The End Of The Revolution?
Is this the end for Howard Dean? After amassing nearly $40 million in campaign funds largely via a much-hyped (for good reason) internet presence, Dean's campaign is now near the end of their cash. Much of Dean's resources went to early campaign ads, as well as last week's intense push in New Hampshire to recover from the Iowa debacle. So, two of Dean's most touted advantages, organization and money, have been squandered in states where he has campaigned hard and finished with disappointing results. And that includes New Hampshire, which Dean had every reason to believe he would do well in.
Now, Dean faces a daunting run through the South and places like Michigan and Washington, and resource shortages are compromising the campaign's ability to reach out to voters in every state. In fact, at just the time Dean needs to put on the fullest of presses, his campaign is considering pulling all TV advertising prior to Super Tuesday, in the hopes that they can gain momentum with a victory or two, and then have resources to continue what they hope will be a war of attrition.
But that's only one of Dean's problems. The other is perhaps even more damaging to Dean's overall cause, and that is the sudden departure of campaign manager and primary ideologue, Joe Trippi. It was Trippi who was credited with spearheading the innovative web finance operation, as well as for being the spiritual and motivational magnet for the campaign. When people talk about the fervor of the Deaniacs, Trippi was just as much a part of recruiting and channeling that enthusiasm as Dean was. But, insiders say that it was in part due to Trippi that resources may not have been maximized, or that Dean's organization, while large, wasn't particularly...organized.
And so, instead of Trippi, a man who was successful at exploiting the anger of Deaniacs who wanted to help take Washington away from the "insiders", Dean has hired former Gore aide Roy Neel, a quintessential Washington insider.
How will this play with the supporters? It's doubtful that the hard core would turn against Dean, but it's also just as apparent that much of his supposed base wasn't quite as hard core as we were led to believe, given how much support Dean shed in the polls in such a short time.
Additionally, this move is being portrayed by the Dean campaign itself as a kind of desperation move, an acknowledgement that something wasn't working before, and that something needed to change.
Hard to believe they can change enough in time for Super Tuesday.
From where I sit, the Dean Dream circa 2004 appears to be dead. It's a shame, if you ask me. The guy has a lot to offer, and he has a solid record. I don't think he could have beaten Bush, but I wouldn't have minded him getting a bit farther in this race.
I know that many in the Dean camp will still blame the media, and blame the Electability Justification that so many voters are giving these days, and they wouldn't necessarily be wrong to do that. But this is also a campaign that mismanaged large amounts of money and staff, that abandoned key parts of their message (solid Vermont record) to score points on an issue (Iraq) that polls show increasingly means less and less to voters, and chose as bedfellows and supporters the very kinds of people it was railing against as having too much influence in our country today.
The lesson? It's not about a scream, or the media's dislike of a guy. It's about a recognition that it's not enough to just mobilize passion and be an "outsider". At some point, that passion and support has to be mobilized in a way to work with the process, and that is best done by people who know the process.
You can't implement a sea-change if you don't have people who know how to be in the water. You can have an Outsider message, but you can't be afraid to use insiders to make it stick.
Power means having to get a little dirty sometimes.
1:00:59 PM 
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