The Observer, February 25, 2005
Volume XXXVII, Issue 19
The Right Stuff: Dean selection excellent news for Republicans
A week ago, Howard Dean was elected by the Democratic party as the new national party chairman. Though Dean's fiery personality may help to energize the Democratic base, the news is great for Republicans. With Dean at the reigns of the Democratic party, should peopleexpect the Republicans to lose control of the House of Representatives and Senate to the Democrats in 2006? Barring any massively unpopular actions, or a meltdown in party leadership, I certainly don't think so.
Howard Dean's campaign tactics worked well in a grassroots setting, but simply didn't pan out well on a national scale. After the roar heard around the world in Iowa, Dean's popularity and viability as a candidate dropped precipitously. Hopefully he'll be advised to better keep an even keel as the next set of elections draws nigh. But the tactics he was elected for are undoubtedly bound to fail again if put before a national audience.
The aspect of his early campaign that made Dean so popular was his ability to appeal to those with severely liberal viewpoints. His campaign message energized the Democratic base during the early primaries because it charged up members of the party who hadn't had a viable candidate speaking on their behalf in years. But Dean never managed to appeal to those closer to the center of the political spectrum. Couple that with his obnoxious scream, and you have the early exit to his '04 campaign.
During a party celebration that saw Dean,President Clinton, and outgoing chair Terry McAuliffe together on stage, one could literally track the regression of the Democratic party. President Clinton was brilliant in appealing to the largely centrist population of voters, whereas McAuliffe was less effective, and Dean even less. Without Dean changing his approach, the party will continue to push centrist Americans towards voting for Republican candidates, and eventuallyshrink the size of the party altogether.
To date, signs of Dean changing his tactics aren't promising. The day before he was elected, Dean appeared before the DNC Black Caucus and quipped "You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color in a single room? Only if they had the hotel staff in here." While some of the members in attendance were outraged at Dean's comments, the remark was overlooked for its attempt at humor. Nonetheless, other Democrat and Republican leaders have spoken up against Dean's remark. What surprises me, though, is how this factually incorrect (as the majority of hotel workers are white according to the AFL-CIO, a large supporter of the Democratic party) and racist remark has gone unnoticed when Trent Lott was placed under severe scrutiny and forced to give up his role as majority leader for a racist remark.
The other foreboding aspect of Dean's joke comes from his misunderstanding of the Republican party. If Dean believes his party can win on a platform built on manufactured class tension stemming from remarks such as these, then he has failed to see how well the Republicans have done to include minority voters in the past two elections. Clearly, Dean may stand to gain some points from minority voters for attacks like these on the Republican party, but the backward thinking such attitudes espouse are bad for the nation as a whole, and will hopefully work against him as Americans realize this.
During the dinner, many Democrats were forced to reflect upon the legacy of former chair Terry McAuliffe. While winning elections may not have been his strong-point, McAuliffe did manage to raise a substantial amount of money for the Democratic party – something Dean will also have to improve upon. But Dean's election as party chairman is further indicative of the Democratic Party losing touch with reality, and the American public.
