SOON AFTER Howard Dean locked up the nomination for chair of the Democratic National Committee, most observers agreed that his tenure would be, if nothing else, interesting to watch. Judging by his comments from the past few weeks and the fire he's drawn from both parties for them, Dean runs no risk of being ignored.
With public comments such as "Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people," "they all behave the same, and they all look the same," and "it's pretty much a white, Christian party," he has displayed a lack of political correctness that would make Chris Rock proud. Unlike Rock, however, Dean's job is to manage a party, not provide entertainment. Unless he can take his colorful personality and reapply it to be productively critical of the Republican Party, he'll become the political sideshow that so many Democrats fear and so many Republicans hope for.
For his part, Dean claims that all the bluster is merely good marketing, and he's not entirely without a case. Though the Republican National Committee has consistently beat the DNC in fundraising, Dean has helped his party close the gap. Early in Bush's first term, the RNC was out-fundraising Democrats by a three-to-one margin. This election cycle, the difference is only two-to-one. More importantly, the majority of those donations have come from smaller donors over the Internet, as opposed to a few larger ones, who used to be able to supply the party with large amounts of "soft money" but who can no longer do so thanks to campaign finance reform laws.
Dean is one of those few precious Democrats who aren't choked by a need to be obsessively politically correct. Unfortunately, what he sees as calling it like it is tends to be seen by the rest of the nation as the rants of an immature fanatic, and the resulting media hubbub is simply playing into the hand of the Republicans. There is truth in the statement that white Christians dominate the Republican Party. But it makes little sense to form the statement as an accusation when the majority of Democrats -- and Americans in general -- are also white Christians, even if the Democrats get better marks for heterogeneity.
Dean's playground-style name-calling has gotten lots of attention, and most of it isn't helping the Democrats. They are scrambling to do damage control so it doesn't look as though they're an anti- Christian party among other things, the Republicans look dignified in comparison and the media is obsessing over the story rather than focusing on other issues where the Democrats badly need some press. Republicans have described Dean's comments as below the belt and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., went as far as labeling it "hate speech." Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said last week that he suspected the whole fuss was a Republican "smokescreen" that they can use to hide their dealings on other issues that might have otherwise received press attention, such as President Bush's floundering Social Security reform proposal.
In addition to drawing attention away from other issues, Dean running his mouth isn't helping the Democrats convince anyone that the Republicans are the party out of step with American values. At a time when many Americans see his party as "anti-religion" according to DNC pollster Cornell Belcher, Dean is lambasting the Republicans for making religion a central feature of their party.
Dean says that he wants to help his party reconnect with red state voters who should have strong economic incentives for voting Democrat but have gone or stayed Republican because they see the Democrats as lacking some moral character. That being his goal, he has two options. The first is to shut up. As your mother would have told you had she been training you in politics rather than manners, if you don't have anything productive to say, then don't say anything at all. Dean's recent comments haven't helped the Democrats and they've done even less to weaken the Republicans.
His second option is to keep talking but start talking constructively. Dean has passion, and that's something the Democrats could really use a shot of after the block of wood that was John Kerry. But his passion will be far more effective and useful if he directs it at substantive Republican mistakes such as fiscal irresponsibility and their Social Security reform proposal rather than at their moral fiber. A realist's voice like Dean's could be refreshing if only it didn't sound so fanatical.
A.J. Kornblith is a Cavalier Daily columnist. He can be reached at akornblith@cavalierdaily.com
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