MONTPELIER, Vt. Nov 9, 2004 — 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 was traveling Monday in New York and unavailable for comment. His spokeswoman, Laura Gross, said "it was far too early to be speculating on that. The election was less than a week ago."

The roughly 240 members of the DNC will elect a new chair early next year. Several names are already being mentioned, including former Clinton aide Harold Ickes; Donna Brazile, who ran Al Gore's presidential campaign, and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.
Grossman said it is not too soon for Democrats to focus on their future leadership.

"I strongly urged (Dean) to seek the position," he said. "Howard is a voice of political empowerment and that to me is important, for the Democrats to get their sea legs back as quickly as possible, to get beyond the disappointment of the last week and to believe there is a bright future ahead for the Democratic Party."

Dean has been outspoken since the beginning of his presidential bid in saying that the Democratic Party must establish a separate and unique identity from Republicans.

Grossman said that if Dean were to run for DNC chair, he would need to pledge that he would serve the full `four-year` term, thus ruling out a presidential bid in 2008.

The next chairman will replace Terry McAuliffe, whose term is ending.

I'd much rather see Dean in this position and any of the other mentioned names. Trippi would be even better - remember that Dean did not know how to check `e-mail` before Trippi taught him. Read Trippi's book - he has the vision for the future.

I agree Bora, I think Joe Trippi would get my nod to head up that position, we dont just need a figure head for the top position, but someone who has masterd the art of putting together a mass campaign of accumilating supporters and usuing modern techniques to further relations in the party. Thats a good choice that slipped my thoughts until you mentioned his name. THANKS

of course....after further review of the political battlefield....it also might be wise to just consider a whole new fresh face of party leaders who may in fact benefit John Edwards' run for President in 08. I think having someone `pro-Edwards` would be a good beginning.

[quote=Bora]I'd much rather see Dean in this position and any of the other mentioned names. Trippi would be even better - remember that Dean did not know how to check `e-mail` before Trippi taught him. Read Trippi's book - he has the vision for the future.[/quote]

YES!!! I so agree with Bora. Anyone who's interested in grassroots campaign work and 'netroots would love Trippi's book, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. This book will inspire you and make you a believer in the Age of Empowerment. Highly recommended.

I think that Donna Brazile would do a excellent job. She did wonderful on the Al Gore campaign and did infact get all the votes she needed to win the election...except the 5 on the surpreme court

I think Harold Ickes is another contender....and I would support him as well. I think he "gets" the whole idea of needing to build a structure that is better able to convey the message....he has been, ofcourse, part of the Clinton team, but in hearing him talk I don't know that he overly favors a Hillary Clinton run in 2008.

Dean or Trippi...absolutely. Again, its that grassroots thing. According to reporting on CNN just a few minutes ago, Edwards is not interested.

[quote=Teresa22]I think Harold Ickes is another contender....and I would support him as well. I think he "gets" the whole idea of needing to build a structure that is better able to convey the message....he has been, ofcourse, part of the Clinton team, but in hearing him talk I don't know that he overly favors a Hillary Clinton run in 2008.

Dean or Trippi...absolutely. Again, its that grassroots thing. According to reporting on CNN just a few minutes ago, Edwards is not interested.[/quote]

Of course he's not, because he's going to run for President. The DNC Chair has to pledge they will complete a 4 year term, I read recently on some topic on this forum. Edwards is not going to be interested in that. Let's face it. We all know he has his eye on the presidency. At least, I certainly hope he still does.

Another thing to keep in mind is who was on our side after Dean dropped from the race in the primaries? alot of the Dean supporters came on board and chose Edwards as their choice over Kerry...which was one of the reasons Edwards was starting to surge and overcome campaign financial strains...Trippi would most likely favor Edwards ...and Dean Im not sure about. I'll have to look into this further....I think this important position requires a litmus test...LOL........one question they could ask potential DNC leader nominees is>>>>>Do you want John Edwards to be president?....lol I know thats not feasible but it sure sounds good

[quote=andrew6565]Another thing to keep in mind is who was on our side after Dean dropped from the race in the primaries? alot of the Dean supporters came on board and chose Edwards as their choice over Kerry...which was one of the reasons Edwards was starting to surge and overcome campaign financial strains...Trippi would most likely favor Edwards ...and Dean Im not sure about. I'll have to look into this further....I think this important position requires a litmus test...LOL........one question they could ask potential DNC leader nominees is>>>>>Do you want John Edwards to be president?....lol I know thats not feasible but it sure sounds good[/quote]

Michael, Dean failed to formally give his endorsement to Edwards after he withdrew from the primaries. I don't think we can assume Dean would be favorable towards JRE. Thank goodness Mcawful's term is ending as DNC head and the party can get a more able replacement, whether it be Dean or someone else. How about Al Gore? He can't be doing anything at the moment, or is he employed somewhere else?

