[Mb-civic] BBC NEWS Can Dean save the Democrats?

[Michael Butler]

 BBC NEWS
Can Dean save the Democrats?

        By James Coomarasamy
BBC Washington correspondent

Howard Dean, the fallen internet insurgent, is enjoying a resurgence.

He is taking the reins of the Democratic Party - the same party that passed
him over as their presidential nominee in 2004.

The man who loved to say that he was from the Democratic wing of the
Democratic Party has the backing of grassroots supporters who feel the
party's move to the centre has made it little more than a faint echo of
their Republican opponents.

Worried Democrats are looking for someone to lead them out of the political
wilderness and back into power.

But there is great concern among some Democrats - and barely controlled glee
from their Republican opponents - that Mr Dean, a failed presidential
candidate, will lead them, not to victory, but to even greater defeats.

Grassroots enthusiasm

A year after his presidential bid went down in flames, the Capitol City
Brewery in Washington was the venue for Mr Dean's speech just days before he
was elected the party's leader.

Unlike in the presidential primaries last year, his opponents have all faded
away one but one. However, he was not counting his chickens.

"No celebrations tonight. I remember just before Iowa," Mr Dean told the
enthusiastic crowd.

Ah, Iowa. Four letters that send a shiver down the spine of Dean supporters
and cause most Americans to recall his moment - well, his two seconds, to be
precise - of madness.

That scream, after his third place defeat in Iowa marked him out as an
unhinged liberal, a liability.
So why, just 12 months later, is his party almost unanimously endorsing him?

Pollster John Zogby said: "Howard Dean showed during the campaign, not only
that he has a lot of energy, when he was running for President, but that he
understands the party's infrastructure. The party needs to be built from the
bottom up."

And the grassroots turned out in force at the brewery rally to hear a
politician who inspires devotion - even in some unlikely quarters.

"I'm a registered Republican and I'm ashamed of it. Howard Dean is a
prince," he said.

Image makeover

But are the Democrats making a fatal mistake?

Not only is Howard Dean's image - fairly or unfairly - that of a political
loser, but in some quarters, he doesn't have an image at all.

During the election, the Democrats lost some of their usually solid
African-American support.

Community leaders, such as Samuel Gresham in Columbus, Ohio, say Mr Dean
remains an unknown quantity to the black community at large:

"I don't think right now - because he did not survive the primaries to get
out into the hinterland so that people could poke and prod him -
specifically in the black community - that, in the African-American
community, our knowledge base is that great."

And there's going to be some poking and prodding from some less sympathetic
parties. Expect to hear the "I have a scream remix" on the airwaves pretty
soon.

    The Democratic Party clearly has to consolidate its left, but it also
has to appeal to the centre
John Zogby, pollster

While previous party chairmen have tended to be technocrats, Mr Dean's
profile will make him a prime target for republicans, eager to paint him and
the whole party as being out of touch with the average American.

According to Mr Zogby, if he is to avoid being a liability, Dean the
maverick will have to become Dean the reconciler:

"The Democratic Party clearly has to consolidate its left, but it also has
to appeal to the centre," he said.

"It has to understand family values. It has to understand the role of
religion in people's lives. It has to understand that there are other
positions on other critical social issues like abortion and guns, for
example," he added.

Hungry for victory

And this week Mr Dean has been focusing on issues, such as national
security, where Democrats lose out to Republicans.

But influential trade union leaders say that - in his new role as party
chairman - Mr Dean should be concentrating on organising the party, not
pushing its positions.

"As head of the DNC he is not running for president, he is not running for
governor and he's got to tread softly in terms of the issues," says Gerald
McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees.

"And people who are debating the law or fighting the battles up on the hill
or in state houses - they are the ones who should be speaking on the
issues," he added.

Is he worried that Mr Dean will tip over and start speaking on the issues?

"I'm always worried. We haven't won anything for a long time," he said.

This week, the Democrats have proved they can organise a love-in in a
brewery.

Their new chairman must prove he can organise something far more difficult -
electoral success.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4259007.stm

Published: 2005/02/12 16:47:19 GMT

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