Democrats Need A Doctor — Calling Dr. Howard Dean
By Albert Morales, President of Albert Morales Strategies, LLC
It was a cold February morning in 2005 when Governor Howard Dean won the Democratic Party Chairmanship. He handily defeated candidates whose names I now struggle to recall. Just three months after a crippling defeat, the Democratic base double-downed and made Dean their leader for the next four years.
The rumblings from the dissenting members were as predictable as armchair quarterbacking on Monday morning sports radio. Detractors argued that the DNC under Dean’s leadership would veer too far left. His election afforded me the opportunity to rejoin the DNC and work alongside the Governor as he put his passion and strategic acumen to work.
Remember the 50 State Strategy? If I had a dollar for every fellow democrat that has asked me what happened with both Governor Dean and that strategy, I’d have enough money to put my daughter through her first year of college. Governor Dean understood the DNC was an organizing vehicle to build the party, and not a tool of the Congress.
Through the DNC operation, the governor reignited the enthusiasm of the “Deaniacs,” while also purposefully solidifying relationships with Latino/as, African-Americans, and the GLTB community. He also unapologetically put forth the most aggressive courting of the faith-based community the party had seen in years, regularly meeting with preachers, rabbis and priests while on the campaign trail.
While some want to call on President Barack Obama to hit the panic button, I say hit redial. Call in Governor Dean to co-chair the DNC. We need to have someone who can talk to and hear the party’s base. At the risk of being critical of the current engagement structure of both the administration and the party, I think any base sampling of Latino leaders would show frustration with their access and engagement.
We all understand that factors totally outside of our control could have huge impacts on the re-election of President Obama. A Perry-Sandoval ticket could cost Democrats Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and possibly Florida. Continued high unemployment could dampen enthusiasm of African-American voters, most impacted from this economic downturn.
Recruiting Governor Dean to co-chair the DNC would send signals to the core base of the party. Young professionals who were still in college when the governor sought the party’s nomination would get re-energized. Dean could pick up the phone and talk to labor leaders with ease. Dean could help unite the state parties and Obama For America, making it easier to run the ever-important coordinated campaigns.
Today the party finds itself in that similar state it was in the winter of 2004. It’s suffered its share of splintering with the rise of progressive third party groups all vying for the same donor base. This has diluted the strength of the national party and its ability to speak with a unified message. In short, the party is still healing from a strong summer cold and it needs to see a doctor stat before it relapses to the state it was in that winter of 2004. We’ve come too far and accomplished too much to turn back the clock.
