Members hot, cold on Dean - Democratic Underground

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Wed Nov-17-04 10:55 PM
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Members hot, cold on Dean

Members hot, cold on Dean
By Hans Nichols

Howard Dean is canvassing opinion among House members who supported his presidential ambitions — and key congressional leaders who did not — in a bid to take over as Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman.

While some of Dean’s House champions said the former Vermont governor’s energy and success at grassroots politics and fundraising is precisely what the party needs to recover from its election losses, others are cool to the idea of the firebrand’s becoming the party’s official spokesman.

Many House Democrats said they thought a Dean chairmanship would drive the party further from the mainstream of American politics. That view was also shared by Republican lawmakers and strategists, who welcomed the prospect of Dean heading the Democratic Party.

Late last year and early this year, Dean received more endorsements from House members than Rep. Dick Gephardt (Mo.), Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) or any other candidate, garnering the support of 38 members on the eve of the Jan. 19 Iowa caucuses. Rep. Neil Abercrombie (Hawaii), one of Dean’s most vocal supporters, said,
“If he wants to , I am all for it.”

“We need to keep the energy of our young people, and nobody would do that better than Howard Dean,” Abercrombie added. “It’s not so much that he’s soliciting support, but he’s just sounding some of us out.”

But Dean’s Hill outreach is not limited to his former loyalists. He contacted prominent members of the caucus, including Vice Chairman Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), who supported Gephardt. Other members of the Congressional Black Caucus said Dean had contacted them to discuss his interest in becoming party chairman.

“He is reaching out not just to members of Congress but also to members of the DNC board, leaders in the Democratic Party and thousands of his supporters are encouraging to do so,” said Laura Gross, a spokeswoman for Dean.

“Governor Dean does care deeply about this country, and he’s deciding what’s best for him and for the future of the party,” Gross said in a telephone interview from Vermont, amid a birthday serenade for Dean, who turned 57 yesterday.

Noting that Dean has been acting as a mini-chairman for progressive causes and candidates for the past several months, through his PAC, Democracy for America, Gross said, “It is a model for what the Democratic Party needs to do in order to return the Democratic Party to national prominence.”

But several House lawmakers, including some of his former backers, suggested that Dean should not pursue the party’s chairmanship.

“There’s a little sheen off the apple,” said a onetime Dean supporter, who suggested that his image as an antiwar, anti-establishment candidate would hinder his ability to be an effective chairman.

“We just don’t have time to rehabilitate the image of our chairman when we’re trying to rehabilitate the image of the party,” the lawmaker said.

That prospect was gleefully welcomed by Republicans. “The only thing better than having Howard Dean as DNC chair is Nancy Pelosi as minority leader. They have their bases covered from San Francisco to Burlington. YEAAAHHH,” said Stuart Roy, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

Several other would-be party chairmen are also seeking the support of House Democrats, including Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, former Clinton Cabinet member Alexis Herman and former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, according to aides and lawmakers.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has spoken to Vilsack but not to Dean. Her Senate counterpart, incoming Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), publicly voiced his support for Vilsack this week. The two leaders are expected to be actively involved in selecting the new chairman, according to leadership aides.

“I know one thing, and that is that whoever we select we have the unified support of the party,” Pelosi told The Hill.

Rep. Robert Matsui (D-Hawaii), a Gephardt supporter and current chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Dean represented too much of a gamble for the party. “We need someone who is part of the Democratic establishment. Someone who is more of a known quantity. It’s extremely important that we don’t go through a debate about ideology.”

He added, “I frankly think we should look to someone like Tom Vilsack or Alexis Herman.”

Dean’s supporters, however, said that his grassroots fundraising prowess was unrivaled.

“Governor Vilsack is an admirable person, but he is currently running the state of Iowa,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren (Calif.) said. “Dean is ready right now.”

“I have told Governor Dean that I think he would be terrific. He has the experience of running a state. He has the capacity to keep involved the young people. He has shown that he is a prolific fundraiser. He has the time to do it,” she added.

The next chairman must be in place before March 1 and will need to secure the support of a majority of the 447 members of the DNC, most of whom are elected by region.

Although members of Congress do not have a direct role in selecting the new chairman, their support is important in the absence of a Democrat in the White House.

http://www.thehill.com/news/111804/dean.aspx