Dean behind the scenes

The press still seems to enjoy their campaign-era view of Howard Dean as a crazy man, but he's turned out to be just what the Democratic Party needed -- not only a successful fundraiser, but somebody with an appreciation of how local organizing has slipped and can be revitalized. He's putting paid organizers into states with almost no infrastructure and helping them build a precinct-by-precinct set of leaders and volunteers who can be mobilized in every important race for years to come.

"Building the party's capacity," a favorite phrase of Dean and his staff, takes time, and results might not be visible for years. Fundraisers, in particular, like to see parties win elections, and many view the national committee as a vessel for money and message -- not for organization.

Dean based his chairman's candidacy on the opposite premise: cede the message propagation to the party's Cong. and state leaders, and use the national party's resources to birth more Dem precinct captains and seed victories years from now.

There's a long piece at the link, and it shows impressive developments in every part of the country. Go, team!!