GOP Turns To Howard Dean For Salvation

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, in politics and elsewhere. And after two straight cycles of congressional pickups, outgoing DNC chair Howard Dean is no longer a boogeyman for his Republican counterparts -- he's a template for success.

This past weekend, a candidate for RNC Chair, Michigan Republican Party Chair Saul Anuzi, said the Grand Old Party would do well to follow the example set by the former Vermont Governor.

"There is a perception that we are a regional party and that we are a party from the South because that's the region we're consistently winning today," Anuzis told Politico. "I do think we need to have our version of the 50-state program that [Democratic National Committee Chair Howard] Dean had."

This prescription came days after Karl Rove, the architect of the current Republican Party, made a similar plea of his own. Noting incredible margins that Barack Obama had among black and Latino voters, the former Bush strategist -- appearing at a debate on the Bush legacy in New York -- said the GOP had to "be a party governing all Americans... It can only do that by making the case to African American and Latinos."

Implicit within these critiques is the notion that Republicans have become regionalized -- overly reliant on strong turnout among white working class voters, primarily below the Mason-Dixon line. In this context, Dean's vision of building infrastructure across the electoral map -- which, it should be noted, was initially taken from the GOP -- makes sense for the current Republican Party. Why cede the entire New England House delegation when, at the very least, they could force the DCCC to spend resources defending those seats?

But the sticking point, as one DNC staffer argues, is ideology. Putting together institutions to make gains in non-Republican regions only will help if the party has a political message that can resonate among non-conservatives.

"By relying on wedge issues to win, they've used issues to divide people and worked to appeal to an increasingly smaller group of people," said the aide. "Dean's point has not just been that we need to show up in all 50-states but also that as a party we need to ask people for their votes, listen to what they have to say and be willing to work to solve issues in areas where we have common ground, even if we don't agree with everything."

Part of that is simply showing up. The leading Republican presidential candidates this cycle famously shunned an African-American themed debate, much to the chagrin of moderates like Jack Kemp, who worried that the party had become too country club. The handling of immigration reform and other related issues, meanwhile, has led students of the political process -- like NDN Simon's Rosenberg -- to seriously consider the idea that Democrats will have a generational lock on the growing minority vote.

Finally, there is the age gap. Rove, appearing in New York, lamented the fact that young voters had abandoned the Republican Party, many driven by anger towards the Iraq War. This may be true, but it is also incomplete. The problem, the DNC aide said, is more systemic.

"Look at the voting habits of under 30 voters," she said. "they are more multicultural and less partisan, they want to be inspired, not lectured to and not manipulated in the way that Rove has used "anger points" to manipulate voters. Those voters are the future of our party, and the GOP doesn't seem to be speaking to them at all. So just because they show up in all 50 states, if they don't understand the voters they are trying to reach, it won't improve their electoral chances."

Comments

[PhilipTaylor]

12:46 AM on 12/27/2008

Rove likes being in front of people testifying­!

So how about testifing in front of Congress? We would love to hear you there, otherwise you have nothing to contribute­!

[Omidal]

12:17 PM on 12/12/2008

I think DR. Howard Dean should head the FDA since he is a medical doctor. He did a great job as Democratic party Chairman. And he said that he did not want to continue to chair the party. Reward him with this job at least. I know he can make a difference in heading this big agency. Contact and lobby President-­elect Obama team for Howard Dean to head the FDA

[Yarrr]

11:20 AM on 12/10/2008

Heh, is it just me or does it look like Dean is in the presence of God?

[BPCentrisAmerican]

11:12 AM on 12/10/2008

The visuals of both the Democratic and Republican convention­s said it all, future vs the past.

[jwbriones]

12:00 PM on 12/10/2008

Precisely. A party of unity and inclusion vs. a party of bigoted fear and hate fringes.

[MichelleDenise64]

11:09 AM on 12/10/2008

This statement I find interestin­g "be a party governing all Americans.­.. It can only do that by making the case to African American and Latinos." He didn't say representi­ng these constituen­cies just "governing them". I'm sure that will give them the warm fuzzies about the proposed wooing of the party.

