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Bernie Sanders -- a registered independent who caucuses with Democrats and fought a lengthy primary battle for the party's nomination this year -- and top allies are touting Rep. Keith Ellison for the job. The Muslim-American congressman from Minnesota currently co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus. In an email to supporters late Thursday, the Vermont senator said Ellison was uniquely qualified to take on "the political establishment and billionaire class," and that "his experience and perspective would be key to leading the fight against Trump."

Is Howard Dean actually thinking about running for president again?The former governor of Vermont, Democratic National Committee chairman and 2004 presidential candidate is headed back to Iowa and New Hampshire, according to local news reports.James Pindell, the political director of New Hampshire’s WMUR, reported Tuesday in a story titled, “Howard Dean to visit NH during presidential campaign ‘testing the waters’ phase” that the Democrat is visiting the Granite State next month.The popular liberal was once seen as the Democratic front-runner to take on President George W. Bush in 2004. But he is often remembered today for his infamous “Dean scream”...

Hillary Clinton's apparently inevitable victory in the Democratic presidential primaries could hit a roadblock due to her age, former White House candidate Howard Dean says. "She's of my generation, not of the new upcoming generation out of the Barack Obama generation," said the former Vermont governor who was, for a time, front-runner for his party's nomination in 2004. "That's the only weakness she's really got." Dean told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he believes Clinton, who will be 69 by the 2016 election, will face a primary battle and not be crowned as nominee. He said Govs. Martin O'Malley of Maryland...

Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor who electrified anti-war liberals during the 2004 presidential race, said Thursday he would consider another run for the White House – a statement that will surely be met with mixed reaction in the Democratic Party.

Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean predicted that prominent political supporters of former President George W. Bush will deal a critical blow to Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) presidential campaign. “The Bush people don’t fool around, as you know,” Dean said Tuesday night on MSNBC. “You can say a lot of things about Bush’s presidency and his failures as president, but one thing nobody should say [anything] bad about [is] his political team. They know what they’re doing, and they are ruthless, and they are going to take Perry out.” Dean’s comments come as a number of former Bush...

Here is video of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and former DNC Chairman Howard Dean getting into a heated argument on MSNBC's "Hardball." (Video)Landrieu defended Joe Lieberman's concerns over the "health care reform," she said that Lieberman "just has a little different view than many in the party, but actually I understand his view..there are governors like Gov. Dean who wants to eliminate the insurance companies in America." Howard Dean replied "that's obviously not true" and asked Landrieu "Mary I'd like to know why you deny my people the choice to sign up for an alternative, you are forcing us into...

President Obama is about to accomplish what many previous Democratic presidents have tried to do, and failed. At least that's what the White House spin would be, and it will largely be echoed throughout the Democratic Party. No, they will say, the health care reform bill won't have a public option, but it will extend coverage to millions of people and provide a framework to build on for the future. You would expect the liberals who put him in office to be thrilled. They're not. Here are a couple of highlights from the liberal blogosphere: Taylor Marsh (Huffington Post) "Pres....

Pour some more butter on the popcorn . . . Yesterday, Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs took shots at Howard Dean and his opposition to ObamaCare, suggesting the good doctor didn't know what he was talking about. It was payback time this morning, as Dean announced that he would support Pres. Obama's re-election bid "not vigorously." View video here.

The battle between former Democratic Party Chief Howard Dean got ugly today, as Dean said he would support Obama for re-election but not vigorously. The Political equivalent of a declaration of war. He was basically saying that he would sit on his hands in 2012 and has one of the leaders of the Progressive movement, that statement is a hint for his supporters to do the same. Dean's battle with the Obama administration became public a few days ago when Dean, who was ousted from his party chairmanship by Obama after the successful 2008 campaign, suggested that so much as...

In a stunning reversal of fortune for President Barack Obama, top progressives are attacking the health-reform plan moving through the Senate as “hollow,” “unsupportable” and a sellout to corporate interests. Republicans, after plotting for months to sink the signature legislation of Obama’s first year, suddenly think that Democrats might wind up doing it for them. Most dangerously for White House chances of assembling 60 Senate votes, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean launched a third day of attacks on the emerging bill, arguing in a Washington Post op-ed that it meets none of his benchmarks for “real reform.” “[A]s it stands,...

