Howard's going north of the border, here's the link to the AP story in the Telegraph.

Via the Sunday New York Times Magazine (free registration blah blah blah)

Will Howard Dean destroy the Democratic Party to save it?

By MATT BAI

Not all states are equal on an election map, and Alaska is one of those less populous states — like Kansas or Idaho or Alabama — that national Democrats almost never bother to visit. For one thing, just getting there presents a logistical ordeal: the journey from Washington takes as long as it would to reach, say, Nigeria, and even then you sometimes need a hydroplane to get around. And more to the point, there aren’t a whole lot of people to see once you get there. Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by a margin of 2 to 1 in oil-crazed Alaska, which hasn’t sent a Democrat to the House or Senate in more than 30 years. To put it another way, there were more Democrats in Central Park for the Dave Matthews concert a few years back than there are in the entire state of Alaska — all 656,000 square miles of it.

December 5, 2005

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
Chairman
Democratic National Committee
430 S. Capitol St. SE
Washington, DC 20003

Dear Governor Dean:

We write to strongly urge you and the DNC Commission studying the Presidential Primaries to maintain New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status, and not insert any new caucuses between the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary.

If we posted all the email that flies by our mailboxes, we wouldn't have time for anything else. But this seemed well worth sharing. — Eds.

From: Miles Kurland <miles@kurland.com>
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 08:08:48 -0700
Subject: [DFA-NorCal] Support Howard Dean Day: Weds. June 15th

DNC Howard Dean is under attack. A few of his comments have been taken out of context and used to discredit him... and by doing so, keep Democrats and progressives down.

No one can stand the kind of critical scrutiny given to Dean: he's under a microscope where every pore and mole is made to look like a disfigurement... while the President of the United States is viewed through reverse binoculars with vasoline on the lens.

[What can I say—it's a slow news day. — R.]

Vermont's Howard BEAN Café begins international campaign

Patrick Mullikin is on a campaign to find a new candidate to take on Howard BEAN.

Mullikin, who owns Montpelier’s Riverwalk Records and the Howard BEAN Café, a State Street store/café that sells rare and collectible records and serves up coffee and live music, is selling the café. He’s looking for a buyer who isn’t interested in changing the store a whole lot.

Read more

The article below is the most recent in a series of syndicated articles written by Governor Howard Dean. DFNH is proud to present this series for your reading pleasure.

Ever since the purveyors of conventional wisdom pronounced that the last election was about moral values, the beltway pundits have been endlessly engaged in trying to divine What It All Means. After all, President Bush presented himself as the embodiment of compassion and American values, and has told us that the election was his accountability moment – proof positive that the American people support his policy priorities.

The simple truth is, however, that it did not take an election to convince us that the American people are a deeply moral people. When we see children pool their pennies to help tsunami victims, or a community unite to pay for a neighbor’s transplant operation – that is all the evidence of compassion we need.

I recently did something I've never done before: I sent a contribution
to the Democratic National Committee. I hope to convince you to do the
same.

Though I've contributed time and money to progressive political
candidates at every level, from Howard Dean's presidential campaign to
candidates for county office, I've never been comfortable sending
money directly to the DNC. For one thing, I didn't want to see my
money going to support candidates who don't represent the change this
country desperately needs. For another, I haven't trusted the DNC to
spend wisely, to invest in the kind of grassroots activism that must
be the Democratic Party's future, if it is to have a future. The DNC
never seemed to get it.

With the election of Gov. Dean as DNC chairman, much has changed.
Democratic muckamucks across the country are busy learning to say
"grassroots" with a straight face. Gov. Dean has promised to infuse money and talent into the party's operations in every state. He
clearly grasps the essential reforms the party must adopt if it is to
regain its relevance in our lifetime. These include nurturing the
grassroots in every state, taking advantage of 21st century technology
to organize and raise funds, and building a "farm team" of down-ballot
elected officials, some of whom will be the party's stars a generation
from now.

Read more...

In just a few hours the Democratic Party will elect Howard Dean as the Chair of the DNC for the next four years. Since arriving early Wednesday, each day has been filed with the excitment and anticpation of creating a new and better future for our party. Throughout the many, many meetings, caucuses, receptions, and casual conversations everybody here at the Washington Hilton agrees on one thing: the Democratic Party is in for some welcome change. The DC-centric crowd is still reeling from the Chair race - when nobody would defend their DC losing ways. I hope the reform agenda is successful, for me the telling point will be the Executive Committee meeting following the full meeting on Saturday. I have great hopes for a new, more open and inclusive national party.

The race for the 5 Vice Chair positions are also very interesting. I simply cannot predict the outcome. It appears to be very tight. All of the candidates are campaigning hard and it has been terrific to see so many talented people wanting to help lead the party.

