Howard Dean discusses change in new book

[Tsiyu]

This interview is excerpted from the forthcoming book by AlterNet, "Start Making Sense: Turning the Lessons of Election 2004 into Winning Progressive Politics." It will be available in March, published by Chelsea Green Publishing.

"Howard Dean wants to remake the Democratic Party. Perhaps he already has, to some degree. The physician, former governor of Vermont and 2004 presidential candidate made waves during last year's primary season when he rewrote the book on how to run for president, using the Internet for unprecedented grassroots funding and effective two-way communication with his supporters.

After the election Dean formed Democracy for America, with the objective of helping concerned citizens run for office, with some success. Now he's one of a half a dozen "candidates" vying to take over the reins of the Democratic National Committee and the party apparatus – in an election by approximately 440 party types on February 10th.

In his quest to lead the Democratic National Committee, Dean is still shaking things up – by applying his bottom-up approach to the very top-down DNC. It seems clear that with Dean at the helm of the DNC, local party officials may well have more resources and tools to do battle with the Republicans.

AlterNet talked with Howard Dean in December.

Don Hazen: What can we learn from what the conservatives have done organizing the Republican Party?

Howard Dean: The conservatives have very efficient coordination among the think tanks, the training institutes, their media messages and their grassroots efforts. We don't do that. Rob Stein has been showing an important PowerPoint demonstrating how the Republicans' model is so effective. It is very convincing. We have a lot of the infrastructure we need, but we don't coordinate. And despite some successes by America Coming Together (ACT), we are way behind the Republicans in the field. We had the best field organizing I remember seeing in this election. We had thousands in the streets in Ohio, but the Republicans had 14,000 homegrown people in the party doing the work there."

snip

Find the rest here: http://alternet.org/story/20878/

[janx]

1. This part is important:

Do you think that the national DNC should control the state parties like they do in the RNC?

No, I don't. In order to make good on the new empowerment, we have to genuinely give power to the states and grassroots. That's what we did in our campaign. I believe in order to have power, you have to give up power. I know that sounds Zen-like, but it is true. In order to get it back, in order for us to win, we have to empower the grassroots.

Ultimately outsiders have to take over the party and that is very painful for the insiders ... insiders can't make this work out. Power needs to come from the grassroots. The current Democratic Party is the old mode. You know, they say people go to see the psychiatrist when the pain of doing the same thing becomes more than the pain of changing. It is time to face the pain of change.

[BurtWorm]

2. The man can't stop making sense.

What's the matter with him? ;)

[madfloridian]

3. And this part about Meet-ups being reformist, and being community.

Well, the MeetUps themselves . We didn't plan them, they planned us. My key staff person Kate O'Connor noticed this thing on the Web as a way to get people together. But it was done by people in the field. There were meetings in 850 different locations once a month ... focused on how to get me elected. Some of them are still doing it today. On the day after the election there were a number of MeetUps. The Kerry people went. They needed a place to go and talk ... they had just got clobbered in the election. In a sense, the MeetUp model could do some of the things that the right-wing church provides – a place where people can go that has community, and common views and values.

And by the way, the MeetUps aren't progressive, they are reformist.

[Cheswick2.0]

4. thanks BHG

I almost typed Thanks MF! LOL.

This is a terrific article. I would love to know how the race for DNC chair is really going. Dean is right, there are some people who would rather democrats continue to lose than give up their tiny bit of power.

[madfloridian]

5. And the latest Cattle Call from Jerome. Link.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/1/4/125213/4433

[janx]

6. This is getting

really old...:hangover:

That's basically in line with my take-- if Dean wants the job, damn the ABD's out there, it's his for the taking. Under the radar, Dean's campaign has the most persisent targeting of the party activists (where the votes are) with emails and phone calls. It's a campaign, and Dean's running. As for the other candidates, it will come down to Dean and some other anti-Dean alternative:

[jswordy]

8. Taking bets...

...that Dean will NOT make it to the chairmanship. Things are so twisted up now in the message megaphone, I heard on broadcast media that Dean WOULD make it because the state chairs are so much more liberal than the rest of the party!

I got so tickled that someone absurdly said that the milquetoast state chairs were more liberal than the rest of the party, I fell out of my chair laughing, and now have a sore knee! (Not really, but that just goes to show you how spin can affect everything!!! ROFL. I did squirt soda pop out my nose, though. No, that's spin, too...LOL.)

OK, so what if Dean doesn't make it? Look at this: It is a no-lose for the doc. He's making tons of party connections for a run from the INSIDE in 2008.

[madfloridian]

9. He is going to win whether he gets chair or not.

Some of our friends were just here, and we were amazed when they said he could control the party better from the outside. I thought we were the only ones.

[madfloridian]

7. And this part about the evangelicals.....excellent thoughts.

SNIP..."The evangelicals are attracted because they see the hypocrisy of the pro-life people who are pro-life only until the child is born. They don't accept some of the teachings. They are against gay-bashing. We have a powerful moral attraction, because we care about the lesser among us ... our movement empowers those people who have been left out, the young people who have been left out. We are all fighting the fact that religious bigotry is back in favor, encouraged by the president. Our organizations encourage a lot of different kinds of people. We show respect for differences."

[BlueInRed]

10. He always makes such sense, it's too bad the DLC has the stranglehold

I would absolutely love to see Dean head the DNC, but I think it will take at least one more round of major losses before the DLC loses its stranglehold on the leadership posts at the DNC.

Sadly, I think Simon Rosenberg (sp?) will get the DNC chair. Like Dean says, the pain of losing has to become greater than the pain of change. Based on the reaction of Dem senators to the recent election (and fraud), it looks like the leadership is still more afraid of change and decentralized grass roots power than they are afraid of losing elections or important policy fights.