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So Far, So Good For Dean
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Candidate
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| Contributor | COSDem |
| Last Edited | COSDem Nov 02, 2005 11:16am |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Wednesday, November 2, 2005 05:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Despite the party’s growing cash disparity and some high-profile verbal gaffes, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean appears to be gaining the confidence of Congressional Democrats after 10 months on the job.
Even Dean’s one-time detractors on Capitol Hill are giving the former Vermont governor unexpected praise, saying he’s growing smarter about his role and toning down his sometimes incendiary remarks. They add that Dean has done what previous DNC chairmen failed to do: spend time mobilizing Democratic voters, building networks and relationships, and looking beyond the White House for Democratic opportunities.
Many Congressional leaders were wary of Dean when he ascended to the post earlier this year, fearing his politics were too far left to lead a party trying to make major gains in more conservative “red” states across the country. They also saw Dean as a loose cannon, particularly given the then-Democratic presidential hopeful’s infamous scream at a rally following his third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses in 2004.
“He’s gotten pretty smart,” said one high-level Democratic House staffer. “Nobody believes Howard Dean is a new person. People are cautiously optimistic Howard Dean has gotten smarter and more strategic about what it means to be a DNC chairman. In the last several months, he’s doing a much better job.”
Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who supported former Rep. Martin Frost (Texas) for DNC chairman over Dean, said he has been “pleasantly surprised” and even “impressed” by what he’s hearing about Dean’s work at the committee.
Hoyer said he has been getting positive feedback from party officials across the country who credit Dean with giving them needed campaign resources and working to develop relationships between the national and state parties. |
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