Howard Dean Running For DNC Chair

The following is Howard Dean's announcement that he is running to be Chairman of the DNC.  I like Howard Dean, but I am not convinced that the way to win is to preach harder to the choir in order to wake up those people who are not currently participating in the process and get them to vote.  It sounds a lot like the Barry Goldwater/"Silent Majority" stratagy of the 1964 campaign. 

Of course, as we do well locally, registration and participation building activities are vital, but the philosophy that we will energize the sleeping liberal base and have them all vote in the next election is unreasonably optimistic.  I do like Dean's enthusiasm and his charisma, but if yu go back and look at his position on issues he is not quite the liberal we all believe he is.

My biggest concern isn't his political philosophy, but the perception, wrongly created by the media, that Howard Dean is crazy.  It is very hard to convince people that your party is right when the leader is percieved as having a credibility problem.

With Dean in the race the dynamics will change.  We will have a newly elected leader in February. 

The field of announced candidates is:

Howard Dean, Former Vermont Governor

Martin Frost, Texas Congressman

Wellington Webb, former mayor of Denver

Simon B. Rosenberg, New Democratic Network founder

Donnie Fowler, Democratic Party strategist

Considering entering the race is:

James J. Blanchard, former Michigan governor

Timothy J. Roemer, a former Indiana congressman

Being urged to enter the race is:

Terry McAuliffe, Current DNC Chairman

Who do you think it should be?

Howard Dean's statement:

As I have traveled across our country, I have talked to thousands of people who are working for change in their own communities about the power of politics to make a difference in their own lives and in the lives of others. Every group I have spoken to, I encouraged them to stand up for what they believe and to get involved in the electoral process -- because the only sure way to make difference is to step up and run for office yourself.

Today, I'm announcing my candidacy for the Chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.

The Democratic Party needs a vibrant, forward-thinking, long-term presence in every single state and we must be willing to contest every race at every level. We will only win when we show up and fight for the issues important to all of us.

Another integral part of our strategy must be cultivating the party's grassroots. Our long term success depends on all of us taking an active role in our party and in the political process, by volunteering, going door to door and taking the Democratic message into every community, and by organizing at the local level. After all, new ideas and new leaders don't come from consultants; they come from communities.

As important as organization is, it alone can no longer win us elections. Offering a new choice means making Democrats the party of reform -- reforming America's financial situation, reforming our electoral process, reforming health care, reforming education and putting morality back in our foreign policy. The Democratic Party will not win elections or build a lasting majority solely by changing its rhetoric, nor will we win by adopting the other side's positions. We must say what we mean -- and mean real change when we say it.

But most of all, together, we have to rebuild the American community. We will never succeed by treating our nation as a collection of separate regions or separate groups. There are no red states or blues states, only American states. And we must talk to the people in all of these states as members of one community.

That word -- 'values' -- has lately become a codeword for appeasement of the right-wing fringe. But when political calculations make us soften our opposition to bigotry, or sign on to policies that add to the burden of ordinary Americans, we have abandoned our true values.

We cannot let that happen. And we cannot just mouth the words. Our party must speak plainly and our agenda must clearly reflect the socially progressive, fiscally responsible values that bring our party -- and the vast majority of Americans -- together.

All of this will require both national perspective and local experience. I know what it's like to lead hands-on at the state level and I know what it's like to run for national office.

With your help, this past election season, Democracy for America, already started creating the kind of organization the Democratic Party can be. This past election cycle, we endorsed over 100 candidates at all levels of government -- from school board to U.S. Senate. We contributed almost a million dollars to nearly 750 candidates around the country and raised millions of dollars for many more candidates.

Together, we helped elect a Democratic governor in Montana, a Democratic mayor of Salt Lake County, Utah and an African American woman to the bench in Alabama. Fifteen of the candidates we endorsed had never run for office before -- and won.

I also have experience building and managing a local party organization. My career started as Democratic Party chair in Chittenden County, Vermont. I then ran successful campaigns: for state legislature, lieutenant governor and then governor. In my 11-year tenure as governor, I balanced the state's budget every year.

I served as chair of both the National Governors' Association and the Democratic Governors' Association (DGA). And as chair of the DGA, I helped recruit nearly 20 governors that won -- even in states like Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Mississippi.

All of these experiences have only reaffirmed what I know to be true. There is only one party that speaks to the hopes and dreams of all Americans. It is the party you have already given so much to. It is the Democratic Party.

We can win elections only by standing up for what we believe.

Thank you and I look forward to listening to your concerns in the weeks ahead.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

Comments

[Craig Gernhardt]

Why don't you run? You seem not to have much clout in the 49th ward. But, You are a master at world problem solving.

[Emily]

I'm really excited that Dean is running. I don't think he was a great presidential candidate. But he knows how to raise money and to inspire people to work for him, and that's what we need in a DNC chair. Moreover, he's a man of conviction, something that's been sorely lacking in the Democratic party of late.

Moreover, I don't look at his plan as being a "wake the silent majority" type of plan. I think he correctly views many voters as being lured into thinking that Republicans represent their needs better than Democrats do. His solution is to make our message more coherent, and to win people over from the ground up. That means going local, and not ceding a single state, district or vote.

None of the other candidates seems to have the will or the ability to get this done. Terry McAuliffe has been a horrendous failure as DNC chair, and the last thing we need is "more of the same" on that front as well.

[Michi]

I agree with Emily. I think what Dean is saying is that Democrats need to be tougher, work harder. In the 49th ward, we pile up the numbers for the Democratic Party. That's important (as are our local battles for our progressive heritage), but we've got so much work to do beyond our borders.

I'm a host of the local Democracy For America Meetup (Gov. Dean's group), and we've been working hard to stay involved and having an impact at the grassroots level. At the moment, we're helping with the campaign of one of our fellow DFA members who is running for Village Trustee in Wilmette. After the municipal elections in April, we'll turn our energies to helping Congressional candidates in the 6th, 8th and 10th districts. Our continued activism is a direct result of Gov. Dean's inspiration.

I'm not a politician or a political pundit, so I don't think I can articulate this all that well. But, I just feel that there has been a sluggishness in the Democratic Party. A party that is so clearly aligned with the interests of the vast majority of the people should do better than it is. Gov. Dean represents a needed jolt to remind us of the strength of our ideas and values. We'll remind our base, but as a result, we'll also bring back those constituencies that have been lured or driven away.

So, Emily, if you're not yet involved with a DFA Meetup, come join us.