I'm at the Democratic National Committee's fall meeting over in some far-flung corner of Northern Virgina today (come on, Dems, can't you do this in a more central location?) listening to the morning's first address, from Chairman I'm at the Democratic National Committee's fall meeting over in some far-flung corner of Northern Virgina today (come on, Dems, can't you do this in a more central location?) listening to the morning's first address, from Chairman Howard Dean. Dean's speech emphasizes what all the Democratic candidates have in common: they're not Republicans, and no matter how you feel about each individual candidate, they all have plans to lead America way from the Bush years. And unlike the Republicans, they actually represent America, with a woman, an African American, and a Latino among their ranks. "America is going to look like the state of California does today. There is no majority, " said Dean. "When the [Republican] candidates get up, they look like the 1950s ... When they talk they sound like they're from the 1850s."
But he cautioned the party about presuming that the Democratic candidate will win: "The worst thing we can do is get overconfident. The Republicans know how to win elections ... We had better work harder than they do."
This is why Dean is a phenomenal DNC chair: he's good at the rallying, great at the message, and pragmatic in his approach. It will be interesting to see what message each of the candidate go with during their 10 minute speeches. Most of the people here have already chosen their candidate, so they're not winning people over. But today they'll have to put aside the recent campaign bickering and talk to their fellow Democrats about what the party as a whole is going to deliver.
--Kate Sheppard
