Prometheus 6   

More Dean

Chris at Interesting Times, a Dean supporter, has the text of an addition to a speech Dean just gave where he takes a better shot a this. In fact, he has a whole lot about the Dean/Confederate flag dustup.

Meanwhile, Digby's extended discussion is on point.

Tristero thinks this is an absolutely brilliant ploy designed to turn the Confederate flag into a wedge issue to split the Reasonable Republicans from the Racist Right.

Now, my advice.

Mr. Dean, you must remember Mr. Kucinich. He's catching flak from your colleagues because he represented a notoriously race-conscious district years ago. If they won't let him off the hook for that, they're not going to forget your Confederate flag statement, and anything you say that can be spun as racist will be used against you. And Black folks will be watching as they may not have had you said NASCAR Dads.

When I suggested you say their name, this wasn't quite what I had in mind, but it's a start, and the attention CAN work to your advantage.

You need to have a catalog in your own mind of those issues that benefit the people in the South that truly should see voting Democratic as the self-interested move. You need to do the same as regards Black folks' concerns and note the significant overlap. And you need to lead with the overlap issues when speaking to these groups. You can do this because that overlap is HUGE.

You should say "to benefit people like you" to each group. Let them assemble the people like them in their own mind. And using the same terminology ("people like you") to push the same agenda to people who see themselves on opposite sides, showing both will objectively benefit from said agenda, is a true "uniter, not a divider" move. If pushed to identify exactly who "people like you" are, the correct answer is "Americans."