Howard Dean, to his credit, has made party outreach to faith communities a priority for the DNC.
The day before he was elected chair of the Democratic National Committee last week, Dean went to the leaders of different Democratic constituencies outlining an approach that will emphasize outreach to evangelicals and people of other faiths. His talks sought to distance himself and the Democratic Party from an image as a secular party out of touch with common Americans.
To a standing-room-only caucus of women Democratic leaders, Dean urged them to learn to talk and cooperate with people of faith. “People of faith are in the Democratic Party, including me,” Dean declared.
In response to a question from CT, Dean said, “We are definitely going to do religious outreach. Even in my campaign I was interested in reaching out to evangelicals.”
With this in mind, I have an idea. It might sound crazy, but don’t judge it too quickly.
The Family Research Council is a think-tank like offshoot of James Dobson’s Focus on the Family empire. The FRC, particularly after the Christian Coalition started falling apart, became the preeminent religious right political group in DC, with an influential lobbying and public relations operation, complementing the group’s deep ties to the Republican Party.
Yesterday, Tony Perkins, the group’s president, indicated he’d like to hear from Howard Dean at the FRC’s upcoming national event. The group almost certainly isn’t sincere about the invitation, but that hardly means Dean should turn it down.
The group posted an item from Perkins on its site yesterday (it’s not there now, but it was on the home page 24 hours ago) under a mocking headline that read, “Screaming for Attention.”
Finally claiming victory in a national election, Howard Dean was formally elected Democratic Party Chairman this past Saturday. During his campaign for the chairmanship Dean stated he would meet with all constituencies to build a more inclusive party. One look at Dean’s schedule from last Friday (courtesy of the Washington Post) shows this statement would seem to ring true. He did the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Caucus at 12:15 p.m., the Seniors Coordination Council at 12:45 p.m., the Women’s Caucus at 3:40 p.m., the Native Americans at 4:35 p.m., the African Americans at 5 p.m., the Asian Pacific Islanders at 5:20 p.m. and the Hispanics at 5:40 p.m. He told the GLBT Democrats that “you are among the most persecuted people in the history of mankind.” I cannot confirm if he also told the same thing to the African American and Native American groups who have a much better historical claim to the title of “most persecuted.”
In the name of inclusiveness we have asked Chairman Dean, alongside RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, to address our Washington Briefing next month. It is the “value voters” who attend our Briefing who helped Republicans this past election, but “value voters” are not voters who are tied to any one party and would benefit from hearing from both major political parties on the important issues. I will let you know the chairmen’s response.
This is hardly the kind of invitation that comes across as genuine. One rarely does outreach to a political leader while making fun of him at the same time. Given the circumstances, though, this isn’t a surprise.
It’s not as if the FRC wants to hear Dean out and consider the merit of his ideas. Instead, the group is no doubt hoping it can post a similar item a month from now saying, “Dean will talk to anyone, but he won’t talk to evangelicals.”
Indeed, look at the guest list for the group’s event. Among the luminaries in attendance will be James Dobson, Bill Frist, Roy Moore, Zell Miller, David Limbaugh, Gary Bauer, Ed Meese, and Robert Bork. It’s not as if Dean will fit in well.
But I think he should do it anyway. Dean might not change many minds, but it’d be an opportunity to generate some media interest and send a message to politically independent evangelicals that the DNC is committed to leaving no voter behind.
Worst case scenario, Dean goes and the FRC membership greets him with boos and jeers. From a political stand-point, that’d be fine — Dean would come across as the well-intentioned messenger greeted by intolerance by a group that invited him to attend.
Who knows, it might even turn into one of those classic Kennedy-in-Lynchburg moments, in which a liberal Massachusetts senator accepted an accidental invitation to Jerry Falwell’s Liberty College and delivered a stunning speech on the virtues of tolerance.
What does Dean have to lose? I say, go for it.