DNC Chair Speaks in Low

Howard Dean, GS ’75—former Governor of Vermont, 2004 presidential candidate, and current chair of the Democratic National Committee—spoke about student activism and the 2008 presidential election at Low Library on Monday.

Dean accepted the invitation of the Columbia College Democrats in mid-December, after the group won the College Democrats of America Chapter of the Year award.

Dean discussed his “50 state strategy”—which holds that Democrats should campaign nationwide, not just in the traditionally “blue” states—and on the role students can play in elections. He cited statistics from recent DNC studies that showed the most effective way to mobilize voters is through local and grassroots politics.

“People say, ‘What state should I go to,’ and I’m incredibly grateful,” Dean said. “But if you ask me that question, my answer is, stay in your own state.”

The statement appeared to contradict the philosophy of the College Democrats, who visited Ohio and Virginia for the last two national elections.

But Jonathan Backer, CC ’10 and College Democrats media director, responded to the sentiment saying that the two are not “mutually exclusive.”

“We’ve been working with the state party to get involved in the state elections, but we want to get involved and be most useful in getting out the vote,” Backer said. “From my perspective, we have an excellent track record of choosing places where we really have a big impact.”

Dean also called on students not just to participate in elections, but to run for election as well.

“Coming up with think tanks is all well and good, but you need people to actually implement it, which means that you have to run for office,” Dean said. “I wouldn’t trust politicians to come up with policies, I wouldn’t trust professors—I would trust yourselves to come up with that.”

Josh Lipsky, CC ’08 and president of the College Democrats, agreed.

“I would love to run for office one day,” Lipsky said. “I agree with Howard Dean—there should be more young people in office, and I would love to be one of them.”

Dean refused to be drawn into discussing individual presidential campaigns, apart from that of John McCain. The visit came hot on the heels of a letter filed to the Federal Election Committee that questioned McCain’s use of public financing and contended that he broke the rules of the law he backed with Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI).

“The very bill that he sponsored he is now violating,” Dean said.

And at a time when the Democratic nomination procedure is under intense scrutiny, Dean stuck up for the process. He defended the existence of “superdelegates,” who are free to vote for the candidate of their choice, regardless of the results of the state caucuses and primaries.

“They get a bad rep,” Dean said. “They look like our party and are elected by our base.”

Still, Dean emphasized that Democrats must select a candidate soon in order to position themselves for the general campaign.

“Voters should have their say, then super-delegates should have their say, and if we still don’t have a nominee we’ll have to sit the two people down,” Dean said. “We can’t go to Denver divided—then we’ll come out of Denver divided, and we can’t win with a divided convention.”

He ended his speech on a conciliatory note, which appeared to resonate with the audience.

“I thought he did a very good job of speaking to the audience, and he was obviously a very good speaker,” Kabita Parajuli, CC ’10, said. “He didn’t say anything that was new to me, but it made me want to be involved in American politics.”

“I was thrilled,” Lipsky said of the speech. “I think what came out of it was a blueprint for youth activism.”

joshua.chambers@columbiaspectator.com