Mr. Dean and the DNC
By Drew Ludeke
There are a set of unwritten rules to follow in politics and sometimes, if you play close enough attention, you can catch someone pulling the political equivalent of shooting himself in the foot.
It’s quite the funny sight, depending on your sense of humor and political leanings, and unless you were living in a cave last January, you definitely witnessed Howard Dean break a rule when he got a little too enthusiastic about a taking third place in a caucus. To be more precise, he screamed, and with that the nail was put in Dean’s electoral coffin.
Dean eventually dropped out of the race, but if it were not for Dean lighting a fire under the asses of Democrats who were content to be the left wing of the Republican Party, the 2004 election could have been a devastating loss for the Democratic Party.
Wait a second. Okay, maybe we made the wrong choice with Kerry, but thanks to Dean at least we went down with a fight.
I really wasn’t too disappointed by the end of Dean’s candidacy, but rather by the media circus surrounding his demise. It solidified Dean as some angry liberal firebrand, an image which was all I knew him for thanks not only to “The Scream” but also his nearly solitary opposition to the Iraq war. I was against the war too, but I’m also a moderate Democrat and I thought the best way to win the 2004 election was by walking the middle of the road to get votes.
In hindsight, I don’t think that it was a bad strategy; we just picked a bad candidate. I stuck to my guns on that theory and needless to say I was shocked when Dean was nominated as chairman for the Democratic National Committee two months ago. I wasn’t the only one who was taken aback.
“I was surprised that he got the chair initially because he’s such a polarizing figure, but Democrats did it because he’s good at mobilizing the base,” says Ithaca College politics professor Donald Beachler. “He has the potential to ruin the party because he has become perceived as the snotty liberal elite Vermont governor.”
“He was a pretty untraditional choice for a traditional position,” says fellow IC politics Professor Martin Brownstein.
Little did I know that there was more to Howard Dean than screaming and opposing a war. Before he stepped onto the national political scene, Dean was the respected governor of Vermont, known for balancing his state’s budget and creating policy providing healthcare to children and pregnant women. Most of all, Dean was known as a moderate centrist who supported gay marriage and was endorsed by the NRA.
After fearing and opposing his possible nomination for some time, I am now eating my words as Dean has slowly helped to revitalize the Democratic Party. As the battle over Social Security rages on Capitol Hill, Dean and other Democratic leaders Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are mobilizing their base despite their weakened status in Congress. Dean also brings his campaign fund-raising abilities to the party as evidenced by the success of his Internet donations during his presidential run. Depending on how the 2006 Congressional elections turn out, I could owe Dean a big apology for doubting him (I don’t know the man, though, so I’ll just apologize to his supporters).
In the long run, though, is Dean the proper move for the party? Currently, we have the outspoken Dean, a good choice considering the current ineptitude of the Democratic Party. But should the DNC chair be a public figure? The DNC Chairman is the person who mobilizes the party base behind the scenes and organizes campaign funding for critical elections. It’s so much of an unpopular position, I can’t even tell you who the head of the Republican National Committee is (Editor’s Note: It’s Ken Mehlman).
So what happens when the Democrats do regain some of their former strength? Will Dean step out of the spotlight and be a moderate Democrat working behind the scenes, or will he remain the public galvanizer? Does his presence give the Republicans more ammo than they need to appeal to middle-America come election time?
“I don’t think he’ll be a fireball all the time,” Brownstein says. “Right now, he has to stir up the public opposition. There’s a vacuum in politics and Dean has to push the Democrats back into the fold. When he does that, then he will have a lesser role in the organizational structure.”
Maybe I am taking all this a little too seriously, but like many devoted Democrats, I was crushed by the Republicans’ significant wins last year and I want make sure this is done right next time around. Before Dean’s nomination, I saw the GOP getting a little too cocky for its own good. Their heads had gotten large and many Republicans didn’t even seem to mind flaunting some of their more ultra-right wing agendas, so much so that even moderate Republicans began to balk. Thanks to the image of Dean screaming and before I got to know more about him, I saw Dean as too liberal and an easy target for conservative bashing, too abrasive to mobilize the base. Why go to the far left in picking your leadership when this was a perfect time to slowly reclaim the middle away from the Republicans? Since then, I have realized that Dean is one of the few people bothering to create a platform for the party based around Democratic ideals, not just liberal ones. He has to be the firebrand at the moment because it’s the only way that an outnumbered and divided Democratic party will ever be able to formulate an effective policy.
“They’re looking for a message,” Beachler concludes. “Dean’s strategy has the potential to either drive the party off the cliff or clearly define their message, but him playing the centrist doesn’t work anymore. Look what happened to Kerry. The Democratic Party has to find a way to appeal outside of the Northeast and the West Coast.”
Putting Dean in such a critical position not only matters in terms of what he’s doing but also what he represents for the Democratic Party’s image and infrastructure.
“If Dean can teach the Democrats to butch up, then he’s done his job,” Brownstein says.
Whether this will work in terms of the Democrats recapturing some of their former strength, only time and patience will tell but at least the wayward Democratic Party without a platform is starting to move in some sort of sensible direction. But as Professor Beachler warns, we are either in the middle of falling off a cliff or climbing up it at the moment. Whatever happens in the end, no matter what you do, don’t scream, Howard.
Drew Ludeke is a senior cinema and photography major who’s got the “hoooo-hah” to get far in this world. He will be sorely missed next year. E-mail him at dludeke1@ithaca.edu while you still can.