Howard Dean | The New York Observer

Howard Dean to Guest Anchor MSNBC's 'Countdown'

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:00:57 -0400

It's that time of the year, as July turns to August, when TV news land once again becomes well populated with substitute anchors.

This week, it's Keith Olbermann's turn to take a vacation. And today, MSNBC officials announced the names of those who will fill in on Countdown while Mr. Olbermann is away.

Lawrence O'Donnell will kick things off tonight, and Richard Wolffe will close out the week, anchoring on Thursday and Friday night.

In between, MSNBC...

The Impact of Technology on Political Communication

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:49:44 -0400

Watching the mass impulse toward democracy in Iran over the past week has been alternately inspiring and terrifying. The power and clumsiness of the state never fails to scare me and the courage and intensity of the public in the street continues to inspire. Something is different about political participation in these early years of the 21st century. In part, we are seeing the impact of technology on political processes.

The power of mass images...

After Daschle, No Obvious Choices for Obama

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:03:44 -0500

In the wake of Tom Daschle's implosion, media speculation on Barack Obama's next nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services has focused mainly on four names. Three of them are (fairly) logical candidates for the job. One is not.

The name that doesn't belong is Howard Dean's. The former DNC chairman remains a beloved figure among his party's grass roots and his background as a physician and as a governor...

Obama and the Gratitude System

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:48:02 -0500

John Kerry and Hillary Clinton both wanted - and probably still want - to be president, a reality they joked about when their paths crossed on Tuesday.

As Jason Horowitz noted, Clinton, Barack Obama's soon-to-be confirmed secretary of state, accidentally addressed Kerry, the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as "Mr. President" during her confirmation hearing. After Clinton called it a Freudian slip, Kerry replied that "We are both subject...

Jimmy Carter Out of Mothballs, Momentarily

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:39:09 -0500

So maybe Barack Obama doesn't think Jimmy Carter has cooties after all. The soon-to-be-president broke bread and shared the Oval Office stage with Carter on Wednesday. Granted, two other former presidents, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush were also present, but it nonetheless marked the first time in the nearly two years since Obama launched his presidential campaign that he was willing to be so closely associated with the 39th...

A Not-So-Accidental Governor

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:25:52 -0500

Pat Quinn’s moment is about to arrive – finally. Illinois’ lieutenant governor, who has toiled for decades in the less visible rungs of state politics, will ascend to the state’s top job whenever Rod Blagojevich steps down or is dragged from it. (Does anyone seriously believe that Blagojevich, arrested by federal agents before Christmas on suspicion of massive corruption, will actually survive the final two years of his term?)

Making his second national television appearance...

Press Circus: Schmidt Declares Victory Absolutely, But Democrats Spin Spain

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:34:31 -0400

OXFORD, Miss.—It was hours before Friday night’s debate at the University of Mississippi on September 26 and rows of reporters in a hangar-size white press tent were typing the background and context graphs of their stories. Dozens of flat-screen televisions in front of them counted down the hours and seconds to the debate between Barack Obama and John McCain. University volunteers circulated, making sure each desk space had free Anheuser Busch notepads (“About one...

Rangel's High-Profile Birthday Party, With High-Profile Host Committee

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:54:51 -0400

Representative Charlie Rangel, who has recently faced a flurry of tough , intense press coverage, is having what appears to be an enormous birthday party for himself at Central Park's Tavern on the Green on Wednesday, August 6.

The invitation notes that Bill and Hillary Clinton, David Paterson, Chuck Schumer, Andrew Cuomo, Tom DiNapoli, Malcolm Smith, Bill Thompson and Christine Quinn will be there. The "special guest" is Howard Dean.

The event will...

Dean Basks in '50-State' Primacy, Consoles Hillary Donors

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:20:40 -0400

After Michelle Obama delivered a measured speech to gay and lesbian leaders at a Manhattan fund-raiser last night, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean abandoned his prepared remarks in favor of some more pointed observations.

“ I frankly don’t believe the John McCain of 2000 would even consider voting for the John McCain of 2008, I really don’t,” said Dean.

“Saddest of all," Dean added, "John McCain was against torture until he supported the president’s veto...

The Howard Dean Nominee

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:24:07 -0400

Howard Dean was supposed to be finished back in January 2004, when his once-overpowering presidential campaign collapsed in the cornfields of Iowa – and when he let out a scream that made him as much laughingstock as loser.

