Dem Leaders Back Dean

It is just about time these guys showed some sense of solidarity: After a meeting of the DNC's 40-member executive committee at a downtown hotel, members said Dean was doing exactly what they elected him to do -- build the party in all states and aggressively challenge Republicans. Maybe they are finally realizing that Dean's way is the best way, and it is about time they stopped letting themselves be pushed around and the party itself be defined by a bunch of hypocritical right-wing Repugs. As for the inside-the-beltway Democrats like Jack-Ass-Joe Biden and Pretty Boy John Edwards, all they seem to care about is their own chances at a presidential bid in '08. The real Democrats seem to have the right train of thought. "Howard Dean is going to be much more aggressive, much more outspoken and much more of a risk-taker outside the Beltway than any chairman has been. We knew that," said Alvaro Cifuentes, chairman of the DNC Hispanic caucus. "We have to get our politics out of Washington. We cannot continue to be held captive by party leaders who I respect but who have to play their own local politics," Cifuentes said, calling congressional Democrats "timid" and the flap over his comments "mostly a Beltway play." As one DNC member stated, after saying she was stunned by the way many congressional Democrats have been acting lately. "We always defend them, why won't they defend us? And they want us to support them for president?" she asked. "I have no desire to lose, I just think this is the way you win -- you let people know where you stand and you fight." It's time for the Washington elite Democrats take note and start conducting themselves accordingly. MORE....