Howard Dean for DNC Chair
Over the past few weeks, we have seen an exraordinarily public discussion of who should be the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee. This has been a welcome and refreshingly open process. The terrific field of candidates offers great hope for the future of the party. But I believe that of the group, Howard Dean is far and away the best man for the job.
I was agnostic during the Democratic presidential primary, having focused my attention on state-level politics. So my appreciation of Dean has come slowly. His theme of citizen empowerment, and his critique of the over-centralized party, and the over-centralization of most campaigns for elected office at all levels, resonates with me. It is out of a similar sensibility that I am involved in Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts. We have ceded too much power to consultants, pollsters, and centralized campaigns. It is time for a popular citizen reform movement.
I have written about the development of the Christian Right as a political movement for many years. That the GOP has triumphed in recent years in considerable part because the Christian right developed independent political operations, working outside of the constraints of the traditional party apparatus and highly controlled electoral campaigns. Among other things, their efforts have effectively expanded the party base not only of voters, but the pool of experienced and competent electoral activists. It is only in the past two years that analogous thinking and action has begun to emerge in the Democratic Party. Howard Dean has been a leader in the development of new models of citizen involvement and electoral action in the Democratic Party.
In a recent column that appears on the website of Democracy for America, Dean writes:
"Letting go of central control is what gives voters real power. When I used the phrase "you have the power" during the campaign, I meant that by working together, Americans could overcome the forces of the right wing and reassume their constitutional role in running the country. What I didn't understand was that "you have the power" was more than that. It didn't apply only to people's ability to change America, it also applied concretely to their ability to make everyday decisions about how they would cause that change."
"In our campaign, Americans without any previous political experience made decisions about when to leaflet, what to say in the leaflet, where to leaflet and how to organize. They organized and ran hundreds of organizations such as African-Americans for Dean, Latinos for Dean, Punx for Dean, Irish Americans for Dean, etc., which sprang not from a central 'outreach' desk in Burlington, but spontaneously all over the country, finding each other on the Web, and creating a national organization from local ones."
"The idea of a decentralized campaign terrifies most politicians who have gotten used to putting out ideas and letting others respond. We discovered that the path to power, oddly enough, is to trust others with it."
"The true mark of a modern campaign will be to listen to Americans and let them shape campaigns instead of simply allowing them to respond."
"Our campaign was far from perfect, and we did not win. But our organization today is almost 600,000 strong that we know of, and there are more people in the organization today than there were on the day I dropped out of the presidential race. People still meet monthly in about 500 locations across America to talk about how to bring reform, and then they act on their plan locally."
"I wish I could tell you that this was all because of my leadership and charisma; that is not so. The reform movement lives because it isn't mine. Our people know that they have the power in their own communities, linked across the country, to elect reform-minded people. They did exactly that on six months notice all across the country in places like Utah, Alabama, and Idaho, not just New York and Ohio."
"If Democrats use this model, we will effectively leapfrog the Republicans, who despite their discipline and organization, are still a top-down, control and command organization."
Dean has a rare mix of inspired leadership, managerial competence, and proven fundraising ability -- a combination that no one else in the field can match.
In his plan for the DNC, Dean says he would, among other things, "Develop and articulate core Democratic principles that we all can agree on, that will let people know what our party stands for. We will not win elections or build a lasting majority solely by changing our rhetoric, nor will we win by adopting the other side's positions. We must say what we mean -- and mean real change when we say it."
His innnovations in the field of campaign fundraising are now, of course, legendary. Campaign politics will never be the same. The "netroots" dimension to political and electoral life owes much to the innovations of the Dean campaign.
In addition to having a clear, energetic message of party and political reform, and an inspired and inspiring message of citizen empowerment, he has considerable managerial experience from having served as Governor of Vermont, during which time he earned the respect of his fellow governors who elected him as chair of the Democratic Governors Association. Dean also has endorsements from, among others, people who have done the job before -- former DNC chairs Steve Grossman and David Wilhelm.
