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The analysts and commentators have been analyzing and commentating away. They 've got a short-list now of eight Democratic leaders
interested in leading the DNC position with the recent torch-passing by former Chairman
Terry McAuliffe.
I 'd usually do an analysis of all eight candidates and assess the pros and cons of each, but heck, Howard Dean is the only name on the list I recognize, even after all these years of being a grad school media junkie.
Howard Dean should be DNC Chair not only because he is the best positioned and most passionate leader of progressive causes, but because a Chairman Howard Dean would energize masses upon masses of the 50% of Americans that currently don 't even bother voting. And this would vastly expand the Democratic base.
Don 't you want to expand our base? Enough with concentrating on swing voters. Not only are swing voters suspect for even considering
Republicans in the first place, but there aren 't nearly as many of them as there are disempowered, disenfranchised poor and minority voters who
need a reason to support the Democratic Party.
Think about it. Approximately 100 million eligible voting-age Americans are not even voting in an election. That versus swing
voters. Let 's be generous and assume one-third of likely voters are swing voters, not already in one camp or another. That 's only 33 million voters.
If we do the math, Democrats would get three times a better return on their political investment if they concentrated on heartening
the disheartened and providing a clear, progressive vision for American 's disillusioned.
But it 's not only about math, it 's about principles. I probably don 't have to go through a litany examples of DLC sell-outs, Lieberman
compromises, and pandering by Daschle, to convince readers that we have misguided members of the Democratic Party who wrongly think we should try to act more like the enemy.
It was sad to see Daschle defeated, I admit, in perspective. But it would been a lot easier for Democrats to support and defend him if he was a Senate Leader who supported and defended core Democratic values.
Here 's how big corporate interests work. They have so much money, especially now with the Bush tax cuts, that they 've got enough to fund
a GOP war machine, and enough left over still to fund Centrist Democratic candidates.
So make no mistake that Progressives have to fight corporate interests on both fronts, both within and without the Democratic Party.
We have to keep asking, why are there Democrats who haven 't signed on to Senator Kennedy and Boxer 's bill to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.65/hour? Why were there Democrats who signed the energy deregulation bill, like John Edwards? Why Democrats who supported the Iraq war and the Patriot Act? These are abominations on the national party, the party which many of us in the grassroots continuously work so hard to support.
Most Americans, I believe, have every reason to vote Democratic, except for their valid perception that in the balance of things,
Democrats are too much like Republicans. We have to stop offering them small change and stop shying away from the big issues at heart on Main Street.
Democrat, Republican, what 's the difference? How many times have we organizers heard that, especially from young people? Let 's have a DNC Chairman who can embody and articulate that difference.
Howard Dean, as a 2004 presidential candidate, and later as the leader of Democracy for America (DFA), had a progressive vision
for America. He was the only Democratic frontrunner candidate to have opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq (less popular candidates
Kucinich, Moseley-Braun, and Sharpton notwithstanding). Dean was openly talking about health care for every child. Dean wasn 't afraid to call the Republicans on their horrific policies, while a frail and wispy John Kerry just hemmed and hawed and found vague language to not offend anybody.
Let 's talk about moral values. Here 's what Dean wrote in his weekly syndicated column, "It is a moral value to provide health care. It is a moral value to educate our young people. The sense of community that comes from full participation in our Democracy is a moral value. It is a moral value to make sure that we do not leave our own debts to be paid by the next generation. Honesty is a moral value. "
In the summer of 2002, I took a Greyhound bus cross-country to Washington DC to hear all 9 original Presidential candidates speak in-person, except for a no-show Lieberman (Bush Lite), at the Take Back America Conference. This first annual conference by the Campaign for America 's Future is now a growing institution in planning for its third year.
I remember Dean speaking in person ... he brought the room to cheers and tears and standing ovations. Kerry, Mr. War Resolution himself, was
annoying by contrast, though I 'd promised to stay open-minded. To be fair, Kucinich and Moseley Braun 's speeches were equally inspiring, but
today, Mr. Dean is the only one seeking the DNC Chairmanship of the three.
We need to look at the Chairmanship as less of a CEO position, and more as the job of Head Rabble-Rouser.
Plus, everybody knows that Howard Dean is totally hot when he shouts for justice, peace, welfare, and democracy. Maybe the corporate media called it un-presidential, but it 's no less than the perfect qualification for our Chairman.
