Howard Dean: An Ambiguous Legacy

I was really excited when Howard Dean assumed the leadership of the Democratic National Committee. I saw this as a just ending to his candidacy for the Presidency that had been treated unjustly not just by the media, but also by the Democratic Party insiders. Having voted for him in the Democratic primaries in 2004, I was really disappointed with the way his so-called "scream" was used as an excuse by Democratic party veterans to push him out of the way and enable Kerry to become the nominee. As the DNC chair, Dean has done two remarkable things that have strengthened our party.

1) The 50-states strategy. Dean has been one of the primary architects behind the so-called 50 states strategy according to which the Democrats would spread out their money and other resources and campaign not only in the traditionally blue states, but also in all states, especially those red states that had begun to lean blue. I think that this approach proved to be the main factor behind Democrats' return to Congressional power in the 2006 mid-term elections. It has also enabled local Democratic candidates to unseat previously entrenched Republicans in traditionally red districts: Mississippi, Louisiana, and Illinois. Finally, Dean's philosophy has been taken up by Obama in the primaries--and can be seen as the main factor in his ability to defeat the Clinton machine--and is being implemented in the Obama general election campaign. This in turn might lead to several previously red states turning comfortably blue: Nevada, Colorado, Virginia, and even North Carolina.

2) The grass-roots movement. Dean's initial popularity in the 2004 primary had to do with his amazing ability to raise money over the internet and through thousands of local grassroots networks, making his movement into a most energetic to date. Even though he lost that primary, it was his strategy that when molded through the hands of a politician as remarkable as Obama proved to be a winner!

Having said all this, it is important to note that Dean's legacy will remain ambiguous due to two major strategic mistakes he has committed:

1) His aloofness during the Clinton-Obama primary fight might have caused some irreparable damage to the party unity. Many pundits have defended him, saying that he was smart to remain on the sidelines while the process played itself out. However, he should have gotten more involved after the end result of the primaries had become obvious to everyone but to Hillary and her deluded Terry McCaulife. He also should have been way more forceful in curtailing Bill Clinton's outrageous behavior in South Carolina and other racially-charged primary contests.

This brings me to the final, and most important, criticism:

2) Dean's seeming ineptitude to manage the preparations for the Democratic Party convention in Denver which is to take place August 25-28. The New York times ran a worrying piece yesterday, detailing numerous setbacks and frustrations that have accompanied the preparations. Some of the most glaring ones (in my mind) are:

a) Instead of renting office spaces at bargain prices, Dean decided to rent prime office space in downtown Denver and equip every room with flat screen TVS. But they have only been able to fill 50% of the office space, literally throwing the rest of the money away on renting empty space.

b) Caterers have been reluctant to participate in feeding the delegates due to Dean's restrictive eating policy. This year's convention will offer absolutely no fried food. Organic, locally grown, food is mandated and each plate has to have at least three of the five colors of food. The contract with caterers runs to 28 pages. Now, don't get me wrong. I think Dean has to be commended for trying to run an environment friendly and healthy convention that will show that the Democrats are serious about making this country healthier and more energy efficient. But his lack of flexibility in negotiating with the caterers as well as the DNC's utter failure to predict the huge costs associated with this food policy, are the reasons why the DNC is millions of dollars in debt. The plans to redesign the Pepsi center alone are $6 million in debt.

Obama has dispatched 10 of his top people to take over the preparations, but there have been frictions between the Obama people and the DNC people over the former's unwillingness (justified in my mind) to foot the whole bill since it was the DNC that had misplaned and mismanaged this whole operation. The things are apparently so bad that even the stage for Obama's speech has still not been built. So, there are even suggestions that Obama's acceptance speech be moved to the Denver stadium, which seats over 50,000 people.

This all might seem like academic, internal, squibbling, but running an efficient and well-oiled convention is key to the Democrats' efforts of winning the White House, and Obama's claim that he is a good manager-in-chief. The convention will also be essential in showing that the Party is perfectly united after the acrimonious primary season.

I still think the convention will be the best one the Dems have ever had (and this really has to do with Obama's historic candidacy), but Dean's legacy will certainly remain in doubt given these problems.