Saying goodbye to the old, accepting the new

Last month, through their mid-term elections, our American neighbors decided to shift their philosophical direction for the next two years; perhaps more. With Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic party national committee, providing the face-off speech at this week's liberal convention, the Canadian liberals seem ensnared in the tail of the same comet currently soaring leftward, further and further adrift from both parties original ideals, of the responsibilities that come with liberty.
What to make of the puzzling summary Dean offered of his nation's current political divide:

"One [party's] strategy feeds on fear, depends on our differences and ultimately conquers by dividing. That is not sustainable," said Dean, without referring to either the Conservative or Republican parties by name.
"The other strategy is about hope and promise..."

I look at the United States, and have but one way of seeing which party fits each of Dean's labels. Why is it that he sees the opposite?
I look at the political history of Democratic leadership, and see it today turning further away from its older tradition; does Dean honestly see it as still the same old party, continuing those same traditions?
I wonder: how would Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy (JFK and RFK), even Woodrow Wilson, have handled 9-11, for example... would they conduct themselves the same way as today's party leaders?