Howard Dean and the Christian Broadcasting Network

"Howard Dean: Democrats Have Much in Common with Evangelicals" is the headline of the story on their interview.

CBN News asked Dean, how important is it to tap into this value voter/evangelical community to win in 2006?

"I think it's important, and I think it's a good idea for the Democratic Party anyway," Dean said. "Even if we didn't even need evangelicals to win, we ought to be communicating to the evangelical community for two reasons. First, you shouldn't [exclude them], and [if you do], you're not going to do a good job. You shouldn't govern if you're ignoring a whole section of the population."

He continued, "The second reason is that Democrats need to talk about their values. Values motivate lots of voters, not just evangelicals. Values motivate all kinds of voters. People want to know who you are." He added, “The Democratic Party platform from 2004 says that marriage is between a man and a woman. That's what it says. I think where we may take exception with some religious leaders is that we believe in inclusion, that everybody deserves to live with dignity and respect, and that equal rights under the law are important.”

Matt Stoller on MyDD accuses Dean of selling out the gay community in order to pander to the Christian conservatives.

I'm sure that there will be lots of people out there willing to tolerate this level of stupid pandering because they assume that this is both politically wise (it isn't) and that Howard Dean has his fingers crossed. I'm sorry but I don't play that game. I expect leaders to be strong and principled, not craven. Evangelicals may vote for Democrats this year, or they may stay home. But it will have nothing to do with outreach like this. They are simply embarrassed at what they voted for in George Bush. No one likes being on team failure, and that includes the Christian right. You beat failure by projecting strength, not by pandering.

I'm anticipating a lot of whining about this post from both Dean supporters and Democrats uncomfortable with gay rights. Listen, if you really want Democrats to be 'on message', or to 'stand for something', or to promote our 'real values', or any other cliche out there about what ails the party this is the moment when you call bullshit. It's easy to stand for lower gas prices. It's easy to stand against selling national security assets to Dubai. But that's not when your brand is created. Strong leadership happens when you do something hard, when you make choices, and when your values matter sufficiently that you are willing to stand up for them.

Howie opinion: It's going to be a long, painful journey to November.