Posted on 02/18/2004 4:40:37 PM PST by Zeppo
Howard Dean said today that he was abandoning his bid for the White House but would remain a presence on the political landscape to challenge the Republicans and continue to foster the grass-roots Democratic political activity that his campaign inspired.
"I am no longer actively pursuing the presidency," Dr. Dean said in a televised speech from Burlington, Vt., where he had returned after finishing a distant third in the Wisconsin Democratic primary on Tuesday. "We will, however, continue to build a new organization using our enormous grass-roots network to continue the effort to transform the Democratic Party and to change our country."
Dr. Dean, a former Vermont governor, issued a call to arms to his supporters, urging them to remain active in the primaries, to champion progressive delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Boston and political candidates generally, and to run for office themselves. "We will change the face of democracy so that it represents ordinary Americans once again — government that will not be bought and sold," he declared.
"We are not going away," he added. "We are staying together, unified, all of us."
But it remained unclear how Dr. Dean's particular and unique role would immediately help or hinder Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic front-runner, or his closest challenger, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, who scored a surprisingly close second to Mr. Kerry in the Wisconsin contest on Tuesday.
Dr. Dean did not say whether he would immediately endorse any of his former rivals, though he promised to support the Democratic nominee for president and insisted that he would not run as a third-party or independent candidate. Dr. Dean, in what may have been a veiled reference to a possible bid under consideration by Ralph Nader, urged his supporters to reject any independent candidacies that might emerge and dilute support for the eventual Democratic nominee.
"The bottom line is that we must beat George W. Bush in November, whatever it takes," he said.
But, he added, his organization will closely monitor the Democratic nominee and, if necessary, will be "letting our nominee know that we expect them to adhere to the standards that this organization has set for decency, honesty, integrity and standing up for ordinary American working people."
Dr. Dean had portrayed Wisconsin as a must-win state for his candidacy, but he garnered only 18 percent of the vote, compared with 40 percent for Mr. Kerry and 34 percent for Mr. Edwards.
In his speech today, Dr. Dean echoed his concession remarks Tuesday night by claiming a victory of sorts for influencing the debate among Democrats.
"We have exposed the dangerous radical nature of George W. Bush's agenda," he said. "We have demonstrated to other Democrats that it is a far better strategy to stand up to the right-wing agenda of George W. Bush than it is to cooperate with it. We have led this party back to considering what its heart and soul is, although there is a lot of work left to do."
Dr. Dean had telephoned both of his closest challengers, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards, following the vote on Tuesday, to congratulate them on their showings. Mr. Kerry, speaking to reporters before Dr. Dean's announcement, commended Dr. Dean for "invigorating a whole group of people who were divorced from the political process, and bringing them in, and of being innovative and creative in the way in which he's done it."
Mr. Edwards, whose close second-place finish in Wisconsin has fired up his campaign, issued a statement this afternoon saying: "Howard Dean has energized and revolutionized this race, and excited a whole new generation of young Americans. He deserves our thanks and so much credit for what he has accomplished. I hope he continues to offer his ideas, and encourages millions more to participate in this democracy so we win back the White House in November."
Mr. Edwards said earlier today that the strong support he received from independent and Republican voters in Wisconsin's open primary showed that he was the strongest candidate to confront President Bush in November.
"In order to win the general election in the fall, we have to be able to attract independent voters," he said CBS News's "Early Show." "The electorate is basically a third Democrats, a third independents and a third Republicans, and we have to be able to attract those people to be able to win."
He added: "I think the reality is, it's a very fluid race. It's now down to two people, Senator Kerry and myself."
On the NBC News program "Today," Mr. Edwards said he had spoken to Dr. Dean on Tuesday night but that the former governor had not indicated whether he was planning to endorse any of the other candidates. "I would certainly welcome the support," Mr. Edwards said.
After his defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire, Dr. Dean decided to make a last stand in Wisconsin, friendly turf where in October he had drawn 5,000 people for a rally in Madison. He had said he believed the state was his best hope for challenging Mr. Kerry. Dr. Dean abandoned operations in most other states with primaries and caucuses, and on Feb. 5 he upended his schedule to fly to Milwaukee after sending an e-mail fund-raising plea to supporters, saying he would be "out of the race" if he lost in Wisconsin.
Money poured in — more than $1 million in two days — but Dr. Dean meandered through a moribund schedule for several days, having staked his claim but seeming to be without a strategy. He spent only $227,000 on television advertisements — less than his two main rivals — and kept as his state director a 24-year-old yet to complete the University of Wisconsin, while Mr. Kerry sent experienced operatives who had already scored significant victories on his behalf.
Eight days before the election, Dr. Dean rolled out a new slogan, "Real Choice, Real Change," and a new speech that argued that he alone had stood up against President Bush on critical issues, that he fit into Wisconsin's progressive, independent tradition and that voters there should disrupt Mr. Kerry's apparent lightning bolt toward the nomination.
But Dr. Dean upstaged the new message, telling a television reporter in Green Bay that he would continue campaigning regardless of the results in Wisconsin. Despite dwindling crowds and defecting endorsers, Dr. Dean claimed he had been overwhelmed by supporters begging him not to quit.
For the next week, Dr. Dean spent much of his time answering questions about what he would do on Wednesday. His staff made post-Wisconsin plans in warmer climes than Vermont, many of those who had once endorsed him reached out to rivals, and his campaign chairman said he would leave the campaign if he lost Tuesday night.
For days Dr. Dean lurched back and forth over how he would respond to a loss. He acknowledged that the campaign was likely to change shape, perhaps becoming more of a movement than a candidacy. But he also insisted that he could still win, ignoring the polls, the pundits and the people — or lack of them — at his events.
On Tuesday night, it looked like Dr. Dean's Stop Kerry theme had only helped Mr. Edwards. But Dr. Dean told his supporters here, "We, together, have only begun our work.
"People have said that we have begun to transform the Democratic Party," he said. "But the transformation that we have wrought is a transformation of convenience, not of conviction, and we have to fight and fight and fight."
"We will change the Democratic Party, we will change America and we will change the White House," he continued. "Let's fight on. On Wisconsin. Keep up the fight for a better America. Never give up, never give up, never give up."
Kirk Semple reported from New York and Jodi Wilgoren contributed reporting from Madison, Wisc., for this article./>
Interesting, how he has the "enormous grass-roots network," but, is the one who is dropping out.
But the election of any of your dwarves would weaken this country terribly, Howie.
And with that war chest of over $41 million dollars wasted...
Then why is he giving up?
Typical Democrat: say one thing while doing another (not that Republicans ever do that, oh no!). And so the man I most wanted to see go up against Dubya (after Al Sharpton) crawls off into oblivion.
The remaining candidates lack Howie's delightfully entertaining psychotic spark, promising a general campaign strong on dry formulaic rhetoric and weak on drama. The Munsters meet Three's Company. Wake me when it's over.
Ode to Dean: I'm going to miss that crazy bastard.
One of the principle weaknesses of leftwing rhetoric is that it constantly attempts to create a pearl necklace by stringing cliches together and ends up with turds-on-a-rope. "Dangerous radical agenda" ranks right up there with "risky scheme" or "running-dog lackey of imperialism." Painful, but not in the way intended.
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.