Quit While Ahead

10 November 2008



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Dean to Step Down as DNC Boss

Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean has announced he is stepping down as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He's said this before, but after the election of President Obama, he's quitting while he's ahead. The position will be filled by one of Mr. Obama's loyalists.

After losing the Democratic nomination in 2004 to John Kerry, who then failed to win election, Dr. Dean took over the leadership of the DNC. He vowed to make the Democrats competitive in all 50 states, and he did. He promised to increase the number of Democrats in Congress, and in 2006, the party achieved that. And this time around, he supported not just the Obama campaign but was instrumental in winning even more seats in Congress.

He has not said what he intends to do next. There could well be a cabinet position in his future, perhaps Health and Human Services. Given that the US health care system is more or less broken, he could certainly lead the charge to fix it. Leading the Food and Drug Administration would be another excellent use of his talents.

Who takes his place? David Plouffe is one name that cropped up in the blogosphere. The “Swamp” reported something else, though, "My sense is that the Obama folks are pretty insular and don't want somebody else building the party and haven't even decided what building the party means for them," explained one aide. "I bet they go with a split chair again ... McCaskill at Chair, and somebody like Steve Hildebrand [Obama's Deputy Campaign Manager] at Operational Chair."

Whoever winds up in the chair, Dr. Dean has left him or her a Democratic Party more national and more successful than it has been in a very long time. Now that the Obama campaign is effectively the Party, the power of the chairmanship will fall anyway. So, Dr. Dean is leaving a job that is about to get smaller. Knowing when to leave is a very valuable trait.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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