I am a somewhat moderate democrat (some on the far left say I don't belong in the democratic party) and if I got to pick the president (not the democratic candidate but the president) I think my choice would be Al Gore.
But after the disaster of 2004 where Kerry snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory, I strongly supported Howard Dean as chairman of the democratic party. Not because I believed he had the answer, but because the bozos running the party clearly did not and so it was time for a radical change.
When Dean came up with his 50 state strategy, I thought his arguments were reasonable and figured why not give it a try. And the fact that the old powers in charge of the party were against it was another vote in it's favor.
Dean's argument at first was that this will take years and we need to start building now for that future be it 2008 or even 2012. But... The disaster that is the Bush administration has become so clear, or there was already quite a bit of pent up demand - that the strategy is starting to pay off now. Every day more and more house districts are becoming competitive. And it states that I never would have predicted.
Equally important, Dean has pushed the money out to the states and the candidates. Instead of directing what to do from the national headquarters, the states are making the decisions at each state.
This has always made so much more sense. In the past the democratic party has searched for a single approach that would work everywhere. The problem was, when that great approach turned out to suck - it caused losses everywhere. Instead now we have decisions being made locally adapted to what works in each location.
And some of those approaches made locally will be worse than what the national headquarters would have shoved down their throat. But many will be better. And most importantly, a bad approach affects a single house race or at worst, a single state.
Equally important, people want to win races. So they will watch what goes on in the other 49 states and the other 100+ competitive house races and the good ideas will move to the top. And the one thing you can be sure of, the best ideas are ones that never would have come out of a national headquarters.
Finally, the blogosphere has been embraced by Dean. And done so intelligently. It's not that a couple of bloggers have been set as the ones to go to or listen to, although audience share does count (and it should). Instead there has been encouragement of a vibrant interactive community where all talk and contribute.
This again is a big plus for the party. Even if no one ever reads this blog (although they should <g>), I feel more a part of what the party is doing by writing it. And that holds true for person after person.
It also moves the discussion from taking place just amoung those at the top of the party to a discussion that involved to a greater or lesser degree everyone who wants to talk. That may make it more work for those at the top - but it creates a much more responsive party.
I am very hopeful for 2006 and 2008. And I think a lot of the reason to hope is what Howard Dean has done, especially his decentralization of the party. One or two states might screw up but most of them will lead us to more seats in state after state after state. In a sense Dean has harnessed the Wisdom of Crowds.
What do you think? Please comment.
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