Dean Says Democrats Will Make Schiavo Case an Election Issue
I don't like how this is worded. While I agree with the sentiment of holding this case up as an example of one of many Republican intrusions into people's private lives, to "use" Terri Schiavo was a bad choice of words on Howard's part.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Friday that his party would wield the Terri Schiavo case against Republicans in the 2006 and 2008 elections, but for now needed to stay focused battling President Bush on Social Security.

"We're going to use Terri Schiavo later on," Dean said of the brain-damaged Floridian who died last month after her feeding tube was removed amid a swarm of political controversy.

Dean, who has called congressional intervention in the Schiavo case "political grandstanding," singled out House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) for his leading role in the matter.

"This is going to be an issue in 2006, and it's going to be an issue in 2008," Dean told about 200 people at a gay rights group's breakfast in West Hollywood, "because we're going to have an ad with a picture of Tom DeLay saying, 'Do you want this guy to decide whether you die or not? Or is that going to be up to your loved ones?' "

Dean, a practicing physician until he became governor of Vermont in 1991, added: "The issue is: Are we going to live in a theocracy where the highest powers tell us what to do? Or are we going to be allowed to consult our own high powers when we make very difficult decisions?"

There, Howard. That's it. Hammer on that, not just Schiavo. There are many examples of this to talk about. School prayer, teaching evolution, religious displays on public grounds, theocratic tests for judges, pharmacists and birth control, gay rights, etc. etc. on and on. It's not just about Terri. It's the whole assault on freedom from religion. I want to hear the word "theocracy" over and over again.

Here's the funny kicker in all of this-

Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said Dean's "outrageous remarks help underscore why Dean is the leader of the minority party."

"Terri Schiavo was never about partisan politicking, but instead about a woman's life," she said.

The legal counsel to Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Florida) resigned this month after acknowledging he had written a memo calling the Schiavo case "a great political issue" for Republicans.

HAHAHA! Do you guys ever listen to yourselves?