I was at the meeting in Montana. Not only did Dean show up, he did it without an entourage and carrying his own bags. He stuck around and hung out with us for a low-key barbeque and boat tour on the Missouri. He never dodges a question or fails to give a thoughtful answer.

For me, the contrast between the old Democratic Party and the new Democratic was most stark at the DNC meeting in February when we elected Dean. Prior to the meeting, there was a McAuliffe farewell party at the National Building Museum: chartered buses, fancy food, free booze, giant video screens, huge stage, glitzy clothes. After the meeting, there was a reception for Dean at the local brewpub: we rode the subway there, people wore jeans and bought their own drinks, and the hors 'd oeuvres consisted of some veggies and dip and chicken on a stick. I'd much rather have my donations spent on building state parties than on parties for insiders.

In other words, he is doing what Rove proved worked.

If you haven't watched it yet, and would like to see an exceptional documentary on our politics over the past 30 years, I really recommend seeing The Architect, a Frontline doc on Karl Rove. This is no partisan piece. You got Republicans -- even admirers -- talking about Rove, what he thought, what he did, and how effective it was, step by step. It's like hearing trade secrets from the directors of the board. Quite fascinating.

It's an unshakable success story. Right now, the Rove machine's legacy in Texas is astonishing -- a totally GOP-appointed Supreme Court, to start with. The total domination of our national agenda, effective manipulation of the national media....

Where was the GOP in the '70s? Where is it now? In the '70s, the GOP was a minority party. Now it controls the government and claims more registered voters. Why? It's certainly not because the party appeased the left and moved to the middle. No, they appealed to their base.

That is what Dean is doing. In my view, this achieves two things:

(1) He appeals to the core voters. He gets people fired up and involved. He gets people seeing things in clear, almost black-and-white terms, but framed his way. Rove knew this. That was his strategy in 2004. It worked. Dean noticed.

(2) He gives the more moderate politicos cover. Nobody is going to sound overly "liberal" -- nobody has to -- as long as Dean is out there sounding the notes, the loud and attention-getting appeals to progressive and liberal values, appeals to progressive and liberal views of the right -- appeals to voters who feel disenfranched and disrespected.

The press and DLC-types can hand-wring all afternoon, but the fact is that Dean is no more extreme than Lee Atwater was. Dean is playing a role.

Now, whether his appeals will work, I guess we'll see. But given that nobody among the Democrats in Congress is offering any vision of America that isn't largely "Bush is wrong," I'm glad Dean is making noice. Bush is wrong, but Dean is clearly saying there's another way, and he's making hints.

He has everyone's attention now. Don't you think the press will want to know what he says next?

Governor Dean, you have the microphone.

media girl

What started as "Dean is out of control.  Says crazy things" changed to "Democratic leaders criticize Dean."

It appears to be changing from that to "Democrats back Dean.  Like that he is provocative."

This is simplistic, I know, but the story does seem to be morphing in our favor, and most decidedly against the Beltway Democrats who truly showed the white feather this week.

Dean Renews Attacks on Republicans

Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said Saturday that positive responses from key supporters have reinforced his determination to keep talking tough even though some congressional Democrats have suggested he should tone down his rhetoric.

"People want us to fight," Dean told the national party's executive committee. "We are here to fight."

It's working--people are reading the article to read about Dean, but they see sentences like the one below. If it gets printed enough times, it'll start to echo.

At the session in a downtown hotel, Dean accused Republicans of trying to suppress the vote, selling access to the White House for lobbyists and basically being dishonest with the public.

"Unrepentant after a week of controversy over his inflammatory remarks, Democratic chairman Howard Dean told party leaders yesterday that casting traditionally liberal issues in moral terms is a key to breaking Republicans' eight-year hold on the White House. ..."

Dean Urges Appeal to Moral Values

Hickok: "You know the sound of thunder. Can you imagine that sound if I ask you to? Ma'am, listen to the thunder."