Dean Is Done at DNC

When his term as chairman of the Democratic National Committee is up, Howard Dean will step aside to make room for a guy or gal of President-elect Barack Obama’s choosing. Dean has received both praise and scorn for his performance as chairman.

His “50-state strategy” for the presidential campaign irked the political establishment, but then again the Democrats just won Indiana and North Carolina.

Washington Post / 44:

“At this point he has said that he doesn’t intend to run again,” said a DNC source granted anonymity in order to speak candidly. “He has said so publicly for a while. He has not said what he will do next.”

Dean’s tenure at the DNC has been marked by a sharp disconnect between the grassroots of the party and political operatives.

Grassroots — and netroots — activists, who propelled Dean’s presidential bid and then helped get him elected as chair of the party in early 2004, love the former Vermont governor and credit his chairmanship of the DNC with the rebirth of the Democrats as a national party. (Dean’s pioneering accomplishment during his four years in office is the 50-state strategy, a plan that put Democratic staff and organizations on the ground in every state in the country.)

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