The 50-state strategy is looking pretty good this morning

November 8, 2006

It’s a little disconcerting to see some progressive voices starting to address internal divisions within the Democratic Party. I don’t doubt for a moment that we’ll have some challenging details to work out in terms of agenda, leadership, and direction, but given the results, today is a day to enjoy a job well done.

And as part of that, I think there are some Dem leaders who deserve some credit. In addition to the leadership on the Hill, let’s not forget Howard Dean took a very big gamble over the last two years, and today he looks pretty smart.

Dean’s “50-state strategy” was one of the more contentious points in the party of late. The idea was straightforward enough: build up the party over the long-term by investing in infrastructure. With DNC money, state parties received resources and staff that they’d never seen from the national office before, even in, especially in, states where Dems have fared poorly in recent years.

The party had made noises about doing this before, but there was never a good time. The next campaign cycle was always immediately more important. The response was always, “Maybe after this cycle.” And as soon as that cycle was done, the party began focusing on the next one.

Dean decided to take a leap of faith. 2006 was important, but he believed the party could do well enough without significant short-term DNC investments, meaning he could help red-state Dems to build voter lists, organize caucuses, install precinct chairs, buy computers, and hire organizers that could help the party for years to come.

I wrote a few months ago that, on November 8, Dean would either look like a fool (for blowing a tremendous opportunity to take back Congress) or a genius (for putting a down payment on the future while the party excels in the midterms anyway). I’ve been hard on Dean from time to time, but given the results, I’d say he has every reason to pat himself on the back this morning.

This is a glorious victory for Doctor Howard Dean. Without his work and insight we would have won at most 18 seat in the House and not been a position to gain the Senate. Because of his work we were able to shift resources to races that became competetive only in the last few weeks, and thus secure a working majority in the House.

Thank you Howard.

  • Seriously. Look what happened in Kansas last night. We got rid of Jim Ryun and Phil Kline, who was “leaking” private medical records of women who had gotten abortions to O’Reilly.

    There is nothing the matter with Kansas anymore: democratic governor, 2 congresionnal districts, and attorney general.

  • Thank you for saying that. I’m not a Deaniac but I thought the long-term thinking was where the smart money should go. Novak referred to Dean as “incompetent” in his last column, and Rahm Emanuel is obviously going to try to spin it so that he’s the hero and Dean was in the way.

    Dean made the right call and stuck to his guns and I hope most Democrats, without taking away the credit for the tough work done by Schumer and Emanuel, will give Dean some respect.

    Building in the West will realize more gains, as Tester, Schweitzer, and company show that Democrats are worth the candle, and building in the South will keep the Republicans on the defensive there at least.

  • Yes and if they keep on re-building that Dem infrastructure it will have huge payoffs in 2008. I read an article about just how far gone that infrastructure was –especially with the loss of local clout of the labor unions–and we are by no means done with the job.

    I wouldn’t let myself imagine that Montana and Virginia senate races would go to Dem last night when I went to bed. This morning? More optimistic.

    The Dems need a top to bottom review of just what resources they can control and use to build their support structures locally. And don’t let a single thing go to Reps that could go to Dems. All this without resorting to the out and out poliicalization of positions in which independence is required. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Plenty of qualified indpendents and progressives. Qualified Republicans? Not so many.

  • Howard Dean said (somewhere) last night something very simple and profound.

    You have to ask for the voters to vote for you (even when you don’t think you’ll get many).

    One of the reasons my (slightly to the right of Alan Keyes) wife voted for Jim Webb is how politely and humbly he asked for her vote on one of his last campaign commercials.

    Democrats still need to take that lesson to heart.

  • The DNC Chair is THE best position for Dr. Dean. Brilliant job. And I hope that this strategy helps cause some current moderate republicans who remain in the House to flip and join the Dems.

  • Wait, I’m confused. NPR says this was more of a “tide” than a “tidal wave”. The conventional wisdom of The Note has announced that the President is Still Relevant with Mark Halprin. According to all the cable shows, this has been a vindication of bedrock principals, by conservative Democrats running to the Right of a spend-happy Congress. They came to change Washington, but Washington changed them!

  • 2008 looks better and better. I seem to recall (and I’m sure it’s in a roundup somewhere, that while 2006 was tough for the Dems (too many seats to defend, not too many opportunities for pickup), 2008 was supposed to have lots of Republicans defending and not too many weak Democrats.

