Dean Urges Progressive Voters To Run For Office

Former Vermont Gov. Howard B. Dean opened the Campaign for America’s Future “Take Back America” speaker series at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge Tuesday, focusing on building a progressive base for the future.

Dean, an early frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president last fall, was one of the headliners of an event meant to rally progressive liberals in support of Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., who was formally made the party’s nominee in Boston this week.

Dean began his half-hour speech—the first of the afternoon’s agenda, which lasted over three hours—by mocking his concession address after the Iowa caucus earlier this year. After that enthusiastic January speech, in which Dean recited a list of states he vowed to visit and then let out a scream, the then-candidate slipped rapidly in the polls, leading many pundits to speculate that it had turned voters off to Dean.

“You know what’s coming next, right?” Dean said to his audience Tuesday. “We’re gonna win in Michigan, we’re gonna win in Iowa.”

But rather than focus on the past, Dean centered his speech on what he identified as the need not only to elect a Democratic president, but also to build a solid base of progressives for the future.

“We’ve got to talk about how to rebuild this country after four devastating years,” Dean said.

“We’re going to make sure that we progress back to the America that represents the best for all Americans,” Dean added later, prompting one of several standing ovations.

Although Dean faulted the Bush administration for most of the country’s ills, he also admonished liberals for not opposing Bush strongly enough.

“There are two other groups that are responsible for what George Bush is doing to the country,” Dean said. “One is the Democratic Party for not standing up to George Bush three years ago. The other is us.”

Dean said 50 percent of Americans do not vote in national elections, adding that increased voter participation could help oust Bush from office.

But Dean said voting in this election was not enough to sustain the Democratic Party. He called on attendees to energize and expand the Democratic base not only by voting in elections, but also by running for office themselves.

“The way you win presidential elections is to take care of local elections first,” Dean said.

“Politics is too important to be left to the politicians,” Dean added. “We need your help.”

Having capable and progressive people run for offices like school board member would make a positive contribution to the Democratic base, Dean said. People would feel more involved in the party if participation in government started from the grassroots level, he said.

Dean said those burdened just to make ends meet and without time to run for office should dedicate three hours per week to helping a political campaign and should try to make small donations.

Democrats also need to learn from the success of Republicans in winning control of Congress in 1994 and contest all congressional seats, beginning with the upcoming elections, Dean said.

In that vein, Dean also said the Democratic Party needed to extend its scope so that it could one day hope to win elections in states like Mississippi and Alabama that have voted solidly Republican in recent decades.

He said the Democratic Party could expand because it could work to satisfy the four basic desires of the vast majority of the country: jobs that pay well, health insurance for themselves and particularly for their children, strong public school education and a strong and ethical national security policy.

“In Mississippi, 95 percent of the people care about the same things they do in Massachusetts and in New York,” Dean said.

Dean urged the Democratic Party to begin campaigning seriously in the Deep South and in other Western states now, even if the party’s labor might not bear fruit in the immediate future.

“Sooner or later, people in those parts of the country will get tired of voting on God, guns and gays and start voting on education and health care,” he said. “We need to send a progressive message to stop being afraid to Utah, Texas, Idaho and Alabama.”

Dean also bucked the wishes of the Kerry campaign by lambasting the Bush administration.

“You can’t call the president a fascist,” Dean said in a sarcastic tone.

“We’re not doing that this week, anyway,” he added while suppressing a false cough.

Later, when his microphone suffered a temporary malfunction, Dean implied that senior Bush advisor Karl Rove was spying on the speech.

“Obviously, Karl Rove has control of the microphone. Karl, are you here?” Dean said. “No—I guess it’s somebody in the White House doing that.”

Dean also insulted the Boston Herald for its coverage of Teresa Heinz Kerry, the Democratic candidate’s wife. Earlier this week, Heinz Kerry clashed with a reporter, urging him to “shove it,” after a sharp question.

“Did anyone see the Boston Herald this morning? My God—it’s the next thing to the National Enquirer,” Dean said. “You know what? Kerry’s going to win this election because of his wife. Isn’t she great?”

—Staff writer Alan J. Tabak can be reached at tabak@fas.harvard.edu.