Howard Dean pulled out of the race for the Democratic nomination Wednesday after his winless campaign suffered a large defeat in the Wisconsin primary.
After returning to Vermont Tuesday night and capturing only 18 percent of the Wisconsin vote, Dean told a crowd of campaign workers and supporters in Burlington, Vt., Wednesday he was “no longer actively pursuing the presidency.”
Although formally withdrawing, the former Vermont governor pledged he would use his campaign’s infrastructure to begin a large movement to influence candidates remaining in the race, the Democratic Party and American politics at large.
“We will, however, continue to build a new organization, using our enormous grassroots network to continue the effort to transform the Democratic Party and to change our country,” Dean said.
Dean did not endorse either Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) or Sen. John Edwards (NC), who continue to campaign in a competitive two-man race after emerging from Wisconsin a close first and second place, respectively. Nevertheless, Dean said his supporters must not defect from the Democratic Party because of his decision to drop from the race.
“Let me be clear, I will not run as an independent or third-party candidate, and I urge my supporters not to be tempted to support any effort by another candidate. The bottom line is that we must beat George W. Bush in November, whatever it takes,” Dean said.
The decision to leave the race came after Dean’s loss in Wisconsin, a state he previously labeled a must-win for his campaign to remain viable. Although leading in the polls before the beginning of this year’s primary season, Dean was unable to regain momentum after placing third in the Iowa caucuses a month ago.
Dean argued that his campaign would continue to spark change by transforming the Dean for America movement into a grassroots organization to keep people once involved in the campaign, organized and in-touch. Dean said the unique nature of his campaign, such as its large base of small donors and the use of meet-ups to bring Dean supporters together, must be maintained to continue building on the progressive changes he has made to the Democratic Party.
“The new approach, planting seeds on the Internet, strengthening grassroots, face-to-face obtaining support from hundreds of thousands of small donors, all these steps can revitalize our democracy and return power to ordinary Americans,” Dean said.
He also encouraged his campaign supporters to remain active in the remaining primaries and caucuses and to run for local political office themselves.
Although Dean supporters no longer have their nominee in the running, some still feel the Dean campaign was successful in transforming the Democratic Party platform. For many, the promise and the connections of Dean for America do not fade simply because of Dean’s failure to win votes.
“I have a lot of pride of what we had a part of,” Aaron Mann, a UW freshman and Dean supporter, said. “The type of support and the type of network that Dean created is really special and it would be difficult to not stay a part of it.”
