Chairman Dean

      By: Emily Thorson  |  February 12, 2005

      Today I sat in the Hilton in Dupont Circle and watched Howard Dean become the new chairman of the Democratic party.

      A year ago today, I was somewhere in the backwoods of Wisconsin (sorry, UWW) as his presidential campaign was ending. I still have a message on my voicemail from that time that I've saved for a year now. It's from another campaign staffer, and says "What are we going to do? What are we going to do when we have to go back into the real world?" He was talking about non-campaign life, but you can say the same about politics.

      Those of us who worked on the campaign—at any level, from volunteer to campaign manager (well, maybe not campaign manager)—understood that we were living through a radically different moment in political time. The energy, the experimentation, and above all, the trust—I didn't think we would get that back again. We still haven't, and I'm not dumb enough to think that one new guy in charge of the party is going to fix everything that's wrong. But it's a start.

      "The path to power, oddly enough, is to trust others with it. That means putting the power where the voters are."
      Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee Chairman

      In summary: OMG, Howard Dean is the chair of the DNC. That is so weird. Awesome, but weird.

      Leave a comment

      Comments

      Anonymous (not verified) — Wed, 02/16/2005 - 16:18
      It is weird, because it leaves us asking, "Now what." It seems that former Howard Dean supporters should now regain the fight, but there's not an immediate goal motivating anyone and at least in MO it seems that what grassroots networks did exist, thanks to Dean's influence, have since fizzled following November's disappoint. Which brings me to my questions: now that Howard Dean is DNC chair, how do we start a strong grassroots movement to promote progressive ideals and candidates and start now versus waiting for the 2008 or even the mid term elections? Are there good online resources pointing people in the direction of progressive campaigns, which we can begin working on? I've noticed that many of the websites that were started previous to the last election are out of date, and perhaps abandoned. How do we revive the pre-election energy and help capitalize on what at least on the surface is an exciting development for the party?
      Brendan Watson (not verified) — Wed, 02/16/2005 - 16:19
      Didn't mean to be anonymous by default.
      Rep. Mark B. Cohen (not verified) — Thu, 02/17/2005 - 22:29
      Stay in touch with Democracy for America, Blog for America, Grassroots for America, and dfa.meetup.com to keep track of the Dean folks. Democrats.org is the website of the Democratic National Committee, and it should be atracting many of them. The Dean networks are still alive, still engaged, and still a vital force for worthwhile change.
      Brendan Watson (not verified) — Fri, 02/18/2005 - 22:59
      They're still alive according to whom? Just because there is a group of regular submitters to those sites doesn't mean that there is a substantial network. Where I live (Columbia, MO) it seems that the grassroots political energy, with one notable exception of an organization that is challenging an attempt to ban canvansers from a public housing building, has totally fizzled out. The Democrats have moved out of their offices, and they've gone home to lick their wounds until the next presidential election. We have to figure out how to have an effective political organization year around so we can actually start challenging Republicans is a meaningful way, not just on the national level, but also at the State and national level. The Republicans here in Missouri are running away with the state and no one is saying boo. I can't say too much, though, because I am not active (though it's partly because there aren't good sources for political information at the state and local level sense many of the presidential election sites and other sources are no longer being updated). Especially on the internet, we have to stop thinking of politics in terms of presidential and mid-term elections, and start training people to think about it as a constant force.
      maximus (not verified) — Sat, 02/19/2005 - 04:32
      Please pass this onto other people. How can the people force a mean spirited conservative congress to pass a progressive agenda? Simple. I have picked some well known companies that appear related to issues that progressives find important. Boycott these companies and make them lobby congress and get what we want or they go bust. While I agree we need to elect a Democratic congress and a Democratic president, with a consumer boycott we the people can exert influence every single day and not just at election time and not just with letters or petitions but with petitions with the bite of a boycott. Join the revolution for progressive legislation http://www.boycott-republicans.com Write this url on your one, five and ten dollar bills. Call Eckerd Pharmacy Corporate Headquarters at 800 325 3737, Call CVS Pharmacy Corporate headquarters at 888 607 4287 and Call Walgreens Pharmacy Corporate headquarters at 800 289 2273 and tell them you will not purchase any products from their drug stores until they get the Republican congress to repeal the faulty prescription drug benefit and replace it with a simple 80 percent coverage benefit under Medicare Part B. Then sign the petition. Call Walmart at 800 WALMART and tell them you will not buy from them until they get the Republican congress to stop social security privatization, increase the minimum wage to TEN dollars an hour, and extend unemployment insurance for people who lost jobs and sought work for more than 6 months. then sign the petition. Sign the petition to stop social security privatization, increase the minimum wage,extend unemployment insurance for people who lost jobs and sought work for more than 6 months and repeal the faulty Republican prescription drug benefit and replace it with a simple 80 percent coverage of medication under Medicare Part B. Please get two other people to sign this petition. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/progressive Sign the petition to stop the War and Occupation in Iraq http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/stopthewar Boycott Wendy's Restaurants and Outback Steakhouses. Why you say? Wendy's Restaurants operate out of Dublin, OHIO and Outback Steakhouses operate out of FLORIDA. Now you see. I have picked two well known companies that operate out of the states that have brought us stolen elections by the immoral Republican Party. These companies operate restaurant chains that have restaurants around the United States. Now why boycott them after the effort to overturn Bush's second stolen election has failed? Boycott them, call them, email them and tell them that we will not go to their restaurants until Ohio and Florida elects democrats to Governorships, Secretaries of state and majorities in their legislatures in Ohio and Florida. In other words we will punish them for allowing the stolen elections to happen in 2000 and 2004. Will it work? Well do it and see. I had a petition to demand a revote in Ohio and Florida at http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/revote but now I use it to allow people to express their opinions on the 2004 and 2000 stolen elections and encourage them to boycott Wendy's and Outback Steakhouse, 2 famously Republican contributors. Thank you. Also visit these fine websites http://www.Buyblue.org http://www.2005blue.com http://www.choosetheblue.com http://www.imblue.net