Sure, the conventional wisdom went, he’d still have a loud voice in the national political dialogue. Even in defeat, Dean retained the passionate loyalty of much of the Democratic grass roots, the activists who’d grown irate with...

Dean's New York Descendents Try to Make a Blue State Bluer

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:42:16 -0400

What to do if you’re running a group devoted to promoting progressive Democrat insurgents when most of the incumbents are progressive Democrats themselves?

That’s the dilemma faced for several years now by Democracy for New York City, the local affiliate of Democracy for America, a group that began as an offshoot of Howard Dean’s transformative 2004 presidential campaign.

“I sort of call it the...

The Florida-Michigan Farce

Tue, 27 May 2008 16:58:03 -0400

When the Democratic Party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee meets on May 31 to determine the status of the votes cast in the Michigan and Florida primaries, its members should try to look past self-serving campaign arguments and silly attempts to save face by bumbling party leaders.

In the mind-numbing saga of the botched primary schedule, there is plenty of blame to be shared among all the participants, from Hillary Clinton and Barack...

Hillary Supporter Demonstration Against 'Disloyal' Kennedy and Dean

Tue, 27 May 2008 12:42:07 -0400

A Kos commenter notices that Ted Kennedy, among other leading Democrats, is denounced in strong terms in this post from a Clinton supporter on Hillary Clinton’s campaign web site.

The notice, posted earlier in the month for a demonstration at D.N.C. headquarters when the Rules and Bylaws Committee meets over the fate of the Florida and Michigan delegates, includes this line:

“IT SEEMS AS THOUGH Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid,...

Dahroug and the Democratic Establishment

Tue, 13 May 2008 08:59:29 -0400

Earlier, I wrote that some Democrats are not very enthusiastic about seeing fellow Democrat Jimmy Dahroug make a third attempt to unseat Republican State Senator Caesar Trunzo on Long Island.

Today's Newsday has more on the story.

The article describes how State Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith, along with others, is recruiting Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley to run for the seat. Political consultant Doug Forand, who worked for the State Senate Democrats until recently,...

In Defense of Howard Dean

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:20:14 -0400

When 2012 rolls around, Howard Dean’s chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee will be a distant memory. But when that year’s Democratic primary calendar is cobbled together, you’d better believe that states will think long and hard before trying to do what Florida and—especially—Michigan did this year.

Dean has taken more than his share of heat for the still-unresolved status of both of those states this year, a situation that Hillary Clinton could, supposedly, use...

Howard Dean Talks to Hassan Nemazee, Part 2

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:05:55 -0400

I followed up with Clinton campaign finance chair Hassan Nemazee about that summit of big Clinton and Obama donors last night, and he told me that there was a bit of an epilogue to the spirited exchange he had with DNC chairman Howard Dean.

"He did call me," Nemazee said. "We did have a lengthy and a productive and constructive conversation regarding the issues that I had raised and the role that he could...

More on Clinton Donors Versus Dean

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:12:23 -0400

Some more details of the heated exchange between Howard Dean and Clinton supporters during last evening's Obama-Clinton donor summit on Fifth Avenue, from yet another attendee:

After Dean's initial remarks, Bernard Bergreen, a Hillary bundler, rose and said that Dean's address left out any discussion of Michigan and Florida, which was the critical bone of contention between the two campaigns.

Dean said that in his view, the question could be settled only after the primaries had...

Sarcasm Invades Pro-Clinton Petition

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:19:48 -0400

To be fair, I suspect it's pretty hard to verify electronic signatures, but even so, that petition circulated by two of Hillary Clinton's New Jersey-based supporters yesterday isn't--so far--generating a groundswell of support for reinstating delegates from Florida and Michigan.

It's gathered 263 signatures (the letter is undated), one of which is “Sinbad O’Tuzla.” Also, a sizable number of the names are simply listed as “Anonymous," at least one name is repeated, and a sample...

Jersey-Based Clinton Backers Petition D.N.C. to Seat Delegates From Florida and Michigan

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:54:00 -0400

The day after major Hillary Clinton fund-raisers sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi about the role of superdelegates in the nominating process (as in, please stop taking the Obama campaign's position on it), two Hillary Clinton supporters from New Jersey are circulating a petition, addressed to Howard Dean, asking that Florida and Michigan delegates be reinstated "immediately."

"If they are not reinstated by early April," the petition says, "we ask the Democratic National Committee...

