Missing from the hundreds of thousands in Washington, D.C. today were the most familiar faces of the Democratic Party on television over the past four year--and especially, during the Presidential primary season: 2004 Vice-Presidential candidate John Edwards and architect of the 50-state strategy, Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean.
John Edwards, former North Carolina Senator, was apparently with his wife in Florida where she delivered a speech Sunday at the Leadership Educational Forum. Mr. Edwards, President Obama's party rival who endorsed himfollowing Obama's drubbing in the West Virginia primary in May. Howard Dean, former Governor of Vermont, was closer to the action yesterday. Relegated to a single talking slot, he addressed the Netroots Nation inaugural ball in Arlington, Virginia. According to press reports, he was introduced by Maryland Congresswoman Donna Edwards. The reason Howard Dean was kept at a distance is uncertain, but pundits speculate that a grudge with President Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is behind it.
CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: Readers have pointed out that Howard Dean was at the inauguration ceremony. MSNBC's Tom Curry writes, "It was also a morning full of poignant reminders of what might have been: One of the earliest arrivals on the platform was Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who in Iowa in 2004 seemed likely to win the Democratic presidential nomination.
Would-be presidents were all over the platform: the man Obama defeated, McCain; the man George W. Bush defeated, Al Gore; and the man Ronald Reagan defeated in 1984, Walter Mondale." I saw Senators McCain and Gore, and Vice-President Mondale, but missed Governor Dean if he was shown on CNN which I was watching.
One reader, overlander, links a photo of Mr. Dean on the inauguration stage.
My point was not to stir up trouble, but to emphasize how small a role he played in the weeklong ceremonies and to raise the question, why hasn't the incoming administration publically offered him a high-profile role?