working-class white voters in the South who consistently support Republicans ``against their own economic interests.''
The exchange was the sharpest of the night in a debate that generally veered away from campaign issues such as Iraq and the economy, and into areas of interest to younger voters.
. . .Sekou Diyday, 25, a supermarket buyer, confronted Dean with the question about the Confederate flag and comments the former governor had made over the weekend in an interview with the Des Moines Register.``I was extremely offended,'' Diyday said. ``Could you please explain to me how you plan on being sensitive to needs and issues regarding slavery and African-Americans after making a comment of that nature,'' he said to applause from the audience.
Though I believe Dean's remark could be interpreted as insensitive, I don't think he meant to appeal to racist sentiments. I interpret his comment to mean that poor and working-class white people should be recruited by the Democratic Party instead of written off as belonging to the GOP. After all, their economic interest is as neglected by the Republicans as those of people of color. To me, the question is not whether these people should be informed about why they should become Democrats, but how to convince them. For too long, Southern whites have been encouraged to identify with the GOP on the basis of race alone.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
wow, he sure screwed up. Thanks MD, very balanced and well done.
2 - Al Barger
A perfectly reasonable interpretation, Diva. However, I don't think this flap was entirely accidental on Dean's part.
I tend to suspect that this was a perhaps clumsy attempt at engineering a little Sister Souljah moment, getting himself attacked from the left for making an attempt at reaching out to white Southerners, whom any Democrat desperately needs to reach out to in order to have any shot at actually being elected president.
If he had said something more neutral, invoking guys whose pick-ups have gun racks for example, that would not have had the same effect of drawing liberal fire for the least hint of cozying up to some people who do not hold completely politically correct opinions.