The Doctor is In; Whither DFA?


Failing a meteor strike or a last-minute insurgent write-in campaign by Bill Clinton, Howard Dean will be elected chair of the Democratic National Committee tomorrow.

Now that the Doctor has a paying job, what will happen to Democracy For America?

The organization has survived a repurposing before: It started out as Dean For America back in 2003. When it became clear that Kerry was the presumptive Democratic nominee, DFA reinterpreted its mission: Rather than supporting a Dean candidacy, the movement would support his former rival and other Democratic candidates in a drive to take back the country.

In case you just woke up from a coma, it didn't exactly work. But the movement has remained alive and well under Governor Dean's direction, albeit very much as an extension of his political persona and the activists who supported his campaign for the nomination. It makes you wonder what they're doing to do without him.

In Dean's words:
My personal involvement will be limited if I am elected Chair of the Party on Saturday. But you have built a movement bigger than anyone imagined -- and DFA will remain a force for change for many, many years to come.

DFA's long-term future is deeply important to me. From the start we have been building something that will last beyond the next election, that will take root in the local community and cultivate new leaders.

You can ensure DFA's long-term future right now by making a recurring monthly contribution. [...]


In other words: In addition to a potent new leadership, a point that both the organization and Howard (to the extent that they're separable) have been glossing over, DFA will need a boatload of cash to remain a player in the party.

I'm not saying this to be skeptical, just realistic. I personally think they can get it.

Let's not underestimate the power of this organization: They helped Dean become chair, no mistake, and it wasn't easy. The race for the DNC chair was won against nay-saying from within the Democratic establishment, a (still ongoing) post-election pull toward the right. Even among strong liberals with a lot of personal respect for Dean himself, one heard a fretful litany of worries (e.g., the assertion that Dean was so marred by the Scream that he could never be taken seriously on a national level). DFA's support for Dean (to put it cynically, the 800-pound gorilla of activism that Howard built and can still wield) had a lot to do with putting him where he's about to get.

I'm impressed, and proud of them.

And I want them to continue being an 800-pound gorilla, in the party and in the body politic.

The Right has had party-building, "sustaining membership" organizations in place for a long time. It's high time we had one to rival their infernal machine. Democracy For America is it.

So: Read up ... MeetUp ... and pony up.

(At $10 a month it's the same price as the public radio membership your windshield sticker says you're so proud of.)

Posted: Fri - February 11, 2005 at 09:56 AM   | Category:     |   |   | |


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