Dean visits with lawmakers at Vermont State House.

[madfloridian]

Dean visits Statehouse to talk with lawmakers

MONTPELIER — Former Gov. Howard Dean returned to Montpelier on Thursday to talk to lawmakers, including some he once served with in the Statehouse when he was a state representative in the 1980s. But Dean, who seems less and less likely to get a job with the administration of President Barack Obama, would say little about his own plans, except that he is considering a variety of options.

Dean spoke at a Statehouse gathering for the 2009 Democracy Awards organized by Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz. He hastened to add that doing so was not an endorsement of Markowitz, who is considering a run for governor in 2010.

"I am neutral between Markowitz and Racine," Dean said. State Sen. Doug Racine, a Democrat like Markowitz, has said he is planning on running for governor. Dean, whose "50 state strategy" has been given some credit nationally for Obama's victory, declined to say what he will do next. But he did compliment Vermont voters and lawmakers.

"This is a great place to live. It is the best run state in the country," he said. "There is no place like Vermont."

Obama's victory is perhaps most important because he is the first president of a new generation, Dean said.

You did good for the party, Howie Dean. Thank you.

[sandnsea]

1. He should join with Kitzhaber

and fight for real health care reform.

[madfloridian]

2. I hear he will be working for a private company...

and getting paid which he richly deserves. I can't say I blame him at all.

[madfloridian]

3. Group in Burlington honors the success of the 50 state strategy.

That is a nice gesture at a time when nice gestures to him are few.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/blog/politics/2009/02/dean-to-be-honored-back-home.html

"Howard Dean might not be welcome in the Obama administration, but he is apparently welcome back home in Burlington. Which probably means, welcome back and help us raise some more money.

His friends back here are holding a welcome back party for him Feb. 21 at the Burlington home of Liz & Eric Miller.

The event is billed as a reception honoring Dean and the success of his 50-state strategy as chairman of the Democratic National Committee."

[madfloridian]

4. Jim Dean discusses how well the strategy worked around the country.

Alternet talks with Jim Dean

More than anything else, Dean's project involved changing the relationship between the national center of the Democratic Party and its hundreds of state and county offices.

"There's a lot of ink spilled on the personalities involved, the heart of Howard's challenge was based on what he thought the role of the DNC should be," says Jim Dean, Howard's brother and director of Democracy for America, the organizational offshoot of the 2004 Dean campaign. "Howard came in with the belief that local parties and activists should be empowered locally, and that the DNC should build the Party, not just fight elections."

Dean's idea was radical because it was not just limited to local chapters and activists in competitive districts and swing states. Dean's year-round, 50-state strategy sought to provide resources to corners of the country long ago abandoned to what were considered permanent post-Reagan electoral shifts. There was never a shortage of critics of this strategy -- among them major Dem Party players Rahm Emanuel, Chuck Schumer, and James Carville -- some of whom called for Dean's resignation after the 2006 midterms, during what should have been a moment of appreciation. The critics preferred to see DNC money spread around in a more targeted and traditional manner, funding Congressional, Senate, and presidential candidates in swing states and districts, and not used to build party organizations based on some abstract notion of "empowerment."

But it turned out that building the Party from the ground up got results, with a host of states suddenly in play. What's more, local and state Dem chapters were grateful for and reinvigorated by Dean's help, even if it was only a couple of staffers and a pinch from the national treasure chest. As state and local party leaders await Tim Kaine's new plan for the DNC, expected by April, some have expressed concern that it may scale back Dean-style party building in favor of targeting close elections and pushing the presidential agenda. "We know the party has to be Obama-centric, but our success these four years was owed to the fact that the staffers were able to help on any level," one state chair told CNN.com last month. "And if it now becomes 'Do this one thing for the administration,' then you lose that foundation."

According to Jim Dean, the 50-state strategy has led to increased intra-party amity and better coordination, as well as some surprising electoral victories.

"Although people in D.C. initially criticized him, he brought the national Party more in line with what people in the rest of the country really needed. Before his tenure at the DNC, the state parties feuded with the national Party over resources," says Dean. "Now the relationship between local and national Parties has changed for the better. The beltway media may have focused on the relationships and debates in D.C., but the real story is how the DNC went from a D.C. organization to national Party organization in the eyes of Democrats around the country."

[madfloridian]

5. The state chair was right about this part.

"We know the party has to be Obama-centric, but our success these four years was owed to the fact that the staffers were able to help on any level," one state chair told CNN.com last month. "And if it now becomes 'Do this one thing for the administration,' then you lose that foundation."