We Democrats are now the minority party by any standard. What's more is that we deserve to be the minority party because we lost our ability to stand up for ourselves and articulate a vision. Clinton temporarily saved us because of his unique gifts. If Bill could run again, I am sure that he would win, again. What the party needs is someone who will proudly and loudly define the party in a positive way so that the party can be rebuilt from the ground up. That means Dean.
Dean gets it. He talks about a 50 state strategy and building the party at the grassroots level to develop candidates all across the country. I believe that this is the right cure for what ails the party. We need more candidates who have to get down and dirty and deal with people instead of just TV. Throwing out another senator in four years will only lead to another loss. Governors have to deal with running things, not just proposing things. This is why they tend to win. Because we don't put up much of a fight in the south and the great plains, we are losing too many states where we can cultivate our new talent.
We lose in the south because we are seen as only the party of big cities and have lost touch with the parties agrarian roots. The only way to regain that touch is to rebuild the state parties in those places where being a Democrat is akin to being a fool. Ten years ago, Georgia was a Democratic state. It is now republican. In 1984, we won one state, by 1992, we controlled the House Senate and Presidency. It can be done only by assuming that we can change things. In 1992, Ann Richards was Governor of Texas. We can win anywhere as long as we listen to the needs of all the people. Dean gets that and that is why I hope he becomes the next DNC chair.