Hillary Clinton's continued candidacy got some support today from a most unlikely backer--DNC Chair Howard Dean. And if ever there were a person who had reason to be peeved at the Clintons, it's Howard Dean.
After all, they opposed his nomination to become DNC Chair, casting around time and again for someone else to take the job. They've sneered at his 50-state strategy a number of times, and Clinton donors have tried to pressure him to give Michigan and Florida a pass on the rules their parties violated. Why on earth would he try to quiet the calls for Hillary Clinton to get out of the race?
In earlier eras, the standoff between the two candidates might have been resolved by party elders acting behind the scenes. But no Democrat today has the power to knock heads and resolve the mess. Party Chairman Howard Dean says he was "dumbfounded" at the suggestion by Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy Friday that Sen. Clinton should pull out.
"Having run for president myself, nobody tells you when to get in, and nobody tells you when to get out," Mr. Dean said. "That's about the most personal decision you can make after all the time and effort you put into it."
Perhaps it's because the man knows what he's talking about.
I remember 2004, painfully. Look at my UID--I was here for the Dean wars, and I was a Dean man. My girlfriend still has her Dean sticker on her pickup. We drove across the country with Dean yard signs in the windows of our vehicles, as we moved from Florida to California in the summer of 2003. We were both grad students, and we wound up giving about 10% of our annual income each to his campaign, so we took it hard when he suspended his campaign before California got to vote. We voted for him anyway.
And we would have been pissed to no end if we'd heard party elders saying that Dean should drop out after New Hampshire, or after South Carolina, or after any state for that matter, because we wanted the chance to announce our support and have it recognized, not shouted into the vacuum that the media creates after a race is decided.
So I can relate to Hillary Clinton's supporters now, even though I lean toward her opponent. They want to be heard, and I want to hear them. And so does Howard Dean, who is a better man than most.
Meanwhile, he said he is conferring with other party leaders, including Mrs. Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada; former Vice President Al Gore; civil-rights veteran and Clinton confidante Vernon Jordan; former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo; and Jesse Jackson and his son, Chicago Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.
"Most of their advice is, 'Let this play out, let's get through the primaries,' " Mr. Dean said. "And I think that's right....Voters have to have their say. It's painful, because that means we've got another two months of this."
Listen to Dean. He's been there. We haven't.