Donnie Fowler has just endorsed Gov. Howard Dean to be Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Donnie Fowler said, "Today it became clear that Howard Dean has the votes to become DNC chairman. "I got in the race because I wanted to see change in the Democratic Party. I know from experience that local people know better and that strong state parties and successful elected officials should teach the rest of the Party their best lessons. I want to see the DNC get back to its real mission: to help each candidate and assist state and county parties to achieve new standards or performance.

"With Howard Dean as its next chair of the DNC, the Party will have someone who not only understands change, but knows how to make it happen."

Read the rest of the story at Blog for America

The article below is the most recent in a series of syndicated articles written by Governor Howard Dean. DFNH is proud to present this series for your reading pleasure.

By Gov. Howard Dean, M.D.

All Americans understand that there need to be some changes to our Social Security system because 40 years from now, Social Security will go into deficit if we do nothing. And it is always better to correct problems early than wait until they get worse.

But there is no truth to the Bush administration’s claim that there is an imminent crisis in Social Security – the Social Security Trust Fund’s potential shortfall is $3.7 trillion over the next seventy-five years. By comparison, the Medicare Trust Fund shortfall will be $8.1 trillion, and the deficit caused by the president’s tax cuts will be $11.6 trillion. The crisis is not in Social Security – the crisis is the “borrow and spend” philosophy espoused by Republicans in Congress and the White House. Leadership which has no willingness or ability to think or act in our long-term interest is not leadership at all.

All four of New Hampshire’s Democratic National Committee (DNC) members have pledged their support to Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean in his race for DNC Chair, citing his commitment to strengthening the party’s grassroots and his strong support for maintaining New Hampshire’s first in the nation presidential primary. The DNC will elect its new Chair on February 12, 2005 in Washington, D.C.

“Governor Dean knows we need real reform at the DNC, and he is committed to a national Democratic Party that draws its strength across the country, not Washington, DC ,” said Kathy Sullivan, Chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. “He has been a frequent visitor to our state, is a longtime neighbor, and is an unequivocal supporter of maintaining New Hampshire’s first in the nation presidential primary.” Kathy Sullivan and Raymond Buckley of Manchester joined Anita Freedman of Portsmouth and Gaetan DiGangi of Merrimack in pledging their support to Dean.

****Let me be the first Georgian on the Democratic Party of Georgia State Committee to endorse Howard Dean for DNC Chair****

Whenever I decide to join a group, club, or organization, one of the first questions that I like to ask is “What is the purpose of this organization?” For the Democratic Party, the answer to that question is to elect Democratic candidates to public office, and to further the ideals, principles, and values of the Democratic Party. So, the question that I’m asking myself now is who is the right choice to lead the Democratic Party towards achieving its purpose.

The right choice is clear. The right choice is Howard Dean.

Article Two, section one of the by-laws for the Democratic Party of the United States of America charges the Democratic National Committee with keeping several responsibilities. Those responsibilities include:

-Assisting state and local Democratic Party organizations in the election of their candidates and the education of their voters.

The article below is the most recent in a series of syndicated articles written by Governor Howard Dean. DFNH is proud to present this series for your reading pleasure.

By Gov. Howard Dean, M.D.

Over the past 30 years, Republicans have become the majority party in America by building a terrific grassroots organization. If we are to take our country back for ordinary working Americans, Democrats will have to match or exceed the Republicans’ ability to motivate voters.

Grassroots organization really has to be based on two-way communication. In our presidential campaign we started with no money, no base, but a great number of enthusiastic grassroots activists. We ceded decision making power to local folks and let them run things in their areas as they saw fit. This turns out to have been our single most important innovation, and it is the only one that wasn't copied by any of the other campaigns, either Democratic or Republican. Everything else, the small-donor programs, the house parties, the interactive Web sites and organizing was used by others. The reason that the most important piece wasn't copied is because it requires real a change in thinking by people who run for office and their consultants, not just adopting new techniques or technology.

The article below is the most recent in a series of syndicated articles written by Governor Howard Dean. DFNH is proud to present this series for your reading pleasure.

By Gov. Howard Dean, M.D.

President Bush won the November election rather handily, but unfortunately for the country, early indications are that his second term may be less successful than his first. The president was re-elected largely because he made clear statements about what he believed. However, he does not seem, either after or before the election, to have really believed much of what he said during the campaign.

The biggest long-term dangers are the huge and growing budget deficits and the deteriorating security situation in Iraq.

Memos coming from the Pentagon show that it’s likely that not only did the president’s legal counsel, and perhaps soon-to-be Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, condoned American torture both in Iraq and in Guantanamo, but so did Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld.

Good, balanced story in today's Washington Post about Howard Dean's campaign for the DNC Chair.

Read the article then comment on our website.

The article below is the most recent in a series of syndicated articles written by Governor Howard Dean. DFNH is proud to present this series for your reading pleasure.

By Gov. Howard Dean, M.D.

The Bush administration is strongly encouraging elections in Iraq to take place on January 30, and I believe that is the right course to take. The only chance America has to get out of Iraq, without long-term damage to our national security, is to let Iraqis take over their country’s government as soon as possible.
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