Gov. Paterson's Main Man: Former Jesuit, 'Natural' Politician Charles O'Byrne

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 15:26:54 -0400

For all David Paterson's considerable charm and wit, his managerial style has been described by Democratic insiders as "jazz government." He is not into discipline. He's no good at firing people. His greatest political talent seems to be being in the right place at the right time.

But always walking one step behind Paterson now is his own éminence grise, Charles O'Byrne, an extremely intelligent, well-connected, tough and reclusive former Jesuit priest who as the...

After Mississippi, a Renewed Clinton Push for Florida and Michigan

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:57:19 -0400

The day after losing badly in Mississippi, Hillary Clinton's team is back to an aggressive push on seating Michigan and Florida delegates, with or without a revote.

Not only did Maggie Williams write a letter to David Plouffe this morning, but the Clinton campaign just sent out a release with remarks Clinton made at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. this morning. According to the release, she said both that “[t]he results...

Obama Should Champion the Cause of Michigan and Florida

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:25:56 -0500

If Hillary Clinton does well enough in tomorrow’s quartet of primaries to continue, her campaign’s next step will to resume banging the drum about seating the delegates of Michigan and Florida at the convention.

Barack Obama should support this aim.

Realistically, any Clinton nomination scenario at this point requires the inclusion of lopsidedly pro-Hillary delegations from Michigan and Florida at the national convention, since she's all but certain -- even with wins tomorrow -- to...

Now Raising Money for the D.N.C.: Eliot Spitzer

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:01:22 -0500

Here’s an invitation for tomorrow’s Democratic National Committee fund-raiser at 52 Thompson Street, featuring Eliot Spitzer, whose political stock ticked upwards last night.

Also featured on the invitation are DNC chair Howard Dean, Spitzer fund-raiser Cindy Darrison, and Nassau County Democratic chair Jay...

Forget the Kool-Aid: Obama's Support is Real

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:06:09 -0500

With Barack Obama's bandwagon picking up speed, Hillary Clinton's sympathizers have been pushing a new caricature of their opponent: the cultish figure who seduces the weak-kneed masses with vague and meaningless but oh-so-warm-feeling generalities.

"There was something just a wee bit creepy," Time's Joe Klein, a Bill and Hillary stalwart, recently wrote, "about the mass messianism…of (Obama's) Super Tuesday speech and the recent turn of the Obama campaign."

Alex Joseph, a student at Georgetown University...

Dean Favors 'Arrangement' Between Candidates Over Brokered Convention

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:33:58 -0500

In an interview taped yesterday for Inside City Hall, Howard Dean expressed opposition to a brokered convention if the Democratic primary contests fail to produce a candidate with enough delegates to win the nomination.

Dean said he thinks there will be a nominee by March or April, and if not, "we're going to have to get the candidates together and make some kind of an arrangement."

Here's the transcript from NY1:

"The idea that we...

Trippi on Losing It

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 09:42:47 -0500

The best line of the night has to go to Joe Trippi, the Edwards advisor who used to work for Howard Dean.

When asked if Hillary Clinton’s venting about change had reached an anger level approximate to the Dean scream, he said this:

“I think tonight, change won, and the status quo lost it.”

That got a good laugh out of the reporters, who nevertheless pressed him as to whether the two moments were comparable. Finally, after...

Inside the Bubble: A Good/Bad Day for Hillary

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 09:55:02 -0500

Hillary Clinton was on her game all day Sunday, hitting all the right notes, drawing huge ovations from voters, getting people to commit their support on caucus cards.

And yet, thanks to two of her surrogates, it ended up being a rough press day.

After Clinton finished her last event in Cedar Falls, the BlackBerries of reporters buzzed with an e-mail from the Obama campaign alerting them to the remarks of Gov. Ted Strickland...

Obama Offers Way Out of Dean, Hart and Kennedy Trap

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:57:38 -0500

Barack Obama is on the cusp of pulling off what no one in his party has achieved for years.

If recent polls, together with the crowds at his events, are anything to go by, he is simultaneously appealing to strident Democratic activists and seducing floating voters and independents. The combination, if it proves durable, is electoral gold dust.

The recent history of the Democratic Party is littered with compelling...

Ron Paul Is No Howard Dean

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 21:41:03 -0500

It’s become understandably fashionable to liken the Ron Paul phenomenon to the outbreak of Howard Dean-mania that swept the Democratic grassroots four years ago.

Besides the superficial similarities—both men are physicians and both have last names that could just as easily be first names—there’s the trajectory of their White House efforts: Both began as quirky, unknown and unfunded outsiders, only to connect with a fervent grassroots army that no one previously knew was there.

