I've been pretty impressed with Barack Obama up until now, but I have to say I'm very upset with the way DNC Chairman Howard Dean has been treated. Dr. Dean put together a 50-state strategy that almost no one believed would work, and yet Obama won, I think, 9 "red" states. We have Democratic Senators from Montana (!) and Alaska (!), for crying out loud! Who would have thought we could do that?? We have a majority in Congress. All because Howard Dean was unwilling to cede so-called "red" states to the Republicans.
I was sure that he would receive some plum job in the Obama administration. Surgeon General, head of Health and Human Services, or something that was high-profile and paid a decent salary. Instead, he will be leaving as DNC Chairman on January 21, heading for a job outside of government. And I think it's a darn shame. No one has done a better job as Chairman of this party than Dean. Apparently Rahm Emanual, Obama's new chief of staff, doesn't like the guy and didn't think the 50-state strategy would work. Rahm should just fess up that he was wrong and go apologize to Dr. Dean. Instead, Dean is being shoved out, and there are a lot of Democrats like me who are not happy about it.
So godspeed, Dr. Dean. And thank you.
