YOU CAN CALL HIM CHAIRMAN AFTER TODAY!

Today Dr. Howard Dean will officially be elected as Chairman of the Democratic Party with the organization's National Committee cast their ballots in Washington.

While I did not support his candidacy for President (I supported retired General Wesley Clark in the primary), IMHO Dr. Dean is the catalyst that our party needs at this time and place. Instead of the tired "Old Guard" DC insiders who like things as they always were, the Democrats need new leadership from someone who isn't afraid to "think out of the box" or say exactly what they believe. Dr. Howard Dean is just that person.

The Party also needs to give it's state organizations more attention and resources to fufill their missions, and Dean has promised just that. His job will certainly be tough, as the Democratic Party is so diverse and needs to put aside the various differences to come together in a unified effort. It also needs to work hard in recruit candidates at all levels...from City Hall to the White House.

One area that I believe we have failed recently is that Democrats have focused so much on national elections that we seemed to have forgotten, in the words of former House Speaker Tip O'Neill, that all politics are local! With only passing attention given to candidates on the county and state level, they are handicapped by lack of support in the face of usually overwhelming funding and effort by the opposition. This is something that money alone cannot correct; it takes basic campaign efforts such as walking precincts, telephoning, and old fashioned one-on-one contact by people in the community.

The sooner we learn from the error of our ways, the better. And good luck to Dr. Dean!