Posted on 02/21/2005 9:34:20 AM PST by CHARLITE
Though certainly not a surprise, it became official last Saturday: Former presidential candidate Howard Dean is now the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Consequently, there were a lot more Republicans than usual in church pews the next day, thanking God for answering their prayers. After all, the conventional wisdom is that Mr. Scream is the gift that keeps on giving; his positions are consistently so far to the left that he can't possibly assist the Democratic Party in garnering enough moderate independent votes to be able to win back the Congress in 2006, or the White House in 2008.
Of course, when it comes to conventional wisdom, given my contrarian proclivities, I think the herd – as always – is looking at this issue with a myopic predisposition that is preventing it from gleaning the truth. For instance, except for the type of people who read op-eds, how many folks who voted in 2004 knew who Terry McAuliffe and Ken Mehlman were?
Furthermore, as any watcher of "The Tonight Show" or patron of Sean Hannity's radio program knows from their "man on the street" segments, the average American can't even name the vice president of the United States, let alone the party chairs. As such, the importance of this position, and its relation to election results, is being greatly exaggerated.
In fact, regardless of the torrent of assertions to the contrary, Dean might actually be the most qualified person for the job. Case in point: Consider how he single-handedly put the Democrats in position to challenge for the White House this past election.
Flashing back to July 2003, the always-prescient conventional wisdom was predicting that nobody could beat Bush. However, entering from stage left, Dean, by becoming the anti-war candidate, largely motivated a party that appeared to have already ceded the result as a fait accompli.
Sure, in the end, it nominated Kerry. But if it weren't for Dean, the senator would have lost in a huge landslide.
Instead, seemingly out of nowhere, and with virtually no support from a media that never saw him as their Great Left Hope, Dean miraculously energized the base of his party in a way that no other candidate was able to do, especially Kerry. As reported by MSNBC:
"Before his defeat in the presidential race, however, [Dean] showed others in the party the power, energy and fundraising capacity of the party's grass roots. Kerry and the national committee later tapped into that same energy in the general election, and Democratic leaders see it as one of their most significant institutional assets to emerge from an otherwise disappointing election in 2004."
Of course, as that has now all become ancient history, what faces the Democratic Party today has become infinitely more important than this past election, namely, obstructing the agenda of the winner. After all, the success of the Democrats in 2006 and 2008 – and, therefore, maybe their very existence as anything more than a minority party – might hinge largely upon their ability to block Social Security reform.
If this is indeed the case, who better to lead the anti-reform charge than Dean, especially given that he might be the highest-profile Democrat not seeking re-election in 2006, and, therefore, not in jeopardy of losing another pivotal seat in Congress? As reported by MSNBC:
"Dean said Bush's Social Security plan would shred the social safety net while piling more debt on younger Americans. ‘Social Security is one of the proudest achievements of the Democratic Party, and we don't intend to let it fall victim to a dishonest scheme that only serves to heap greater debt on America's young people,' he said."
With the right music and a nice patriotic vignette, it'll make a strong public service announcement, won't it? Who in the Democratic Party can better elucidate such a cogent and provocative message to the masses that counters the verbiage being espoused by the administration on this issue?
Makes you wonder if the usual conservative suspects are so blinded by their revulsion for Dean's brash and often undisciplined political manner that they're missing the possibility that he is indeed the ideal Social Security hit-man in this debate.
Say what you want about the former governor of Vermont, but there really is nobody on the liberal landscape that approaches his effectiveness in rousing the rabble. And this is exactly what the Democrats need to counter the tsunami of conservative legislative proposals that are destined to continue rolling onto Washington's shores in the foreseeable future.
Though few conservatives like myself will admit it in mixed company, Dean shoots from the hip in a way that – when he isn't screaming like a cowboy on a bucking bronco – touches and enthralls the very people that the Democrats need right now to be so.
Maybe most important, with Dean at left wing, the junior senator from New York can take well-calculated moderate stances on key issues, thereby not jeopardizing her executive ambitions while resting assured that her chairman is expertly placating the progressives who compose the extreme flank.
As a result, while the real leader of the Democratic Party adroitly plays the protagonist to preserve her chances in 2008, no one on her side of the aisle has anywhere near the qualifications Dean does to perform the necessary role as the bad cop.
Noel Sheppard is an economist and writer residing in Northern California. He welcomes your comments at
I disagree with that notion. The democrats have always had a “machine” in which they can generate votes; both legal and illegal. They drive people in the city to the polls and coax whole buildings full of senile retirees to vote for the party of FDR So therefore, they will always challenge for the White House.
Interesting take on it. However, it will come down to whether the Donkeys can convince a majority of the electorate that fixing Social Security is a bad thing. There is enough evidence that they themselves were pushing this as a mandate not so long ago. The Dems who want to stay in office will be breaking ranks on this issue. As for Hillary, the further right she goes, the more she simply alienates that very sector that Dean is most effective with - the die-hard liberals...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.