Howard Dean To Become Regular CNBC Contributor (VIDEO)

Former DNC Chair Howard Dean will become a regular contributor for the business news network CNBC, a source close to the former Vermont Governor confirms. Dean started his new gig on Monday morning with a guest-hosting appearance on the station.

The move comes at a time when CNBC is under intense pressure to change its format and criticism for its failures to report or foresee much of today's economic crisis. In this regard, Dean -- who worked on Wall Street after graduating college and has family ties to the financial sector, but has nevertheless been an early critic of the business practices that contributed to the current recession -- should be a refreshing presence, particularly for progressive economists.

But the decision to bring the recently departed DNC Chair on board, the source says, was finalized well before the current wave of CNBC-angst. So while grassroots groups have sprouted up in recent weeks petitioning the network to make wholesale changes, Dean's hiring can't be viewed as a direct result of public pressure.

"This was in the works long before the Jon Stewart stuff," said the source, "but it will be good for our side to have him on."

"I'm going to be neutral between Jon Stewart -- who I'm enormously fond of -- and Cramer," Dean told Politico. "I like CNBC because I can offer them a different perspective that they would find useful."

The Dean hire was announced on Monday's "Squawk Box." Watch:

Comments

[schaffermommy]

03:07 AM on 03/24/2009

i like dean a lot, especially on health care though. i didn't know he was familiar enough with the stuff cnbc does, but hope he does a great job. i would have liked him to be a regular contributo­r to msnbc instead! but i'm sure he'll pop on by sometimes.­. also hope he is able to help push for the health care reform he was wanting to do while in this gig.

[loki]

01:12 AM on 03/24/2009

great, this is all that is needed. Dean is a very narcissist­ic person who wants to stay in the lime light no matter what. I guess CNBC did it as a counter move to Cramers antics Using Dean as a tool to justify keeping Cramer and others who have proven to be the worst of the worst of what is wrong with American business and financial industry these days.

[Brightlight]

12:04 AM on 03/24/2009

Every time Pat Buchanan comes on..I turn to CNN. Tell me again WHY he's on the air at MSNBC?

[suec03]

05:28 AM on 03/24/2009

I do the same! CNN should be glad Pat Buchanan is on MSNBC because he drives a number of MSNBC viewers away to CNN to switch back later after he is done. This is why I usually avoid Hardball, where Buchanan most often appears. I haven't seen him on Countdown or on Rachel Maddow in a very long time, so those are the shows I watch gladly. Similarly, how many of us avoid Morning Joe to dodge Joe Scarboroug­h?

[blimie]

10:54 PM on 03/23/2009

Howard Dean is smarter than most. I wish he was in the inner circle and dealing with the financial crisis.

[Vinca]

12:59 PM on 03/24/2009

I HAD HOPED, HOWARD DEAN, MIGHT HAVE GOTTEN A JOB, IN THE OBABA ADMIN, SINCE HE DIDN'T, I'M GLAD HE GOT THAT JOB

[tjc7513]

09:08 PM on 03/23/2009

One of Dean's comments this morning was that the "Average American was out of work". I wonder if he really thinks that there is a 50% unemployme­nt rate?

[truthglow]

08:04 PM on 03/23/2009

Howard Dean, MD, should have had a prominent role in the Obama cabinet, since he was largely responsibl­e for Obama's win. CNBC is as good a place for him to hide out until the next presidenti­al election, at which time he should challenge Obama for the presidenti­al primary. I would GLADLY vote for him!!!

[steamboat]

10:05 PM on 03/23/2009

You are right.....­But Obama wanted the Kansas lady, not Dean......­........Re­asons are obvious: Howard is his own man and he's smarter and far more honest then all those Chicago folks in Obama's cabinet.

[KNadine]

10:36 PM on 03/23/2009

Surely you can't be serious - Dean challenge Obama in '12.

[Ergon]

06:01 PM on 03/23/2009

I for one wouldn't begrudge Gov. Dean his money, I'm sure he hasn't invested with Bernie Madoff :) or lost a huge chunk of his portfolio like Warren Buffet. He's part of the old-school that knows you need to invest in America, and not, er, steal from it.

[joeinvt]

07:02 AM on 03/24/2009

What money? His father was a successful stock broker, not a Kennedy or Rockfeller­. Also, contrary to what Sarabono has been posting here, the family did not own or establish Dean Witter stock brokerage firm. Dean was Witter's first name. That is all the two families have in common. Howard has little interest in money and has devoted his life to public service. There are plenty of things to be critical there, but enormous wealth or monetary self-inter­est are not among them.

[PoliticalAmazon]

05:30 PM on 03/23/2009

If the a$$hats at CNBC think they will be able to give Dr.Dean grief, they will be very, very disappoint­ed.

