BURLINGTON, Vt. “”mdash; Faster than you can say dot-com bust,
Howard Dean’s quest for the presidency ended Wednesday as the
Democrat, winless in 17 contests, bowed to political reality and
abandoned his bid.
Once the little-known former governor of a small Northeast
state, Dean took a summer ride to presidential campaign heights,
attracting scores of followers and a Democratic record $41 million
in campaign dollars largely through the Internet.
Exactly one month ago, Dean was the candidate to beat ““
front-runner in national polls and poised to begin his primary romp
with a win in the Iowa caucuses. It all crashed when the real votes
were counted.
Dean finished a poor third in Iowa, second in New Hampshire and
managed just single digits in several states through early
February. One of his biggest union backers ““ the American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees ““ bailed
out on the day of the Washington and Michigan caucuses.
In the meantime, rival John Kerry had cruised to 15 wins and
seized the front-runner moniker. Dean dubbed Wisconsin a must-win,
then a not really. After the votes were tallied Tuesday, the race
had become a two-man contest between Kerry and John Edwards.
A day after his distant third-place finish in Wisconsin, Dean
announced that he would no longer actively pursue the presidency,
but “˜”˜we will, however, continue to build a new
organization using our enormous grass-roots network to continue the
effort to transform the Democratic Party and to change our
country.”
Striking the defiant tone that has been the hallmark of his
candidacy, the former Vermont governor urged his delegates of some
200 to stick with him.
“˜”˜Keep active in the primary,” Dean
declared to an overflow crowd of more than 500 flag-waving
supporters and staff. “˜”˜Sending delegates to the
convention only continues to energize our party. Fight on in the
caucuses. We are on the ballots. Use your network to send
progressive delegates to the convention in
Boston.”
Dean’s message struck a chord at UCLA but didn’t
succeed in dampening some of the disappointment for his supporters
as Bruins for Dean held what will likely be their last meeting on
Wednesday.
The eight members of Bruins for Dean who attended the meeting
spent the opening 30 minutes reminiscing about Dean’s
roller-coaster of a campaign and how it energized the group, which
at its peak had over 200 students on its mailing list.
They also tried to put an upbeat note on Dean’s campaign,
saying his personality and outreach to youth got thousands of
previously apathetic voters excited about politics again and
breathed fresh life into the Democratic party.
Dean held a rally at UCLA over the summer when the primary
candidates came to speak about environmental issues. Dean was the
only candidate to rally the college students and Bruins for Dean
presented him with a UCLA hockey jersey.
Bruins for Dean seemed uncertain where to direct their efforts
now that their candidate has withdrawn. None seemed excited about
backing another candidate, and some just seemed exhausted.
“I can’t go and give my heart and soul to the Kerry
campaign or the Edwards campaign,” said Amy Jamison, a
history graduate student.
And though they weren’t sure what the next step for the
Dean in 2004 campaign would be, most agreed that Dean would be back
in the political arena in some way, shape or form.
“I’m not entirely certain that any of the candidates
can beat Bush, so I said to save the campaign stuff for
2008,” said Cameron King, co-president of Bruins for
Dean.
King also said he knew some Dean supporters who were so upset
about Dean withdrawing that they would probably swear off politics,
and others who were so supportive of Dean that they would write his
name into the November ballot.
Historians will have the final say, but Dean was the candidate
who rose from obscurity to a main draw on the Meetup.com Web site,
as newsmagazine cover boy and unrivaled grass-roots organizer. It
never paid off in Iowa, and all that was remembered was a
high-octane concession speech that will live on long after
Dean’s candidacy.
UCLA political science professor John Zaller said Dean made a
key strategic mistake in the Iowa caucus by running negative ads
against Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt, who returned fire on
Dean.
“He went negative against Gephardt, and they formed a
circular firing squad and knocked each other out,” he
said.
Although Dean encouraged supporters to continue voting for him,
he did make clear he would not seek to derail the party’s
ultimate nominee.
“˜”˜I will not run as an independent or third-party
candidate,” he said, as his wife Judy stood behind
him.
Dean did not endorse any of his rivals, although he called
Edwards and Kerry to discuss his departure from the race.
With reports from Charles Proctor, Bruin senior
staff.