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Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Show some leadership

--Roland S. Martin, 360 Contributor

Where is Howard Dean? Leaders excel in moments of crisis. Leaders step up when others don't. In this, the chairman of the DNC has failed.

With two strong candidates running for president, the last thing the Democrats wanted was a diversion from real issues. And the race battle between Senators Clinton and Obama served no purpose other than to get the Dems off message, and potentially off the path to beating the GOP in November.

A number of people have told me that they personally emailed and called Dean, pleading with him to step in and end the madness. But he didn't, and shame on him for not doing so.

Let's assume he made some behind the scenes moves. What's more important is what the public sees, and what they needed was to see the chairman the leader of the party, the top dog, calling for unity and an abrupt end to the rancor.

Howie, sorry fella, you blew this one. If you make the mistake again, you might blow the election.

Posted By CNN: 7:10 PM ET
6 Comments

If the people who want to be President need a guidance counselor to show them how to be civilized, we're in real trouble.

Posted By

xtina - chicago IL : 7:26 PM ET

how do we know that once they're elected either obama or hillary will play nice. now i have visions of them holding these grudge matches with republicans in congress...

Posted By

ronnie- knoxville tn. : 7:40 PM ET

Mr. Martin,
Howard Dean has already done damage to the Democrats in MI and FL by taking away their delegates. Even though those people can still vote in their respective primaries, their votes won't count. That's a disgrace.

If Howard Dean had spoken out regarding the "race battle", would that have stopped the media's "political experts" from their on-going commentaries? I sincerely doubt it.

Even though both Clinton and Obama have stated they want to return to the "real issues", there are those in the media who have chosen not to respect that. That's not something Howard Dean can change.

Posted By

Jan from Wood Dale, IL : 7:48 PM ET

Roland/AC360:

Please, the DNC should not unleash Howard Dean. I agree with your alarm with the "race" diversion issue, but is Dean really we want to hear from on this issue?

He is a sore spot for many voters who voted "Democratic" during the last presidential election.

Posted By

Sharon from Indy : 7:52 PM ET

This whole issue has gone entirely too far and it's time to move on. With Obama a front runner in the campaign, it may be unrealistic to expect that the subject of race won't be raised, but this particular "fight" is completely ridiculous. A stern word from Howard Dean certainly wouldn't hurt.

Posted By

Fay, Vacaville, CA : 8:01 PM ET

Dean should have laid down the law privately and publicly. This is out of control, and the campaigns need to be reined in. I admire Bill Clinton, but he has been way out of line. "I have a list..."? You have to be kidding me.

Posted By

Cyn : 10:05 PM ET

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