The Dartmouth Beacon

When DNC Chairman Howard Dean took office in early February, the New York Times ran a Reuters news story (February 12, 2005) outlining some of the initial themes Dean sought to implement during his term. Having reviewed his objectives and learned more of his plans in recent speeches, I decided to offer a brief response to the Chairman’s vision from an unapologetically conservative perspective.

So what grand plans does the new Chairman have in mind? As Dean remarked in the Times article, "we cannot run 18-state presidential campaigns and expect to win... People will vote for Democratic candidates in Texas and Utah and West Virginia if we knock on their door, introduce ourselves and tell them what we believe. That's what organization allows us to do." On the surface, this seems like a wonderful strategy. In point of fact, there is a big element of truth in what Dean has to say. The problem is that it doesn’t seem to work. Democrats have found themselves on the wrong side of victory in every Congressional election since 1994.

The issue is not that most Americans don't know what the Democrats believe. The problem is that they do. And, more importantly, those beliefs are not their own. Adding insult to injury, the single individual in the Democrat primary who knew least the values of Main Street was Howard Dean. After all, it was Dean who reluctantly conceded that he "supposed" it was a good thing we caught Saddam Hussein. It was Dean who argued in USA Today that capturing Saddam Hussein did not make America safer. Even the Washington Post (no bastion of conservatism) asserted that Howard Dean was beyond the mainstream in a December 18, 2003 editorial.

Evaluating his structural challenges, Chairman Dean proposes rebuilding the Democrats from the ground up. He claims, "It won't take us that long, not if we stand up for what we believe in, organize at the local level, and recognize that this party's strength doesn't come from the consultants down, it comes from the grassroots up." He continues, "if we want to win nationally, we have to win locally." Sounds great—but will it work? Formidable challenges to this strategy arise, though, when applied to grassroots construction across the nation.

Take for example, my home state, Oklahoma. In Oklahoma the vast majority of individuals are registered Democrats. This is typical of the South and parts of the Midwest. Yet Oklahoma is a state President Bush won overwhelmingly. The formal numbers indicate that two-thirds of Oklahomans voted for the President. By extension, most Oklahomans are Democrats who voted en masse for Bush. Clearly, there is a wedge between the beliefs of the DNC and the people whose votes they seek to win. People may register Democrat, but they vote their values. And when they vote their values they vote Republican. The values of the DNC are not those of most Americans.

So, what is the Chairman's solution? Well, the New York Times reports, "Dean told reporters he planned to make overtures to groups that have been hard on Democrats, including evangelical Christians. He said he expected to be on the road almost full time, with his biggest focus in the South and West." Again, this is not an altogether bad strategy. But there are major challenges to accomplishing this goal. One problem is that Democrats cannot make headway into the mire unless they are genuinely willing to become a more inclusive party. Unless the Democrats are willing to make a real commitment to the concerns and issues of conservative communities they will not make progress. The type of progress Democrats seek is predicated upon actually and permanently changing their values in order to become relevant in Republican strongholds, not simply expounding rhetoric. They have to realize America is not Europe.

The irony is that the Democrat party prides itself on casting a big tent. Indeed, it may have a big tent—but the reality is that on Election Day, most Americans stand outside that tent. While Dean’s conclusion acknowledges that the Democrats have become a party of exclusion, he has not demonstrated the qualities necessary for him to solve this problem. Based on Dean’s own words, conservatives have reason to be skeptical. After all, it was Dean who said during the final DNC candidate forum in January (see L.A. Times citation from February 11 article by Ron Brownstein), "I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for, but I admire their discipline and their organization." These remarks indicate the limit of Dean’s outreach. The message he articulates is clear: only the most liberal, angry, and Bush-hating among us can become members of the Democrat Party. Individuals of faith, those who are pro-life, and oppose gay lifestyles need not apply. Now, I am not saying that Democrats are evil. I am not even saying that they wish America ill (unlike some on the right would have us believe). In fact, I believe there is some positive level of engagement to be had when two strong parties rule in a nation—as iron sharpens iron to use Biblical imagery.

Although Howard Dean may be able to list states quickly and with vigor, he can forget about winning any of them unless his policies trend toward real inclusion and not the token lip service he pays “red states.” Given that the Democrat Congressional leadership instructed him to fall lock-step behind their agenda (see another New York Times article from February 2, 2005) before he even took office, it seems we can expect only more of the same: partisan obstructionism from a Democrat minority and more losses by the same on the national political scene. For Republicans this is not an altogether bad forecast. In fact, our response should be—and believe me, Chairman Dean said it best—“yeaaaaaaaaah!”