...

A Rare Hillary Clinton-Howard Dean Analogy

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:15:16 -0400

In a panel on Iraq and the 2008 campaign here at the YearlyKos convention, Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg argued that Democrats in the House and Senate are in good shape for winning reelection as long as the War in Iraq continues and stays the most prominent issue. But he also said that Democrats would be in much better shape now if the DNC had dedicated more resources and borrowed more money for the last...

The Rev. Al Moderates

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 15:15:20 -0400

Al Sharpton is taking over for Chris Matthews as host of Hardball on MSBC tonight, a spokesman for Sharpton just announced via email. The guests for tonight's show include Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, and Democratic National Committee Chairman, Howard Dean. Since Dean's entire tenure at the DNC has been a not-so-subtle of repudiation of McAuliffe's chairmanship, there'll be ample opportunity for some super-insider vituperation. Good thing the Rev. Al's there to exercise...

Paterson and Dean

Wed, 23 May 2007 13:32:29 -0400

Just because you're a lieutenant governor -- an office that Al Del Bello famously left on the grounds that it was too boring -- doesn't mean you can't get big Democrats to attend your fund-raiser, as this photo from last night proves.

A reader notes that Howard Dean, the DNC chairman, was in town doing his own fund-raising and Paterson's event just happened to fit into his schedule. Paterson has also made...

Bloomberg and the 2008 Money Race

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 09:27:46 -0400

I tried asking Mike Bloomberg if the record-breaking fund-raising by some of the 2008 White House candidates makes it easier to use nationally the message he employed in the 2005 mayoral race: that a self-financed candidate isn't beholden to campaign contributors. After saying he's not running, Bloomberg offered this gem: a pre-emptive argument that anybody can raise money if they have good ideas.

"I think also it's fascinating, there's no evidence that you can't raise...

Skurnik on 2008 Polls: Yeah, Right

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 06:48:48 -0500

In the comments section, numbers man Jerry Skurnik raises a good point, and politely tells me to stop getting so excited about all these 2008 presidential polls.

"Since candidates have won when polls have shown them down by 20 points a week out, can we just agree right now that no poll a year and a half before an election with a margin of less than 20 means...

Dean Obama 4 America

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 10:48:47 -0500

Among the numerous unofficial "draft" Barack Obama websites that have been popping up lately, one struck me as particularly professional looking: Obama4America.com. The company that created the website, it turns out, is registered to Joel Berman, whose email address is for a California-based company called Catapult Strategies. That's the company co-founded by Howard Dean's former campaign manager Joe Trippi, who now works there "on a project-by-project basis," according to his bio. I called Berman to ask...

It's Denver!

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 06:53:12 -0500

... for the Dems in 2008. Should we really be that surprised? Full release after the jump. - Matthew Schuerman Denver to Host 2008 Democratic National Convention Washington, DC - Citing the Denver host committee's strong bid and growing Democratic gains in the Rocky Mountain West, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean today announced that Denver will host the 2008 Democratic National Convention Monday, August 25 to Thursday, August 28. The DNC will hold a conference call at...

Dean Postpones 2008 DNC Decision

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 13:41:30 -0500

First, it was after the election. Then, it was "early December." Now, with the revelation that a Denver union will not go along with the no-strike pledge, Howard Dean is saying that he will not make a decision on the location of the 2008 Democratic National Convention until after the holidays. Why does this sound like a way to give New York's rival a chance to clean up its house before it receives any visitors? -...

Hicks and Hillary

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 07:00:00 -0500

One interesting detail amid the mega-coverage of Hillary Clinton's presidential gear-up is the hiring as her national field director of the highly capable Karen Hicks, who worked for Howard Dean in New Hampshire and for Gifford Miller here. Hicks's recent New York stint ended somewhat unhappily: she was in charge of gathering petitions for Miller's 2005 mayoral campaign, allowing them to omit the salary and the cost of her operation from the list of expenditures...

Elsewhere: Hillary, Empire Zone, The Future

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 13:25:00 -0500

Time to Point Fingers: Karl Rove in Pennsylvania!?

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 06:08:36 -0500

I can't wait for the Republican fingerpointing to begin. I can't wait so much I want to start it myself! My Monday-morning questions for Karl Rove: Why didn't you sacrifice everything else to try and hold the Senate? Howard Dean had a 50-state srategy, you should have had a 5-state strategy: Montana, Virginia, Missouri, Tennessee, Rhode Island. Right now it looks like you won one of those, and you needed two. How bad was...

