Reply #8: Dean decided we needed a party presence in ALL states, not just [View All]

[calimary]

the ones we thought we could win. Before he came along, the Democratic establishment had all but written off states like Mississippi, Indiana, Alabama, and other enclaves considered bright red. There were neglected Democrats there, literally starving for attention, funding, and other support from the party. Blockheads like Terry McAuliffe put those Dems securely on "ignore." And look at the successes he had because of that. (DRIPPING Sarcasm here.)

Howard Dean wanted the Dems to build up an infrastructure everywhere so we could compete everywhere. I heard on Air America today (from Joe Conason, I think) that in places where we had no presence, the only people left standing were republi-CONS, and that allowed THEM to frame us and name us, and say who we were and what we were about - and there was NOBODY to rebut any of it OR set the record straight. With Howard Dean calling the shots, an infrastructure was constructed in all these places, like Virginia, for example. Conason pointed out that when Webb stepped up to the plate, even though outspent FIVE TO ONE by felix allen, Webb was able to win because the infrastructure was already in place, and we actually had ground game mechanisms available for him to take advantage of - WHERE THERE HAD BEEN NONE BEFORE.

Howard Dean's "50 state strategy" is what won us this election. They should be on their knees to him.