    Also, who’s the GOP Presidential nominee? People like Frist and Allen are damaged. Romney maybe has promise but nobody knows who he is, and the zeitgeist is against the Repubs. Guiliani is not acceptable to the base. McCain is really the only guy they can run and he’s in a pickle.

    If he clings to Bush, he will hit the same wave that struck down the Republicans last night. If he breaks with Bush to show his independence, then he’s helping the Democrats and why elect him when the Democrats are doing what you want? And he’s still supporting Iraq in 2008…….

    The math looks good, but there’s two years to go…….

  • I’ve liked Howard Dean ever since he showed up on the national scene. He figured out how to work the internet. He invented “meet up”s. He spoke the truth in plain English. The media trashed him by severely engineering the famous “scream” (first versions show a room full of workers enjoying and encouraging their cheerleader’s speech; later ones showed only his face, with no background noise, audio-edited to isolate the closing shout and make him look like a raving maniac). I think that scream, media distortions and all, should now be re-invented as the party’s victory cry. The 50-state gambit (which I must admit being initially hesitant about) was a master stroke, with compounded dividends yet to come.

  • I was disappointed with Deans incoherence on Iraq, and what the Dem position would be. Couldn’t he just say, something along the lines that Murtha proposed? Why do some people have such trouble saying what they really believe (Repubs are much better at this, and their views are INSANE!)

  • I won’t buy into the Dean/Emanuel feud. Dean insisted (correctly) on implementing the 50 state strategy. Emanuel (correctly) saw a historic opportunity, and a need for extraordinary resources. This wasn’t a fight over the future of the party, so much as it was a squabble at the margins. I was concerned that the 50 state project was overly ambitious for a single election cycle. I would have been happy if Dean went for 40, with a commitment to 50 next time around.

    The 2 had different specific responsibilities, and were at times at odds as they positioned themselves to meet those responsibilities. As it turns out, both were right, and both did magnificent jobs. I’m grateful to both of them.

  • Romney maybe has promise but nobody knows who he is, and the zeitgeist is against the Repubs. (From #10)

    And I fully intend to kick their asses. Contributions to my campaign are welcome. 🙂

  • But yeah. All those folks who confidently predicted Dean would be the death of the Democratic party, have proven themselves as the idiots they are.

  • Personally, I think Dean is a better strategist than a spokesperson, but he also benefitted from the way the Repubs self-destructed during the past few months. I thought his long-term strategy was correct but figured he’d get nailed for making only modest gains in the mid-terms. Sometimes, the fickle finger of fate pokes, and sometimes it tickles.

  • Right now I’m so happy I could kiss all the Democrats! I’ve long admired Dean for giving the Democrats back their spine, but I also admire Emmanuel for his hard work, and his good speaking skills. I admire Ms. Pelosi for holding together the congressional Democrats — and really, that’s a job worse than herding cats — during the tough years when the Dems had no power. I admire Harry Reid for his tactics in dealing with the Senate majority. I especially congratulate them all (and more, too, such as Kerry, Schumer, Obama) for leading the party through some discouraging times.

    And thanks to us, too, for never giving up. This has been truly a people powered victory. This wasn’t fueled by corporate PACs or mysterious and shadowy billionaires hiding in the background, it was fueled by all of us.

  • “[Dean] benefitted from the way the Repubs self-destructed during the past few months.” – beep52

    “Luck favors the well prepared mind.”

    There is a reason Napoleon Bonaparte asked if his Generals were “lucky”. What the un-insightful describe as “luck” is often the ability of person to take advantage of mistakes and opportunities as they present themselves. If the Republican’ts self-destructed over the past few months, all credit goes to the Democrats (Jim Webb especially 😉 ) for taking advantage of that.

  • Nice of you to pat yourself on the back while Dean is patting hs. Your very gracious in victory, I really wonder how you handle defeat.

  • “Nice of you to pat yourself on the back while Dean is patting hs. Your very gracious in victory, I really wonder how you handle defeat.

    Comment by Paul — 11/9/2006”

    Boo F*cking Hoo!

    Looking at this from the UK we couldn’t be more pleased at the result, although a total rout would have been nicer 😉

    Howard Dean should pat himself on the back, he’s earned it.

    Do you not feel a little churlish for casting aspersions on the celebrations of the majority of Americans, and the overwhelming majority of the rest of the world?

    Poltroon!

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