Meanwhile, Inside the Party

Howard Dean said that the DNC doesn't take a position on primary contests and I believe him; this sounds like a DSCC-DCCC inside job. I'm strongly critical of the Establishment's efforts to dump Paul Hackett; that doesn't mean that the national party doesn't deserve a measure of praise for what they've been able to do.

This is roughly the one-year anniversary of Dean's ascension to the Party chairmanship, and oddly enough, the Party is still standing. Nay, flourishing. They raised far more in an off-year in 2005 that Terry McAuliffe ever did, narrowing the traditional funding gap between the parties from 3:1 to 2:1. More important is what they've done with that money. Dean released this study highlighting the bright spots. Here's an excerpt from one of the bullet points, Show Up Everywhere:

Show Up Everywhere

Wins in Virginia and New Jersey: A seven million dollar investment in these two crucial contests produced two new Democratic governors. Governors Tim Kaine and Jon Corzine will continue to benefit from the long-term investments made in these states, and their wins signal that Democrats can and will win elections everywhere. In a signal of things to come, Democrats also picked up two seats in the Virginia legislature in post-November special elections -- seats that had been held by Republicans.

Wins at Every Level of Office: In addition to these high-profile Democratic victories, historic down-ballot victories in Arizona, Minnesota, West Virginia, New Hampshire and Alabama are another early indication that Gov. Dean’s plan to reinvigorate state parties with organizers will provide Democratic victories up and down the ballot in 2006, 2008 and beyond. In Tucson, Arizona, Democrats took back the city council by defeating two Republican incumbents. In Minnesota, two Democrats won seats in the state Senate elections that Republicans had held for over a decade. We also elected mayors in West Virginia and Alabama, including the first African-American mayor of Mobile, and won seven of eight special elections for the New Hampshire state legislature.

These are tangible results, and what's more important is how money is being funneled to the state parties and the grassroots. This is the beginning of a long project, but Dean has very quietly put a lot of infrastructure in place that will help in this election year. I can't tell you how many Republicans I've heard say "Thanks for putting Dean in charge of the party, it'll just mean more wins for us," but the truth of the matter is that he's changing the structure from within. Now, at this point that's not enough to change the institutional culture of Washington, which seeks to silence new voices and stage manage primaries.

But that's subject to change. As the new leaders of tomorrow, helped by this new structure, bubble up to the surface, the Democratic caucus will have to change or be shuffled off the stage.

We're finally getting some of the ammo to win elections again. In this postmodern age, organizing and infrastructure isn't just going to happen spontaneously. It took 40 years for the other side to get to where they are today. But we're planting seeds that will soon sprout.