Reid: Dean effective leader for Democrat Party

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Feb. 11, 2005 | 10:39 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Howard Dean would be an effective leader of the Democratic National Committee, the campaigning and fundraising arm of the party.

Dean is more moderate than people think and not the "flaming liberal" he has been labeled as, Reid said today after a speech to the DNC. Many of the 450 voting members of the committee are gathered in Washington, poised to elect Dean as the new party chairman Saturday.

Reid's first choice for chairman was Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, and today he brushed aside reports that he would have preferred former Rep. Tim Roemer, D-Ind., a member of the 9/11 Commission.

"The race has been good for our party," Reid said in his speech.. "It has brought us together instead of tearing us apart."

The nation soon will see that Dean is a responsible Democratic leader, Reid said.

Supporters say the former Vermont governor will continue to energize the party's base, gather more supporters in Southern and Western states and be a dynamic fundraiser. Critics have said Dean is a firebrand who could alienate the Democratic moderates who remember the former presidential candidate for a scream during a campaign speech.

"In six months, the scream will be gone," Reid said.

Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., met with Dean on Thursday, and he reportedly agreed to take cues from congressional Democratic leaders.

Reid called the grass-roots Democratic activists assembled from across the country the "cornerstone" of the party. He said the party must not ignore traditionally Republican states by listening to their issues and better explaining that the Democrats have more to offer them than Republicans.

"People may live in red states, but that doesn't mean they want to put up with George Bush's red ink," Reid said.

The party should be active immediately to lay the groundwork for 2006 and 2008 election victories, Reid said.

Reid today also said he was counseling the DNC to keep a close eye on its GOP counterpart, the Republican National Committee, which Reid said has unfairly attacked him.

"We know their game, and we're not going to let them get away with it," Reid said.