H 60°, L 38° | Tomorrow: 
H 67°, L 44°It is not a surprise that the Democratic Party is in need of serious internal reform after the disastrous 2004 election, and the newly vacated Democratic National Committee chairmanship is the perfect place to start. While Terry McAuliffe raised millions of dollars for the party and had noble plans of energizing the Democratic base, he lacked the most fundamental component the DNC Chair needs: leadership. While Democrats may now be energized and more willing to participate now, they are still fractured and lacking cohesion. The new DNC chair must be able to unite all Democrats in order to have a fighting chance at winning in the next election cycle.
This is where Howard Dean comes in. Or, rather, doesn’t come in.
After the announcement of his expected entrance into the crowded field of Chairmanship candidates, one must hope Dean doesn’t win.
Dean’s ideas are easy to believe in. While war with Afghanistan was understandable, going into Iraq was not.
The way to win elections is to energize the base and create a strong grass-roots organization.
And the most basic Democratic principles that Dean supports are surely agreeable. Despite all this, Howard Dean is terrifying.
Next to Hillary Clinton, Dean is the most divisive member of the Democratic Party. At a time when the Party so close to falling apart and even the most trusted election strategy fails (who ever thought increased voter turnout would help the Republicans? Certainly not the Democrats), electing Howard Dean would guarantee future defeat.
A national organization’s leader reflects on all of its members.
To most people, the most memorable part of Dean’s campaign was his infamous ‘scream’ the night of the Iowa primary.
When Barak Obama gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, it was because he was the image the party wanted to project: an intelligent, complex, charismatic Mid-westerner with the charm to appeal to moderates and die-hards alike. Howard Dean has none of these traits. His image of a brash, wild, crazy liberal does not exactly appeal to many moderates and few liberals and will therefore not garner enough broad support to win major campaigns.
This is not to say that the Democratic Party needs to pander to the moderates and become a ‘Republican-lite’ party. By sticking to our core democratic values and reclaiming ‘liberal,’ I truly believe that the Democrats can win election after election. The key to this success, however, is communication. The party leader must be able to communicate these beliefs effectively and in essence ‘sell them’ to the country. However, in order to be able to effectively communicate with the people, they have to be willing to listen. After the disappointing Iowa primary, it was clear that either Dean was not successfully communicating his positions, or the people were not listening.
Had Dean emerged as a potential leader during the Clinton Administration, the tune would be different. There can be little doubt that he is committed to the Party and will do whatever he can to win elections, but sometimes commitment and energy are not enough. With the current political landscape of the country and Dean’s presidential campaign still haunting him, he can only harm the party’s chances at political victories in upcoming elections.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that Howard Dean lost the primary and lost in spectacular fashion. The people found him to be simply unelectable. He failed in his mission to run a successful grass-roots campaign and has not done anything to show the people he has learned from his mistakes and can be an effective leader.
If the Democratic leadership decides that Dean should be the face of the party, there is no chance of the Democrats emerging victorious in future elections.
Jackie Lantz (jslantz@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in political science.
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At this point it really doesn’t matter who the democraps choose … they will be in the minority for a very long time, perhaps forever.
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Hm, the Above Poster tosses the epithet “democraps” as if his Giant Intellect were Destroying the Weak Souls of Liberals Everywhere with his Witty Repartee. Sir, you could not Repartee your way out of a Burlap Sack. Mr. Dean is what my fellow compatriots used to call a Firebrand. That name also referred to Religious Phanatiques who Burn Down Churches of the Papists and those Not of the True Church of England, but I Digress. Dean has a Fire Inside that Ignites my Sensibilities. The other Candidates for DNC Chairman (like Hon. Martin Frost of Texas) are Republican-lite Clones who do not Effectively Pursue Counter Strategies. America has Much to Learn from Mother England. Why? In our Parliament (the Greatest Invention Against Tyranny in my Time) there is a Party of Opposition. In my Time, the Whigs worked hard and long to sweep away the Papist Tories who believed in God, King, and Country, but would Retard Progress in the name of Tried and True Old Fashioned Ideas of Civil Society. We swept them aside in a Glorious Civil Revolution by Bringing in the Hanoverian Kings…and while I go on and on, the Idea Here is that Big Ideas Create Big Change. Small steps produce little to nothing of Use. We must Think Big if we are to Accomplish Change. We (I Speak for all Big L Liberals, which are represented (poorly) by Democrats in your Upstart Country) need to have Big Thinkers if we want Big Change. Dean is a Big Thinker, He has Good Ideas regarding Health Care, The Issue of Homosexual Marriage, and the Affairs of State Regarding the Lands of the Middle East. In my day, we would call him the Leader of the Opposition, and be Happy with his Fire.