Debating Debates

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 07:38:32 -0400

Here, Howard Dean explains why he won't appear on television alongside the RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, basically using the argument Jon Stewart used to deconstruct Crossfire. -- Azi...

Angry Data Nerds Rain on Democratic Parade

Sun, 22 Oct 2006 20:00:00 -0400

While many Democratic activists and fund-raisers are in an almost celebratory mood at the prospect of taking one or both houses of Congress in next month’s election, the professionals charged with the behind-the-scenes mobilizing and deploying of the party’s vast voter database are troubled. The problem lies, specifically, within the geeky subculture of Democratic get-out-the-vote strategists and data managers—the guardians of the voter information that has become the lifeblood of recent elections. Just as...

Bloomberg Shoos Away Howard Dean

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 12:56:09 -0400

It's one thing forThe New York Times to say the Mayor might have trouble raising money for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, another for him to do so himself. When a reporter asked about convention fundraising today, Bloomberg said: "I think it will be difficult for the city. As you know, we are trying to raise a couple hundred million dollars to pay for the memorial and we have a poverty initiative which...

Elsewhere: Praise and Problems

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 12:06:13 -0400

Howard Dean's webmaster sings the praises of John McCain. Alan Hevesi's Republican challenger praises the comptroller's new fraud hotline, but wonders "how come it took him two and two-thirds years to think of it?" Instead of praise, a federal judge has bad news for people who leak info. There is also bad news for Tom Suozzi's hometown of Glen Cove, where his cousin, Mayor Ralph Suozzi, is calling in state auditors. John Desio spots Bruce Ratner outside yesterday's...

The Morning Read: August 14, 2006

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 04:35:19 -0400

The Daily News reports that Howard Dean said yesterday that Joe Lieberman should drop his independent bid. Ben Smith covers primary night in Meriden, Connecticut, hangs out with bloggers; and reports that Carl Andrews used taxpayer funds to send out a series of mailings. In case you missed it, the Sun reports on Washington Post Op-Ed team Mike Bloomberg and Jeb Bush. -- Nicole...

Chuck Uses Gore

Tue, 11 Jul 2006 09:49:00 -0400

More evidence that Al Gore, endorser of Howard Dean for president, insurgent hero of the Netroots, once again finds himself in the party's warm embrace... The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's latest fund-raising letter, which recently arrived in mailboxes on Al Gore letterhead, runs nearly two-and-a-half pages in length and is filled with plenty of outrage, urging donors to give "$50, $75, or even more" to help the Democrats reclaim the Senate and "pull our country...

Ann Coulter Ecstatic: Enemies Stoke Sales- 'They're Like My Pets'

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 20:00:00 -0400

June was a very good month for Ann Coulter. Was it a good one for her millions of enemies and the future of the world? Hard to say.

On June 6, the day her fifth book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, arrived in bookstores, Ms. Coulter appeared on NBC’s The Today Show. The conversation with Matt Lauer began as a civil debate, but a barely concealed gleam in Mr. Lauer’s eyes suggested the...

Ann Coulter Ecstatic: Enemies Stoke Sales— ‘They’re Like My Pets’

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 20:00:00 -0400

June was a very good month for Ann Coulter. Was it a good one for her millions of enemies and the future of the world? Hard to say. On June 6, the day her fifth book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, arrived in bookstores, Ms. Coulter appeared on NBC’s The Today Show. The conversation with Matt Lauer began as a civil debate, but a barely concealed gleam in Mr. Lauer’s eyes suggested the host...

RudyBlog: John McCain is the Next Howard Dean

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 12:41:05 -0400

RudyBlogger offers a scornful critique of the "conventional wisdom" that John McCain is a more viable presidential candidate than Rudy Giuliani, putting the notion right up there with such erstwhile pearls of insider wisdom as "This is Kerry's race to lose" and "Howard Dean looks unstoppable in the Democratic primary." And - carrying out a now-standard function of the web-based partisan -- RudyBlogger urges supporters to "email the reporter and his or her editors"...

We're Not Easy: Can City Seduce '08 Democrats?

Sun, 18 Jun 2006 20:00:00 -0400

In an almost quadrennial ritual mating dance between New York and the Democrats that has persisted through the last nine presidential elections, a dozen or so members of the Democratic National Committee and their consultants are on their way into town. After they have checked into the Ritz-Carlton on the evening of June 14, they’ll ride horse-drawn cabs through a twilit Central Park and land at the door of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s East 79th...