[strawberryjulius]

10:09 AM on 12/10/2008

Younger voters are also turned off by homophobia­. The GOP has been blatant about their opposition to gay rights. Not just their anti-gay marriage stance, but their opposition to anti-discr­imination laws are turning under 40 voters off. Once again they are wrong on civil rights.

[bobdob]

09:44 AM on 12/10/2008

The ONLY way the Republican Party can become the party to lead all Americans is if they kick the lunatic fringe evilangeli­cals to the curb. You either get the religious right, or you get a chance at the rest of us. There's no crossover. The ignorant hillbilly, Joe-the-Pl­umber contingent is all the Republican­s have, and that's worse than nothing at all.

[Seepaz]

07:16 AM on 12/10/2008

Hannity & Limbaugh are also college dropouts. Let's hope talk radio keeps splitting the GOP - they've dug their own grave and must now RIP.

[ShakeYourComplacency]

07:10 AM on 12/10/2008

The GOP became a regional party because of Rove. They've always had an edge in the south because of religion, race, and gun issues. But a decade ago, their party was moving to co-opt the latino vote before Rove interrupte­d things. Remember, they had the Cuban vote in Florida wrapped up because of Castro. They had the high profile Bush brother as governor, married to a latino, and parading out all the latino nephews and stuff at one of their convention­s. And these were good looking people, too. More rich latinos were moving to america, likely to vote Republican­. Things seemed to be trending in that direction, until Rove really laid down the hammer. He targeted the white evangelica­l vote only, and won. Then they focused on the Nascar thing, and more of the south. They completely abandoned their new direction. With the recent fumbling of immigratio­n issues, and latinos being equated with poor mexicans and crop pickers instead of middle class or rich, they lost what support they had with that group.

[BPCentrisAmerican]

11:04 AM on 12/10/2008

Ironically Nascar might be gone, after the Republican­s destroy the auto industry in order to break the labor unions, sponsorshi­ps will go away and Toyota is going to be racing itself.

[billw8017]

04:04 AM on 12/10/2008

Nice! Obama's win has moved both parties leftward. More importantl­y, he is correct that right and left are misleading labels, but we should be concerned for the actual benefit of our country. The Republican­s have failed according to their own standards (enlarging the government­, underminin­g essential liberties, being fiscally irresponsi­ble). We all know this. The Republican­s know it. They don't have to be this way.

[HST]

03:18 AM on 12/10/2008

"the former Bush strategist -- appearing at a debate on the Bush legacy in New York "

that took about 5 minutes

what's to debate? there's nothing

[Tunghoy]

02:19 AM on 12/10/2008

I knew what the headline meant even before reading the article. I don't think it's misleading­.

Still, I wonder if this falls under the category of "sins we don't know we've committed"­.

[swift goat pet for truth]

02:19 AM on 12/10/2008

GOPers NEED Latinos and Blacks.

GOPers NEED ignorant servants, janitors and lawn care profession­als at below living wages.

If the minority community could just have some sympathy for this surely reasonable position!

[x004Ronin]

02:09 AM on 12/10/2008

Abortion foes target Planned Parenthood­, hoping to decrease its funding. Much of its funding is used for contracept­ion, to prevent unwanted pregnancie­s that would lead to abortion if they occurred.

In other words, abortion foes are fighting for more abortions!

[neesy08]

02:04 AM on 12/10/2008

It will not do the Party of Lincoln to reach out to non-whites if they cannot understand their problems and issues. I doubt the GOP will ever make head way with Afrian-Ame­ricans. They have done so much race baiting that I see no reason for a African-Am­erian to trust them. The GOP have been insensitiv­e to people of color and the issues they face. Until the GOP beome more sensitive to the needs of people who are not white, do not bank on them being successful within the next few years with this group. I do not feel sorry for the party. They have nobody but themselves and Karl Rove fo putting them in this predicimen­t.