Howard Dean Goes Out on a High Note

And no, I'm not talking about another screaming high note...

I was an early Dean supporter back in 2003 when, like so many Democratic primary voters, I was looking for a candidate who wasn't completely feckless, i.e. didn't support the Iraq War.

It was fun getting excited about a candidate early in the process. The famous Dean Scream after his third-place finish in Iowa actually made me like him more, even as I saw it as a gaffe he would not recover from.

Rather than fade away, however, Dean took that network he built (the successful precursor to the Obama organizing effort), and parlayed it into the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.

(Back in June, I discussed all of this, his Fifty-State Strategy, and Obama's primary win and support of Dean as validation of his approach to grassroots organizing and the future of the party.)

Dean always said he'd only serve one term. And today, he made good on that promise and resigned, even though many people (including many who a couple years ago wanted to see him go) wanted him to serve another.

But he doesn't have to stay because his theory that seemed like a no-brainer to us non-politicos but was widely ridiculed by insiders in 2004 is now conventional wisdom. His Fifty-State Strategy is partially credited with winning this election. Virginia? North Carolina? Indiana? These are not states that have historically voted Democratic. But Dean built the infrastructure, and the Obama campaign made it enormous and effective.

So I offer a fond farewell to Howard Dean, outgoing Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He brought some brass balls to the party during a very dark time indeed. And let's face it: the Democratic Party needed some brass balls.

The Party still has its feckless impulses, but perhaps with Dean's groundwork and Obama's leadership, those impulses will give way to one giant pair of progressive bollocks.