Months ago, our writer called for Howard Dean to be head of the DNC. Her wish came true...
On December 6, 2004, Natalie Binder called for Howard Dean to be named head of the Democratic National Committee. Congratulations, Natalie, you got your wish. Here's the original article, outlining her logic.
This year the Democratic National Committee will select a new chairman. With an eye toward healing the rift between Clinton centrists and the party's liberal base before Election 2008, the committee's leaders have quietly offered the top position to Dr. Howard Dean—former governor, former presidential candidate. It's a neat piece of political maneuvering, solving many of the profound moral conflicts hobbling the broken Democratic Party. I doubt most of us will understand the full implications of Dr. Dean's appointment until it is done. But I know enough to make a silent prayer for Democrats everywhere and for Dr. Dean especially:
Please, please, let this man become the leader of the DNC.
Now that the Democratic Party has made the overtures, the only thing standing in the way of Dean's candidacy is ego—his own and that of his supporters. Ego is the reason the good doctor has sequestered himself, refusing to respond to the party's gracious offer. Howard Dean still hungers for the big chair, and Dean's loyalists fear a loss of power and influence. Humiliated by this year's loss, Dean's grassroots base greets any communication from the Democratic establishment with understandable suspicion. One can only hope their concerns do not permanently damage Dr. Dean's prospects.
Those who worry about what Dean might sacrifice by trading national leadership for partisan leadership should consider instead the devistation another Dean loss would wrought. The fact is that unless something dramatic happens in American politics in the next four years, Howard Dean will never be the Democratic nominee for president. His prickly attitude and lack of media savvy have permanently ruined his chances. He may run, and he may succeed in undermining the victor, but he will not win. Dr. Dean's last chance for political influence is his quick acceptance of this season's consolation prize.
Howard Dean stands today as a beaten man. He does not lead anything save the remnants of his failed campaign: a few loyal staffers, a group of active bloggers, and a little bit of money. Yet, the party is inches away from laying itself at his feet, and Dean has responded with the profound confidence of a victor, a man who can pick and choose his reward.
It is this confidence, this casual arrogance, this ferocious idealism, that makes Dr. Dean such a wonderful candidate for the chairmanship. Howard Dean cannot accept defeat, and while he may not always carry on with grace, he always carries on. Compromise is not a word in his vocabulary.
Despite his early defeat, he managed to turn his campaign into an active and powerful PAC with hardly a word to his bloggers or MeetUp groups. One of thequiet liberal victories of 2004 was the triumph of the Dean Dozen —or rather, the Dean Dozens. Nearly all of the victorious Democratic candidates, in nationwide and local elections, were endorsed by Dean and partially funded by his PAC. In their number: one senator and one representative, both new Democratic governors, and two mayors. Of the 634 candidates Dean endorsed nationwide, 319 won their races. Democracy for America also provided the deciding funds for a third recount of the Washington governor's race.
One could argue that Dr. Dean has been far more effective campaigning for other Democrats than he ever was campaigning for himself.
A fiscal conservative a social liberal, he stands out as a pragmatist and a moderate, but is widely perceived as a raging leftist. Both Howard Deans are deeply appealing to a Democratic Party that has lost its way and a nation of Democrats who have lost their faith.
Dean can inspire passion and commitment from blue staters of all stripes; he can even compel lapsed, angry liberals to open their checkbooks for the DNC. Then, with a turn of his head, he can turn into a hard-nosed statesman. The doctor in him emerges, the earthy idealist, the man who walked away a lucrative career on Wall Street, the governor who balanced eleven budgets in eleven years. Suddenly, Dean is deeply appealing to conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans. And after eight years of Bush's characteristic excess and nanny state moralizing, most classic Republicans will be feeling a little blue.
Dean seems to be one leader who really can have it both ways.
I also suspect Dean will be a far better administrator than he ever was a candidate —and he'll enjoy it more. Being a good President means signing on for an endless series of compromises, a lifetime of moderation, a decade of peacemaking. I can't imagine Dean giving ground on anything, ever. Yet, being a good party leader means getting geared up for an endless series of fights, a lifetime of never giving an inch. One can imagine Dr. Dean needling a freshman representative into playing ball, or efficiently courting closet pro-lifer Arlen Specter.
Even Dean's deeper flaws work for him in this respect. While many Americans might be nervous about voting for a man who released the campaign-killing Scream of 2004, there's nothing better than a party chair rumored to be a little crazy. Democratic Congressmen will listen to him and he'll make Republican Congressmen uncomfortable. And let's not forget Dr. Dean's profound, untouchable confidence. He may be a difficult man to convince, but he is also a difficult man to dissuade. Sometimes he seems to have enough spine for the entire Democratic party, and if he decides to lead them, he'll need it.
True, making Howard Dean the DNC chair will remove a dangerous thorn in the side of Clinton centrists with presidential ambition. To them, a Dean chairmanship may seem like a token gift to the embittered left. They may even seek to cash in on the Dean franchise. But the inner machinations of the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party need not concern the governor.
One of the many lessons of the Dean candidacy is that Dr. Dean is entirely his own man. In the end, those who seek to control Dr. Dean or remove him from the debate will find themselves holding the proverbial hot coal. Howard Dean, rebel Democrat, will never be controlled. Thus, in every debate with subordinates he acquits himself as the boss.
This is the last, most convincing argument for a Dean chairmanship in 2005.
With Dr. Dean as the DNC' left-wing enforcer, liberal energy will return to the heart of the party. As the left-wing's representative to fiscal conservatives, he will reel in disillusioned Republicans. With his dark horse reputation and independent stance, he will be able to vocally advocate for liberal policy without undermining centrist and conservative Democrats. And he will be able to stand up to Republican victors and Democratic cowards with the ferocity of the eternal idealist.
With that, he may be able to bring back the moral strength of the Democratic Party. Certainly, he will hold more power and more responsibility than he ever would as the also-ran psycho of 2008. Finally, when the Democrats choose a more popular nominee in four years, he (or she) will be forced to team up with Dr. Dean in the quest for the presidency. Both will come out of the gate stronger for it.
Best of all, by accepting the chairmanship in the same brave spirit with which it was offered, Dr. Dean may seal the breach between the party's bruised liberal heart and its timid centrist mind. It may be enough to ensure a blue victory, but even if it isn't, I must believe that the deal would be good for Dean, good for the Democrats, and good for America.
