I'm brushing off the long-abandoned DeanWatch category, as it appears the Democrats are about to reinforce their cluelessness by replacing three-time loser Terry McAuliffe with the darling of the International ANSWER set, former Vermont governor Howard Dean:

Former presidential candidate Howard Dean is considering a bid to become chairman of the national Democratic Party.

"He told me he was thinking about it," Steve Grossman, himself a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Monday. Grossman was a Dean backer during the former Vermont governor's failed presidential bid.

Dean, who was in Albany, N.Y., Monday night to give a speech, said he hasn't decided about the top party job, noting he'd received thousands of e-mails urging him to try for it. He said he's still uncertain about his future.

"It's a lot easier to run for president when you don't know what you're getting into," he said. "I will stay involved, believe me."

I believe him -- especially after watching his meltdown as it occurred in Iowa ten months ago. Afterwards, reports revealed that Dean had not believed winning possible and was unprepared for his role as frontrunner. It's not likely after that performance that the Democrats would trust him for another run, especially after their string of poor national performances in the last three election cycles. The last person they'll put at the top of their ticket in 2008 is a Northeastern liberal with demonstrated stability issues and a radical base.

However bad Terry McAuliffe is -- and he's been a catastrophe for the Democrats -- putting Howard Dean in charge may only have the effect of a slight change in tone. It does nothing to drag the party back to Middle America. Let's not forget that Howard Dean famously left his church in a fit of pique over their lack of support for a bike path; is this the man who could bridge the gap between the urban secularists of the blue states and the wide swath of red between the coasts?

Of course, Dean hasn't even tossed his hat in the ring for the DNC chair yet. The e-mail barrage he's received from disappointed Democrats still points to an essential cluelessness about their poor performance in this election as well as 2000 and 2002. The only positive aspect of a Dean chairmanship is that it couldn't possibly be worse than McAuliffe's leadership. Putting Dean in charge would only make the marriage beween the radicals at International ANSWER and the Democrats much stronger and put more distance between the Democrats and mainstream America.

In the words of their latest candidate ... bring it on.

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In what must be an answer to every Republican's dreams, former presidential candidate Howard Dean is considering a bid to become chairman of the national Democratic Party."He told me he was thinking about it," Steve Grossman, himself a former chairm... [Read More]

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