Dean: Laying The Groundwork For The White House

[babylonsister]

DNC’s Dean Facing the Ultimate Test of ‘50-State’ Strategy
By Marie Horrigan, CQ Staff


Love him or hate him, Howard Dean and his approach to campaigning laid the groundwork for Barack Obama to be nominated Thursday night.

And the party appears on the cusp of solidifying gains in the midterm election and perhaps winning the White House.

Dean has built his tenure as chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) ‑ the ultimate insider’s job - on antipathy to Washington insiders. “This is a line that I probably shouldn’t use in Washington, but I will. When I came to the DNC we fired all the Washington consultants because we paid all of them a lot of money to tell us how to lose every four years,” Dean said earlier this month at a stop to rally party workers in Washington.

The lack of regard has gone both ways, and Dean’s desire to balance short-term gains with longer-term growth put him in opposition to many in Washington who were focused on the election cycle in front of them. Dean clashed during the 2006 election cycle with the chairmen of the House and Senate campaign committees, who argued that Dean should devote more party funds to competitive races.

Ire among some Democrats was so high that strategist James Carville described Dean’s term as “Rumsfeldian in its incompetence,” and called for his ouster as DNC chair just one week after Democrats took control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1994. Carville was one of several Democrats to charge the party could have won even more seats if Dean had used party resources to fund top congressional candidates.

Dean’s “50-state” strategy is designed to take advantage of the national environment now — opposition to the war in Iraq, concerns about the economy and President Bush’s record low approval ratings.

The DNC built a new voter database and paid for campaign workers on the ground in every state to bolster the state committees.

Dean has ushered in a new era of grass-roots activism for Democrats that allows the party to take advantage of technological innovations, focus on small donors and utilize the energy of Democrats in typically red-ribbed states across the country.

“Governor Dean’s advocacy of a bottom-up, people-led Internet-based politics has utterly transformed the Democratic Party and today you have Barack Obama having taken that model to a completely different level, giving him a financial advantage and a political advantage that we’ve never seen,” gushes Simon Rosenberg, president of the progressive think tank NDN and second place finisher in the 2005 election for DNC chair.

more...

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000002940498

[midnight]

1. I don't know alot about Howard Dean, but what I do know gives

me encouragement. He has done more for this country in four years than our congress, senate, and President. He has transformed our thinking. I wish he was going to be President, but his work he has been doing is just as important-obviously! "When I came to the DNC we fired all the Washington consultants because we paid all of them a lot of money to tell us how to lose every four years,”-Howard Dean.

[babylonsister]

4. Yes, Dr. Dean deserves a lot of kudos from all of us. nt

[last1standing]

2. Excellent article.

I'm proud to have supported Dean from the beginning and he's proved how right he was on every issue - even when the rest of the party laughed at him. The 50 state model has won us back congress, and soon the white house as well. He's done more for the Democratic party than anyone in years.

Watch out, though, babylonsister, madfloridian's not going to be happy that you beat her to posting this. :evilgrin:

[babylonsister]

3. I'm pulling the a.m. shift, she's got the p.m. one.

:hi:

[Peacetrain]

5. I love Dean

He had a vision, and the willingness to hang in there to get it put up.

[kansasblue]

6. Love him

Love him

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

7. 2006. Eom.