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I’m glad to see someone finally commenting on the papist menace. Keep up the good work, m’lord!
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“At this point it really doesn’t matter who the democraps choose … they will be in the minority for a very long time, perhaps forever.”
It’s funny. This is exactly the same attitude Rethuglicans had in the 1980s. And what happened then? Their best friend of all time, Bill Clinton, was elected to two terms.
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First off, it’s interesting that the last six op-eds by Ms. Lantz have had the word “wrong” in the title. It certainly is easy to find something wrong (such as the current lack of diplomatic tact by the current administration) with the world, but it’s much more difficult to find a solution. Maybe the author should try, because the viewpoint that Dean is wrong for DNC Chair is way off base.
The insinuation that Dean is not “intelligent, complex [or] charismatic” only shows that the author hasn’t even heard Dean speak, but instead only paid attention to his press coverage. Dean is a captivating and engaging speaker, something that 5,000+ Madisonians would attest to after his October ‘03 speech outside the Kohl Center. Dean is clear spoken and articulate, and actually takes a progressive/liberal stand on key issues (unlike a certain Democrat that recently ran for President). Dean also understands that moving to the center is not the way to unify our party and attract independant voters, something that other DNC Chair candidates seem lost on (e.g. Martin Frost or Simon Rosenberg).
Additionally, Dean’s focus on fiscal conservatism certainly draws people in from the center and right. It’s about liberal ideals and intelligent policy. That’s what makes Dean the right choice.
Simply labeling Dean wrong because of a few seconds of the obsessed media’s coverage is ridiculous and callow. Obviously President Bush has made his share of verbal gaffes, but that hasn’t appeared to hurt him much.
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“The way to win elections is to energize the base and create a strong grass-roots organization.” Howard Dean had strong grass-roots organization. Howard Dean energized the base.
“Next to Hillary Clinton, Dean is the most divisive member of the Democratic Party. At a time when the Party so close to falling apart and even the most trusted election strategy fails (who ever thought increased voter turnout would help the Republicans? Certainly not the Democrats), electing Howard Dean would guarantee future defeat.”
At a time when the Party was so close to falling apart, who was the ONLY man who gave this Party a backbone? Howard Dean.
“The most important thing to keep in mind is that Howard Dean lost the primary and lost in spectacular fashion. The people found him to be simply unelectable.” Good thing the people don’t vote for DNC chair.
Besides which, don’t you think it would be ok if the DNC chair had a little name recognition? Democrats remember him, and most remember him fondly. If you asked 10 people on the street who Terry McAuliffe is, 7 would have no idea. I bet half know Howie.
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Howard Dean would be a horrible choice. Any party that strives to be a national party must have a Big Tent. As it is right now, the Democratic Party is really only a regional party, appealing only to urban sensibilities. Howard Dean will not be effective in generating interest in any other regions of the nation.
I am not speaking of Republican-lite here either, though I am a Republican. What I am saying is that the Democratic Party cannot censor moderate voices within its party. For example, no pro-life Democrats are allowed national prominence. Let’s not neglect the gun issue which has turned from a strength into a weakness for the Democratic Party. What made Bill Clinton a great Democrat and effective president was his ability to appeal broadly accross all regions. He was also a centrist. I do not think that Howard Dean can navigate the Democrats to the center.
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Zell Miller it is, then.