Coming so near to the one-year anniversary of Iowa, I almost flinch to post this, but:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2005
OKLAHOMA, MISSISSIPPI AND UTAH DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADERSHIP JOIN FLORIDA IN ENDORSING GOV. HOWARD DEAN FOR DNC CHAIR
Vermont and Washington Join Effort
BURLINGTON, VT--Governor Howard Dean was endorsed today by several state Democratic Party chairs and vice chairs, adding to his broad, diverse and growing list of support both among the members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The list of voting DNC state party chairs and vice-chairs supporting Governor Dean include:
Florida: Chairman Scott Maddox, Vice-Chairwoman Diane Glasser
Mississippi: Chairman Wayne Dowdy
Oklahoma: Chairman Jay Parmley, Vice-Chairwoman Debbe Leftwich
Utah: Vice-Chairwoman Nancy Woodside
Washington: Chairman Paul Berendt
Vermont: Chairman Peter Mallary
As a certified Master of the Obvious, here's what's interesting to me:
- The geography of these endorsements is telling. Yes, Vermont is a home game and Washington state may have an honor debt to acknowledge, but it seems that our neglected Democratic hinterlands may be responding to Dean's message that he will embrace them.
- It's becoming more obvious that Dean is working this from the outside in, and the ABD crowd may be missing the fact that for most DNC member-voters, Inside-the-Beltway is pretty far away.
- Everything that makes me worriedly remember Iowa in a "Dean as front-runner" scenario isn't happening here. The "campaign" is playing it slow and steady. There's no flash coming from the Dean camp.
Perhaps in contradistinction to DeanfA, this is being done RIGHT.
UPDATE: I posted this closely with michael in chicago's diary below. His is well worth the read.