I think Dean endorsed Kerry a few weeks after he dropped out cause I remember Edwards talking about how his campaign was trying to get his endorsement

[quote=andrew6565]Another thing to keep in mind is who was on our side after Dean dropped from the race in the primaries? alot of the Dean supporters came on board and chose Edwards as their choice over Kerry...which was one of the reasons Edwards was starting to surge and overcome campaign financial strains...Trippi would most likely favor Edwards ...and Dean Im not sure about. I'll have to look into this further....I think this important position requires a litmus test...LOL........one question they could ask potential DNC leader nominees is>>>>>Do you want John Edwards to be president?....lol I know thats not feasible but it sure sounds good[/quote]

Remember when the chose came down late in the primaries between the two Johns and Dean was asked about the choices and he said that he thought that Edwards would make a better president than Kerry. I don't know if that was a stab a Kerry, favorable of Edwards or both. Also on Trippi, who I didn't care for too much in the primaries, but I came to respect learning more about what he did behind the scenes in making everything work, he said in an article back in the spring that for a man who campaign didn't have big endorsements and big money for John Edwards to have come in second in Iowa said a lot. He was all about message. Trippi believed if it weren't for Kerry's big money loan at the eleventh hour, he said he thought Edwards would be the nominee. He also that he admired he campaign. Thought I should give you guys that information.

I think we should have a man/woman who fits the message as DNC chairmen. I thought Edwards would be the perfect candidate but from what I hear he doesn't want the job. I just can't figure out what he is going to do to keep his name out there for 2008.

[quote=Nova]<snip>
I think we should have a man/woman who fits the message as DNC chairmen. I thought Edwards would be the perfect candidate but from what I hear he doesn't want the job. I just can't figure out what he is going to do to keep his name out there for 2008.[/quote]

There are plenty of things Edwards can do to keep his name out there for 2008, but being DNC chairman isn't one of them. Accepting that position apparently would mean he can't run for President in 2008. We do NOT want Edwards as DNC chairman. I'm glad he doesn't want the job. He would do a great job, should he choose it, but I want to have him as President someday.

Gore would be my pick!

I just read today in the SF Chronicle that Gore is getting involved with Investments with a guy whose last name is "Blood" the headline was "Blood and Gore" It is some kind of socially resposible fund that will also make money. I'll see if it's online but it was a tiny article so I don't know.

Its a news organization I believe. I know a few months ago Gore bought a television station and said it was going to be his primary focus from now on.

Here it is:

http://www.sfgate.com/`cgi-bin`/article.cgi?...1425EST0192.DTL


Former U.S. vice president Al Gore to head new investment management firm

Tuesday, November 9, 2004


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(`11-09`) 11:25 PST LONDON (AP) --

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore was named chairman Tuesday of Generation Investment Management, a new `London-based` fund management firm that plans to create `environment-friendly` portfolios.

Generation Investment will manage assets of institutional investors, such as pension funds, foundations and endowments, as well as those of "high net worth individuals," from offices in London and Washington, D.C.

Gore said the new company will carefully screen potential companies to invest in, choosing only those that meet specific standards on how they treat their employees and the environment. Growth prospects will also be considered, he said.

[quote=Williams477]Its a news organization I believe. I know a few months ago Gore bought a television station and said it was going to be his primary focus from now on.[/quote]

Well, it seems that Mr. Gore is a flip flopper

It's Dean or Trippi for me too, new and progressive ideas. We need to start with a clean slate, use our head and move forward into the future.

Just so yall know i'm not talking out of two sides of my mouth(like our president does so very often) I pulled the news article for ya:

[quote]Al Gore buys American news channel
Tuesday, May 4 2004, 23:22 BST -- by James Welsh


Former Amercian vice president Al Gore has teamed up with entrepreneur Joel Hyatt to buy NewsWorld International, it was confirmed today.

The channel, which airs international news programmes including the ITV Evening News and `CBC-produced` shows, is available on digital platforms in America. It currently reaches around fourteen million households, far behind other more established news networks such as CNN which reaches `eighty-six` million homes.

For the time being, viewers will not see much change. No schedule alterations have been announced, although Gore said in a statement today that the network will target people between the ages of 18 and 34 "who want to learn about the world in a voice they recognize and a view they recognize as their own." `Pre-purchase` reports indicated Gore was planning to turn the station into a liberal news channel to rival Fox News - in today's announcement, Gore was careful to deny that.

"This is not going to be a liberal network, a Democratic network or a political network," he explained.
[/quote]