Howard Dean on Merlot Democrats & White Christian Republicans

From ABC's This Week program this morning , I learned a new moniker for a large subset of liberals....Merlot Democrats. Host George Stephanopoulos chided DNC Chair Howard Dean about stories that Dean has recently been using the term to describe Democratic Party supporters. And apparently it's true...... Dean fumbled and flushed at, but never denied, George's sly reference to rumors.

Writes uber-conservative pundit Jonah Goldberg ,"According to the Washington Post, as Dean has traveled around the country recently giving pep talks to members of his party, he has taken to describing its most loyal base as 'Merlot Democrats.'

This is a little odd, given that for decades now, Democrats have complained that Republicans unfairly call them names, making them sound more liberal, sissified and elitist than they really are. Years of GOP attacks on 'limousine liberals,' 'ACLU liberals,' 'San Francisco Democrats' and so forth have finally paid off. That's why you always hear prominent Democrats, when asked if they're liberals, respond, 'I don't believe in labels.' "

Well, Goldberg's correct that I, for one, chafe at labels. Maybe it's a liberal thing: we view people as individuals; we care about and fight for the problems of individuals and individual families...healthcare, voting rights, freedom of speech and worship, civil rights, education and more. We're not the party of big corporate interests, and no longer the party of big government. We resist stereotyping and being stereotyped.

I chastised DNC Chair Howard Dean at this site in June 2005 when he famously proclaimed that the Republican party is "pretty much a white, Christian party." Many of my readers were irritated with me for my stance, but I stand by it.....it's both wrong and stupid to classify and judge others on the basis of skin color and religion.

Dean's "Merlot Democrats" stereotype leaves out a substantial and rapidly growing portion of the Democratic party.....liberal Christians, many of whom don't drink. (And believe it or not, some are white.)

Mr. Dean, since you don't seem familiar with Christian denominations that support the same goals as the Democratic Party, here is a beginning, short list of just a few. Call them, Mr. Dean, and get to know them. They have all the moral leadership and clarity that conservative America now mistakenly thinks is missing from the Democratic Party. Liberal Christians will be THE difference between electoral victory and loss for Democrats in 2006 and 2008, Mr. Dean.

-- US Conference of Catholic Bishops - "Everyday Christianity: To Hunger & Thirst for Justice" project

-- The National Council of Churches USA, which represents dozens of Christian denominations, 100,000 local congregations and 45 million Americans

-- The Episcopal Church of the United States

-- The Presbyterian Church (USA)

-- The United Methodist Church of America

-- The United Church of Christ

It's your job (and privilege) as Democratic Party Chair, Mr. Dean, to allow liberal Christians a mainstream role and voice in Democratic decision-making, along with your Merlot Democrats.

And it will surely be the undoing of Democratic Party candidates in 2008 if you don't, Mr. Dean.
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Oh, and Mr. Dean, I know many, many more Republicans than Democrats who have expensive wine cellars chock full of premium California Merlot. Especially after all those Bush tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and corporate chieftains.
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Related Article -- Profile of DNC Chair Howard Dean
-- Howard Dean Should Keep His Mouth Shut or Quit as DNC Chair
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