Howard Dean is the right person at the right time. I hope the DNC is wise enough to take this historic opportunity.
I was agnostic during the Democratic presidential primary, having focused my attention on state-level politics. So my appreciation of Dean has come slowly. His theme of citizen empowerment, and his critique of the over-centralized party, and the over-centralization of most campaigns for elected office at all levels, resonates with me. It is out of a similar sensibility that I am involved in Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts. We have ceded too much power to consultants, pollsters, and centralized campaigns. It is time for a popular citizen reform movement.
I have written about the development of the Christian Right as a political movement for many years. That the GOP has triumphed in recent years in considerable part because the Christian right developed independent political operations, working outside of the constraints of the traditional party apparatus and highly controlled electoral campaigns. Among other things, their efforts have effectively expanded the party base not only of voters, but the pool of experienced and competent electoral activists. It is only in the past two years that analogous thinking and action has begun to emerge in the Democratic Party. Howard Dean has been a leader in the development of new models of citizen involvement and electoral action in the Democratic Party.
In a recent column that appears on the website of Democracy for America, Dean writes:
"Letting go of central control is what gives voters real power. When I used the phrase "you have the power" during the campaign, I meant that by working together, Americans could overcome the forces of the right wing and reassume their constitutional role in running the country. What I didn't understand was that "you have the power" was more than that. It didn't apply only to people's ability to change America, it also applied concretely to their ability to make everyday decisions about how they would cause that change."
"In our campaign, Americans without any previous political experience made decisions about when to leaflet, what to say in the leaflet, where to leaflet and how to organize. They organized and ran hundreds of organizations such as African-Americans for Dean, Latinos for Dean, Punx for Dean, Irish Americans for Dean, etc., which sprang not from a central 'outreach' desk in Burlington, but spontaneously all over the country, finding each other on the Web, and creating a national organization from local ones."
"The idea of a decentralized campaign terrifies most politicians who have gotten used to putting out ideas and letting others respond. We discovered that the path to power, oddly enough, is to trust others with it."
"The true mark of a modern campaign will be to listen to Americans and let them shape campaigns instead of simply allowing them to respond."
"Our campaign was far from perfect, and we did not win. But our organization today is almost 600,000 strong that we know of, and there are more people in the organization today than there were on the day I dropped out of the presidential race. People still meet monthly in about 500 locations across America to talk about how to bring reform, and then they act on their plan locally."
"I wish I could tell you that this was all because of my leadership and charisma; that is not so. The reform movement lives because it isn't mine. Our people know that they have the power in their own communities, linked across the country, to elect reform-minded people. They did exactly that on six months notice all across the country in places like Utah, Alabama, and Idaho, not just New York and Ohio."
"If Democrats use this model, we will effectively leapfrog the Republicans, who despite their discipline and organization, are still a top-down, control and command organization."
Dean has a rare mix of inspired leadership, managerial competence, and proven fundraising ability -- a combination that no one else in the field can match.
In his plan for the DNC, Dean says he would, among other things, "Develop and articulate core Democratic principles that we all can agree on, that will let people know what our party stands for. We will not win elections or build a lasting majority solely by changing our rhetoric, nor will we win by adopting the other side's positions. We must say what we mean -- and mean real change when we say it."
His innnovations in the field of campaign fundraising are now, of course, legendary. Campaign politics will never be the same. The "netroots" dimension to political and electoral life owes much to the innovations of the Dean campaign.
In addition to having a clear, energetic message of party and political reform, and an inspired and inspiring message of citizen empowerment, he has considerable managerial experience from having served as Governor of Vermont, during which time he earned the respect of his fellow governors who elected him as chair of the Democratic Governors Association. Dean also has endorsements from, among others, people who have done the job before -- former DNC chairs Steve Grossman and David Wilhelm.
Howard Dean is the right person at the right time. I hope the DNC is wise enough to take this historic opportunity.
posted by Frederick Clarkson at 7:59 AM
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