Former Vermont governor Howard Dean announced Thursday that he hopes to reclaim the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.
“The dems need organization and focus on the young,” he wrote on Twitter. “Need a fifty State strategy and tech rehab. I am in for chairman again.”
Dean served as chairman of the DNC once before — from February 2005 through January 2009 — following his 2004 bid for the presidency. During his time at the helm, he pursued a “50-state strategy” focused on rebuilding state parties in regions that had been written off as reliably Republican.
In an interview with Seven Days Thursday evening, Dean said he hoped to revive that strategy and convince young voters to become more engaged.
“They understand politics does matter. They’re in shock. They’re largely demoralized. We need to harness their energy and get them back in the saddle,” the 67-year-old said. “It’s basically going to be a youth movement.”
Key to that, he said, was to articulate “a coherent message.”
“I think we need to provide a real alternative to Donald Trump,” he said. “We can’t be Republican-lite.”
Dean said his bid for the chairmanship was “happening with incredible warp speed.” He said he hadn’t expected to seek a return but didn’t see “anybody else” who could move the DNC in the right direction.
“I don’t need this for the title,” he said. “I just wanna fix the place.”
The former governor will likely face stiff competition. Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) is widely expected to seek the position, which opens up in March 2017 when interim chair Donna Brazile’s term expires. Politico has reported that other contenders could include former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, South Carolina Democratic Party chair Jaime Harrison and New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley.
Dean said he thought highly of Ellison but did not believe a sitting member of Congress could simultaneously lead the DNC. He suggested that a similar arrangement with the last chair, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, (D-Fla.) had contributed to her ouster in July.
“We’ve seen that movie before, and it doesn’t work,” he said. “It’s a very full-time job.”
Ellison, who is African American and Muslim, was one of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) only congressional supporters during the Democratic presidential primary. Sanders, who has refused Seven Days’ interview requests for 18 months, told Gannett-owned USA Today and other members of the corporate media Thursday that he was lobbying for Ellison’s election.
“You can’t tell working people you’re on their side while at the same time you’re raising money from Wall Street and the billionaire class,” Sanders told the Washington Post, which is owned by billionaire oligarch Jeff Bezos. “The Democratic Party has to be focused on grassroots America and not wealthy people attending cocktail parties.”
Later Thursday, Sanders emailed supporters across the country and asked them to sign a petition calling for Ellison’s appointment.
“I don’t think the political establishment and the billionaire class would like Keith Ellison as the DNC chair,” he wrote. “Good.”
Unlike Ellison, Dean supported Clinton in the primary.
But, according to Dean, “This is not about a Bernie versus Hillary thing. When I was chair, I didn’t even vote in the Vermont primary [in 2008], because I had to be neutral between [then-senator Barack] Obama and Hillary.”
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Loved Howard Dean as our governor and supported him in his 2004 run for President, when he was 100% right about Iraq. Loved him when he successfully ran and executed the 50-state strategy with Obama to win in 2008.
But he’s lost all credibility since then. Dean endorsed and supported the Iraq War voting Hillary. Who claimed she learned from her mistake and then double-downed on it with Libya. Who refused to disavow the support of the PNAC neo-con liars endorsing her, like Elliot Cohen, Max Boot, Bob Kagan, etc. This was Dean’s candidate and he put party before country in supporting her. I don’t know how somebody runs with seemingly such conviction and honesty about Iraq in 2004 and then just folds. Are the speaking engagements on MSNBC worth that much? I thought he didn’t even really need the $.
Not to mention Howard Dean supports all the F-35 fighter jet Democrat politicians like Peter Shumlin, Shap Smith, Leahy, etc. who insist on basing the F-35 in Vermont’s most densely populated area. And who abandoned Act 250 and Act 200 to funnel profits to industrial energy campaign donors. At this point, since Democrats refuse to be Democrats, I’d rather have Republicans who are at least honest about their agenda. We are going to have the permanent warfare state and the F-35 fighter jets expanded noise zone destroying health and home values with both parties. So since Democrats refuse to stand up for anything that matters, we may as well at least have lower taxes and respect for local zoning from the Republicans.
A big NOOO to Howard Dean!! He has become corrupt, a lobbyist for big
pharma. New people needed like Keith Ellison or Nina turner for real reformation in the Dem party. Read the intercept for more on Howard: https://theintercept.com/2016/01/21/howard-dean-despite-denials-has-long-sad-history-of-selling-himself-on-k-street/
The DNC needs to do a deep clean and Howard Dean as chairman is not a deep enough clean.
Howard Dean and the rest of the Democratic Party apparatchik need to realize it was they who lost this November and there is a line in the sand demarcating the past. We want change. What didn’t sink in Nov 8th? Continuing to draw from the 20th century dooms the party to the past. Time to start the New Democrats if they still don’t get it by now.
Funny to see Howard Dean saying, “We cant be Republican-lite.” Except for his stance on military action, he was always Republican-lite.
I say anyone who placed their misguided superdelegate vote for Hillary should be permanently barred from being head of the DNC. You are clearly part of the problem. End of story.
No way!
Sorry, Howard…choices matter and yours were/are wrong. Money out of politics!!!
Say no to Howard Dean. He was a Clinton superdelegate, when 86.1% of us in Vermont supported Bernie. He knew about all the data that showed Clinton would be a grave liability in the general, and he cast his vote for her at the convention anyway. He is a paid lobbyist for the private health care industry. He represents the failed, neo-liberal and corporate past. We need Keith Ellison!
A screening Dean would be the perfect face to represent the DNC. Put the crazy yelling guy in charge that seems like a good idea. How did this party ever loss the election?