Postscript To Howard's End

By Perry Bacon Jr.

How did Howard Dean, whose presidential campaign got derailed by endless replays of a barbaric yawp, go from public laughingstock to party leader? The new Democratic National Committee (D.N.C.) chairman started off with several advantages, including a loyal base that wrote a gazillion letters on his behalf and a lack of serious competition from other prominent Dems. Some Democratic Governors sought an anybody-but-Dean candidate, but neither former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey nor Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm could be persuaded to run. Likewise, Iowa's Tom Vilsack decided that being Governor and D.N.C. chairman at the same time would complicate his political career, and he never entered the race.

Each of the few who did make a run for it was hamstrung in some way, such as former Texas Representative Martin Frost, still hurting from a bitter power struggle with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, and former Indiana Representative Tim Roemer, a pro-lifer who voted for George W. Bush's tax cuts and against Bill Clinton's 1993 economic plan.

Dean, meanwhile, was campaigning hard, privately dining with key players and repeatedly calling others for their votes. He reminded people of his far-from-liberal record as a Vermont Governor who received N.R.A. endorsements. Perhaps most important, he assured everyone he wouldn't run for President in 2008. --By Perry Bacon Jr.