[suec03]

05:35 AM on 03/24/2009

I hope they give Howard Dean a platform to comment on health care policy and the role of the pharmaceut­ical industry. I just don't see how Dr. Dean fits CNBC's business cheerleade­r format. Is this a signal that CNBC is reposition­ing itself to include voices critical of business excesses?

[Gould123]

04:57 PM on 03/23/2009

Deam will be honest, mark my words. But , he will remember what side his bread is buttered on an where his future lays at.

[truthglow]

08:06 PM on 03/23/2009

His future lays in CHALLENGIN­G Obama, who by the next presidenti­al election, will have destroyed ANY chances of winning another term. From the way he is messing up the economy, we can already see the future!!!

[lompe]

02:57 AM on 03/24/2009

Bwahahahaa­ha

Did you hear what Dean said in that video?

Talking about the Geithner plan:

Q: What do you think of the plan?

Dean: I actually think it's great...

[suec03]

05:39 AM on 03/24/2009

I think Dr. Dean is welcome as a critic, but I just don't see him being able to put together a broad national coalition like Obama's. Doing so would constrain Howard Dean's voice. He needs a platform to speak his mind on the issues he knows best, such as health care and a governor's perspectiv­e on state-fede­ral relations.

[JenMI]

04:54 PM on 03/23/2009

disappoint­ing!! CNBC is not news but propaganda­.

[Pettit]

05:13 PM on 03/23/2009

Yeah! to balance the fair news of Fox!
Go CNBC!

[suec03]

05:57 AM on 03/24/2009

Seems like the decision makers at CNBC may be planning some retooling of their brand if they have found a role for Howard Dean. It suggests this won't be your parents' CNBC anymore. They may be planning to add liberal and conservati­ve commentary on business. This will be constraine­d by the need not to be so offensive to business that it jeopardize­s getting big business honchos to appear on CNBC shows.

[Ergon]

04:34 PM on 03/23/2009

You realize that Governor Dean will be commenting on the President'­s economic policies, don't you? I'm sure he will be as brutally honest as he always has been. What a bonehead move, to keep him out of the cabinet.

[sarabono]

05:00 PM on 03/23/2009

Got that right. The "Chicago Mafia" blew it.

[unwashedmasses]

06:41 PM on 03/23/2009

I'll second that! Now they have to deal with Dr. Dean w/o muzzling him. I can't wait!!!

[suec03]

05:45 AM on 03/24/2009

Howard Dean has staked out a position criticizin­g the Republican­s and being a team player for the Democrats. He smartly doesn't want to do anything to weaken the Democratic­-progressi­ve-indepen­dent coalition against the Republican­s, especially while universal health care is yet to be achieved. I do not expect him to do anything to weaken or invite harsh criticism of Barack Obama. Dr. Dean needs to use this opportunit­y to focus on health care policy, where he can speak more freely, but I don't see how that will fit in with CNBC. I'm interested in how this plays out.

[jsgaetano]

04:04 PM on 03/23/2009

If they can keep having on Karl "Bush's Brain" Rove (and even more shocking, not laugh in his face)... they can definitely have on the very intelligen­t Dr. Dean.

[Drjimmy72296]

04:03 PM on 03/23/2009

Dean's a smart guy. He knows there's no place for you in the Obama administra­tion unless you were a) a lobbyist or b) have compromisi­ng ties to bankers.

Being too old for that internship at Goldman Sachs, what better way to get in bed with bankers and make himself eligible than to go work at CNBC.

[sarabono]

04:11 PM on 03/23/2009

add please c) late or never paid your taxes

[Rumplestiltskin]

03:35 PM on 03/23/2009

EEEEEEEEya­hhhhhh

[SOLERSO68]

03:45 PM on 03/23/2009

Another republican­s howls in agony

[sarabono]

04:15 PM on 03/23/2009

I think the Repubs and super wealthy Dem's will welcome him with open arms. They always like to get the opinions of another filthy rich Democrat. Dr. Dean fits that bill in spades!

[powder chowder]

04:07 PM on 03/23/2009

was that your best angry squirl impression­?

[AllenD]

03:16 PM on 03/23/2009

I hope the first thing Howard Dean does as an employee at CNBC is to smack Larry Kudlow in the mouth!

[SOLERSO68]

03:42 PM on 03/23/2009

LOL

[sarabono]

04:01 PM on 03/23/2009

That would be good. Two guys - each in $2,500 suits - going at it ! That would be better than WWF !

[joeinvt]

08:15 PM on 03/23/2009

Have you ever actually seen Dean? His entire wardrobe isn't worth $2500. He desperatel­y needs a new suit or two. There is plenty to criticize, but a lavish lifestyle and excessive consumptio­n aren't among them.