Howard Dean’s Threat

Howard Dean revealed his hand in late July when protestors forced him in Charleston to address whether August’s rollcall vote.  This is what he said:  “There will be a roll call vote at the convention if Hillary Clinton wants one,” he said.’  “We all respect each other and we certainly respect Sen. Clinton.  This is a unified party.  It is not easy to be on the losing side, and I know … because four years ago, I was on the losing side.”

Let’s dissect this:

“There will be a roll call vote at the convention if HRC wants one.”

In other words, a roll call vote is up to the willfulness of a candidate, not based on the traditions and values of the democratic party.  It’s based on whether HRC selfishly pursues her candidacy and disrupts the facade of party unity.

“We all respect each other and we certainly respect Sen. Clinton.”

Having a roll call vote is a ceremonial show of respect and nothing more.  If Clinton respects us, she’ll sacrifice her place on a ballot and promote our selection of party candidate.

“This is a unified party.”

Just in case you believe that a roll call vote is more than ceremonial, it’s not.  Everyone must be behind Obama.  Sen. Clinton’s name as a viable candidate is not going to happen.  This is a coronation.

“It is not easy to be on the losing side, and I know … because four years ago, I was on the losing side.”

Howard Dean paralleling his 2004 run to Clinton’s 2008 one is a stretch.  Let’s look at the 2004 results.  He came in third and garnered less than a million votes, around 900,000– nothing near Clinton’s total of 18 million – and later, people gravitated to Kerry without being forced to as is now being done with Clinton supporters.

This is the breakdowns of 2004 primary votes:

John Kerry – 9,930,497.  John Edwards – 3,162,337.   Howard Dean – 903,460.

So Dean in Charlotte showed his hand.  It’s a poor — and sad — one indeed.