Ignoring Dean, Matthews claims that “netroots” critics of health care reform “never ran for office”

Written by Matt McLaughlin

Published

On his MSNBC show, Chris Matthews attacked what New York magazine writer John Heilemann called “the Democratic left” who have “trash[ed] the health care bill and attack[ed] the president; Matthews stated: ”I don't consider them Democrats. I consider them netroots," and added, “I think a lot of those people are troublemakers who love to sit in the back seat and complain. They're not interested in governing this country. They never ran for office, they're not interested in working for somebody in public office.” In fact, Howard Dean, who, as The New York Times reported, “has urged the Senate to scrap the bill and start from scratch,” ran for president in the 2004 Democratic primary after having served for more than 11 years as governor of Vermont.

Matthews' claim that “netroots” figures “not interested in governing this country” and “never ran for office” undercut by Dean

From the December 17 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MATTHEWS: I don't consider them Democrats. I consider them netroots, and they're different. If I see that they vote in every election or most elections, I'll be worried. But I'm not sure they're regular, grown-up Democrats. I think a lot of those people are troublemakers who love to sit in the back seat and complain. They're not interested in governing this country. They never ran for office, they're not interested in working for somebody in public office. They get their giggles out of sitting in the back seat and bitching.

NYT: Dean “has urged the Senate to scrap the bill and start from scratch.” The New York Times reported on December 16:

The new version of the Senate health care bill is “a political disaster for Democrats -- a ticking time-bomb for years to come.”

So warns Democracy for America, the organization founded by Howard Dean, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and headed by his brother, Jim.

Since Senate Democrats dropped the public option -- a government-run health insurance plan that would compete with private insurers -- from their bill on Monday, Mr. Dean, a doctor and the former governor of Vermont, has urged the Senate to scrap the bill and start from scratch.

Dean ran for president in 2004 Democratic primary. Dean served as governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and established his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president on May 30, 2002. He won the Vermont primary on March 2, 2004, but withdrew from the race and endorsed Sen. John Kerry on March 25, 2004.