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By J. Patrick Coolican (contact) 
Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008 | 2 a.m.
Sun archives
I recall it quite vividly, the bosses all huddled around a computer screen, this being the early days of Internet video, as Howard Dean let out his now infamous scream.
I was an intern at a newspaper in Seattle in 2004, and a bunch of middle-aged white dudes were all laughing at this geeky Vermont doctor who had the temerity to think he could play in the big leagues.
What a loser.
Dean stopped by a Democratic field office in Henderson last week, and to prep myself for the visit, I watched what’s known in political circles as
“The Scream.” It’s still funny.
But here’s the thing: Dean was right.
His hypothesis was simple: To be a national political party, you have to compete everywhere. It was called the “50 state strategy,” and it was unveiled in 2005.
Remember 2005?
That’s when Karl Rove was building a permanent Republican majority, and when President George W. Bush was going to save Social Security by privatizing it.
In 2005, Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, campaigned among grass-roots activists to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Campaigned to be head of the DNC? That’s an establishment job, hand-picked.
Howard Dean? What a loser.
But politics is all about a little prescience and a little luck. Dean had both. He had the wisdom to know Democrats could win in a lot of places if they bothered to show up and make an argument. The lucky part: The public has turned on the Republican Party.
The irony is that Dean’s model was former Republican Majority Leader Tom Delay, the hard-core conservative Houston exterminator who ran Congress for nearly a decade.
Delay understood that his narrow majority would slip away if he didn’t support his moderates in the liberal enclaves of the country, in the Midwest, Northeast and Northwest.
Delay understood that his career was all but finished unless Republicans could compete in what Republicans now derisively call “anti-American” parts of the country.
Howard Dean’s wisdom, which seems sort of obvious now, was that Democrats had to compete in traditionally “pro-American” parts of the country, in the South and Mountain West.
Democrats have let their candidates — even encouraged them — to come out against gun control and abortion.
That means Heath Shuler in North Carolina and a bunch of other moderates in red states have become an important part of the Democratic majority.
It also means winning in places such as Southern Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, which is now home to a 30,000-voter majority for Democrats.
Rep. Jon Porter, a Republican, has a solid grip on what’s happening around him, as evidenced during his reelection campaign against state Sen. Dina Titus. He’s galloped to the left since the Democrats took control of Congress in 2006. He’s raised money, and spent it wisely, making the election as much a referendum on Titus as a referendum on his own record.
Dean, who wears an ill-fitting suit I’m pretty sure I’ve seen at Target, also wears a smart smirk, the look of a guy who knows more than he lets on, and more than anyone gives him credit for.
He’s usually associated with the loony wing of the party, the MoveOn crowd and the liberal bloggers. But in reality, he had a vision for Democrats capturing the center, and it’s coming to pass.
Republicans better find themselves a Howard Dean, and fast.
"the loony wing of the party, the MoveOn crowd and the liberal bloggers" -- what planet are you from? This is hardly the loony wing, if by that you mean the extreme left. I don't think you know what left really looks like. Only in America is centrist called left.
This piece sounds like the author is trapped in a right wing bubble. Most folks who've been paying attention to polls across the country realized all this a long time ago. It's not just because the Republicans are unpopular...it's not just because they've been starting wars that this country can't afford to pay for...it's because the fundamentals of their economic platform, which have been driving the US economy on an insane roller-coaster ride now for 30 years, are hitting a dead end. All they have left is wedge issues. That's it. As a result of having a Republican party that is almost exclusively focused on wedge issues as a platform, there isn't a pro-America or anti-America crowd...there's just an anti-Democrat and anti-Republican crowd. However, the Republicans seem to believe there's only pro-Republican and anti-America. Which indicates more of a collective mental disorder than anything else. To even bring up the term "loony left" is laughable...not even the remnants of the US Communist party are as schizophrenic as the fat, bald John Birch Society members who clutch copies of Soldier of Fortune and run around in the woods in Army surplus fatigues clutching assault rifles and swearing an oath to blow up abortion clinics and government buildings. Those are the only REAL political loonies, and they're virtually exclusive to the Republican parties (and those further to the right).
Howard Dean was all that and a bag of chips. In creating Democracy for America, he built the nation's biggest face-to-face progressive organization. There are bigger progressive groups like People for the American Way, but they're virtual -- the members write checks and letters, but mostly stay home.
DFA members have been meeting regularly for 4 years and take personal, direct action. Members run for office, make phone calls, knock on doors, lobby officeholders, stage visibility events and more. Gov. Dean said he was from the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party" and DFA has played a significant part in rebuilding the party.
I also like Howard Dean, even though I'm a republican. He speaks well and makes a good presentation. I wouldn't toss his salad quite as vigorously as the writer here appears to.
Question though: if he's so fabulous, why is he not the Democratic part's candidate for president?
Yeah, we liberal bloggers and netroots and Dean people were considered loony because we didn't like Bush, we thought the war was a bad idea, we were opposed to all the financial deregulation, didn't want to privatize social security.... are we loony because we were right or because we were right about these things before the "normal" people were. I don't hold it against anyone for not realizing these things until later, but I think its really out of touch (in a typical media pundit way) to act like we were still "loony" all along.
And I watched the scream in person, at the party where he gave it. He had a hoarse voice that night to begin with, and the microphones amplified the scream beyond what it sounded like in real life while suppressing the prevalent crowd noise. So the scream sounded different in real life to Dean and others there, and the media knew it, but they replayed the scream a billion times anyway until he was destroyed as a candidate. The "liberal media" strikes again. (snark)
How about Howard Dean, for Secretarie of state for BO' adm.
Howard Dean had the vision, but was beaten by the Clinton Machine. Did he tuck his tail between his legs and go back to Vermont? No, first he campaigned for his Party's nominee (who had supported dirty tricks against him in Iowa)and asked all his supporters to do the same by way of his Democracy for America group.
As soon as the election was over, he began his campaign for the Head of the DNC. With the help of his supporters all over the country we got him elected. He immediately began building party infrastructure in every state... his 50 State Strategy financed by Democracy Bonds.
This political infrastructure gave Barack Obama the platform for his victory over the DLC Clinton Machine and now the chance of victory over the Republicans!
Howard Dean is a brilliant visionary and he saved our Party! When Obama becomes President of the United States, it will be Howard Dean's victory as well.