Dean
scores big in Florida.
The Florida delegation to the Democratic National Committee has voted unanimously to endorse Howard Dean to be the party's next chairman, bucking an effort to orchestrate an endorsement of one candidate by all 50 state party leaders at the same time later this month.
The decision, announced yesterday by Scott Maddox, the Florida Democratic chairman, is a major lift for Dr. Dean, a former governor of Vermont, and it is a shift in a contest where most Democrats have been holding back from endorsing any candidate in the crowded field.
Mr. Maddox said in an interview that Florida made its endorsement despite some Democrats' concerns that Dr. Dean might not be the right ideological symbol for the party as it tries to regain power because of his liberal views on some issues and fervent opposition to the Iraq war.
"The only knock against Howard Dean is that he's seen as too liberal," Mr. Maddox said. "I'm a gun-owning pickup-truck driver and I have a bulldog named Lockjaw. I am a Southern chairman of a Southern state, and I am perfectly comfortable with Howard Dean as D.N.C. chair."
It looks like Florida has 11 DNC members, plus another "at-large" member that may or may not be included in the Florida endorsement. The winner needs to garner 221 votes to score the chairmanship. But beyond the numbers involved, this sort of thing just looks
good for Dean. It's a great PR score.
Mark Brewer, president of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, hoped to corral the state chairs into 1) a single endorsement or, at very least, 2) get them to hold off on endorsements until the very end. This way, Brewer hoped, the clout of his organization would be maximized.
Doesn't look like his plan is working.