If I were a senator, I would not vote for the current health-care bill. Any measure that expands private insurers' monopoly over health care and transfers millions of taxpayer dollars to private corporations is not real health-care reform. Real reform would insert competition into insurance markets, force insurers to cut unnecessary administrative expenses and spend health-care dollars caring for people. Real reform would significantly lower costs, improve the delivery of health care and give all Americans a meaningful choice of coverage. The current Senate bill accomplishes none of these.

If I were a senator, I would not vote for the current health-care bill. Any measure that expands private insurers' monopoly over health care and transfers millions of taxpayer dollars to private corporations is not real health-care reform. Real reform would insert competition into insurance markets, force insurers to cut unnecessary administrative expenses and spend health-care dollars caring for people. Real reform would significantly lower costs, improve the delivery of health care and give all Americans a meaningful choice of coverage. The current Senate bill accomplishes none of these.

The only thing that can save us from final passage now is the insane bitterness of “principled liberals” at seeing their dream of true socialized medicine smashed. Help us, Dean-o, you’re our only hope! The gauntlet from Dean — whose voice on health care is well respsected among liberals — will energize those on the left who are mobilizing against the bill, and make it tougher for liberals to embrace the emerging proposal. In an excerpt Kinzel gave me, Dean says: “This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate. Honestly the best thing to...

Former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean will be at BookHampton in East Hampton this Friday evening (08/07) to discuss his new book, “Howard Dean’s Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform.” Dr. Dean’s discussion will begin at 8 p.m. at BookHampton at 41 Main Street in East Hampton

BREAKING: Dean wants closure by July 1 A potential game-changer from CBS News and "The Early Show." Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean says he wants superdelegates to make a decision by JULY 1 -- the most specific he has been in his effort to prod the party to decide between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton before the Democratic National Convention in late August. Harry Smith asked if after the nominating contests end with the South Dakota and Montana primaries on June 3, "Do you want the superdelegates to have some sort of vote immediately so that you'll know months...

Governor Dean Delivers Democratic Radio Address Governor Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, delivered the Democratic radio address this week. He highlighted the fact that while all of the Republican presidential candidates support borrowing $196 billion for the war in Iraq they all oppose spending $7 billion next year for the bipartisan plan to provide children health care. Chairman Dean called on Republicans in Congress to join Democrats in overriding the President's veto of the Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), especially after Democratic leaders recrafted the bill in response to Republican concerns. Dean also drew a clear contrast...

The New Dean Political Plan By: Roger Simon March 15, 2007 05:25 PM EST Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean has been meeting with world leaders to repair "the extraordinary damage" that the Bush administration has done to America's image and to prepare the way for a new Democratic president. "I am trying to build relationships with other governments in preparation for a Democratic takeover," Dean told me. "I want to make clear that there is an opposition in America and that we are ready to take power and that when we do, we are going to have much better relationships...

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THE WASHINGTON TIMES Former presidential candidate Howard Dean, who opposed the Iraq war and sought to repeal all of the Bush tax cuts, will become chairman of the Democratic National Committee on Saturday over the objections of party centrists. Critics say Mr. Dean is too liberal to appeal to a broader electorate. The former Vermont governor became the champion of the Democrats' anti-war wing in the party's 2004 presidential nomination battle, but did not win a single primary outside of his home state. He overcame a large field of rivals in the DNC leadership race by using the same grass-roots...

WASHINGTON -- Howard Dean's capture of the Democratic National Committee chair is not the devastating setback for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., that many have assumed. On the contrary, it is likely to play dramatically into her hands if she chooses to seek the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. The conventional wisdom claims that the Clintons opposed Dean's 2004 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination because they did not want to deliver the party to its more radical, combative elements. It was certainly the case that low-key, quietly ambitious Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, a longtime close political ally of former President Bill Clinton, played...