Wanted: A Republican Howard Dean

As Republicans prepare to elect a new RNC chairman, they would do well to pay attention to Howard Dean's successful tenure as DNC chairman. In fact, I'm on record saying that the best template for the RNC to adopt is the post-2004 model, which saw Democrats go from defeated and demoralized to a motivated and excited party (it's hard to remember just how bad things looked for the Democrats after the 2004 election).

To be sure, much of Howard Dean's success was largely contingent on electing a Democratic president in 2008. He laid the foundation by revamping the infrastructure and enforcing a 50-state-strategy, but it took a charismatic figure like Barack Obama to deliver the White House to the Democrats.

In many ways, Dean's quixotic presidential primary campaign -- and tenure as DNC chairman -- laid the groundwork for an Obama victory.

... But being a forerunner is not always rewarding; Like John the Baptist (at the risk of comparing Obama to the Savior...) Dean's head, it seems, is being delivered on a platter (Chris Cillizza notes today that, for all his hard work and success as DNC Chair, Howard Dean is still very much an outsider and cannot expect to receive any key appointments from the Obama Administration).

As Ronald Reagan said, "There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit." The fact remains that Dean laid the groundwork for an amazing turnaround which, by the way, helped elect many Democrats across the nation -- not just a president.

How quickly things have changed. Republicans now find themselves on the outside looking in. In January, they will have the chance to change directions by electing a new RNC chairman. Like the 2004, Democrats, they should not view this person as the "Deliverer," but rather as the precursor. Still, it's an important step, both symbolically and substantively. Republicans can either send a signal that they are going to change, or continue to take marching orders from the same old inside-the-Beltway types who have been running things for the past decade(s).

Just as Democrats eschewed "insiders" in favor of a liberal outsider, in my estimation, Republicans should, likewise, look to a conservative outsider (I've endorsed Ken Blackwell, but there are several candidates who fit this mold) who will do things differently from the way Washington insiders have done them in the past.

This would be an important first step, but there will be many more steps to get to the Promised Land...

Get the new
PD toolbar!


Follow PoliticsDaily On Facebook and Twitter,
and download the new Politics Daily toolbar!