First, a message from the Chair of the Democratic Party:
Then this: The Hill profiles DNC Chair Howard Dean in an article titled, "Last laugh may replace the scream." Howard Dean is getting the last laugh. But even better, Dean's Democratic Party is winning. Big. He had the vision for the 50-state strategy -- and that strategy will pay off today as Democrats make gains in what had long been considered GOP strongholds:
Howard Dean doesn’t believe in luck, nor does he leave matters to chance.There's so much in those few paragraphs about how Dean changed the game -- and was right. But, I love the tidbit that Dean was interviewed from the home state of John McCain on the day before the election.
“My favorite quote is from Louis Pasteur: Chance favors the prepared mind,” Dean said in an interview Monday while campaigning in John McCain’s home state of Arizona.
Dean envisioned the Democratic Party building a new base in solidly Republican strongholds, and should Barack Obama win the presidency and Democrats expand their margins in Congress on Tuesday, as most polls predict, Dean will walk away from this election as one of the unsung heroes.
“Quiet” is not a word most people would have used for Dean four years ago, when he bowed out of the 2004 presidential race with a now-infamous scream.
But Dean, the former Vermont governor, took control of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in 2005 amid cries that he would embarrass the party — and from there, built the party’s political machine.
Dean relied on his own brand of grassroots organization, ventured into rural districts that typically vote Republican and recycled the language of empowerment from his failed presidential campaign, which has become the template for Obama’s historic run for the White House.
