Don't forget Dean is on Meet the Press tomorrow.

[madfloridian]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3898804/

One year ago, Howard Dean was the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president. This Sunday, he will appear exclusively on "Meet the Press with Tim Russert" to discuss his views on the future direction of the Democratic Party and the future of own his political career. Will he run for chairman of the Democratic National Committee? Will he run for president in 2008? We'll ask him - in his first television interview since the 2004 election.

[janx]

1. Thanks, MF. I'll have to miss it because I'm going out of town.

I'll rely on what people here have to say about it.

Have you heard anything about what's going on in Orlando today? I don't watch cable news (except for CSPAN)--not that I'd expect them to cover it.

[DFLforever]

2. I'll drag myself out of bed early for Howard Dean on MTP

Then I'll spend the rest of the Lords Day's praying he doesn't pursue the DNC chair any further.

Let them do well or self-destruct. Imo Dean has more important purposes.

[madfloridian]

3. I feel the same way.

I am glad he is making an impression, but he needs to be SAKAL.

In case you don't remember that is Strategist..and Ass Kicker At Large.

[DFLforever]

4. Of course, Dean is SAKAL!

And he can't be one unless he maintains his connections to the people and the grass-roots. That is how he was different from ALL other candidates. I want the Guv to stay out of DC, unless he goes there with an electoral mandate.

[Kolesar]

5. ABC-Stephanopolous was dreadful this morning

First, an endless reiteration of the Thug-Kerik story, so I turned the volume down to read the news online. Then at the :30 point , they announced an exhaustive segment on sports.

The world is burning down and they are talking about sports. The tv is off now.

[mandyky]

6. So, how do we think he did?

I DVRed it and am rewatching it.

[hippiechick]

7. Very well !

He noted that the Dems need to re-frame the issues, and went into specifics re: the term pro-life. I completely agree with him (of course), but for personal reasons I hope he stays with DFA and runs for POTUS in 08 rather than taking on the DNC yoke.

He looks relaxed but still sounds nervous during interviews. I don't know if that's because he's aware of time restrictions, but ... he needs to learn to not rush when explaining his points.


:hippie:

[Kolesar]

8. He talks like he is ready to take the DNC chair

He praised Mcauliffe for leaving the party in the black $$$. That was gracious.

[madfloridian]

9. I think he was great. He said from the inside or the outside.

Very clearly he said it. Very nicely, not blatantly, but very clearly.

[NoPasaran]

10. I have the feeling

That the DNC meeting went well for him and today he is feelin his oats. He sounded like someone who is building a consensus to be elected chair.

[Cheswick2.0]

11. I think you are right and he said that he had decided it would

be faster to reform the party from the inside. I think he really wants DNC chair if he can get it.
I see no reason DFA doesn't continue just as strong in that eventuality.

[Rose Siding]

12. Maybe I'm projecting, but I think he wants to be president more

I hope so anyway.

I just don't see how he'd be able to compromise over and over (how would he get *anything* done without some periodic concessions?) with the very dems who will continue to shred him non-stop. That's what would be necessary if he's given a position of authority within the party. That would reshape some of his most valuable qualities as a reformer- and losing him as a candidate is very hard to grasp.

[DFLforever]

13. But he's still got the same powerful enemies at the top

The Clinton faction, the DLC, etc. I don't think they're going to give up without a struggle.

But win or lose the DNC chair, I think Dean will eventually win the fight to reshape the party.

I'd rather see him run as president again, too. Though frankly, until the party remakes itself, I don't think they'll win again at the national level.

[NoPasaran]

14. True

But we have to assume that overall the DNC is not a band of total idiots dedicated to losing election after election. They've stuck with the DLC strategy as long as they have because McAwful was very good at raising money and no one else presented an attractive alternate strategy.

But this year Dean did come up with a model that raised bushels of cash from small donors and which did seem to have some success in winning down-ballot races... while the DLC strategy was once again a disaster. And Democracy For America, which Dean mentioned several times on MTP, represents a continuing mobilization of the grassroots activists who made a Democratic victory this year conceivable. We are not a flash in the pan, like the young people who went "clean for Gene" in 1968, but a serious, ongoing organization.

I think that those two factors, fund raising and the volunteer army, may be tipping things Dean's way.