Howard Dean can truly stand up and say, "Mission Accomplished"

I was sad to learn that Howard Dean will not seek a second term as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. This was a great victory for Howard Dean whose ideas and implementation of those ideas that set the stage for the 2008 Presidential campaign. President-elect Barack Obama simply took it to a higher level, somewhere in the stratosphere.

On July 3, 2003 I had the privilege to join then State Senator Barack Obama in a parade in Evergreen Park, IL and while waiting for the parade to begin, Obama talked about this national phenomenon, Howard Dean. He was fascinated by the fundraising efforts on this new gadget, the internet. And he was also fascinated by this new social network, "meetup.com." None of us there understood it at the time or understood how it would fit into a campaign except that it would. Nate Tamarin, deputy campaign manager at the time for Obama's United States Senate race, took charge of this effort to take technology to a new level.

Shortly thereafter, the "Obama for Illinois" campaign formed a special committee of experts (all volunteers of course) to bring their internet expertise to the table.

When the Obama for Illinois campaign did sign onto "meetup.com," they had the largest number of members outside of a Presidential race. As I recall, groups were popping up and meeting on a regular basis in many Chicago area communities such as Hyde Park, Ravenswood, Oak Park, Oak Lawn. Dozens and dozens of groups started to form. Not overnight mind you, but a very steady climb that when election day rolled around in March of 2004, there were hundreds of groups formed and thousands had donated to the campaign. The groups were small at first and so were the donations. But eventually they grew and grew by multiplication.

And all this is a thank you to Howard Dean, outgoing Chairman of the DNC and great visionary. He saw what no one else saw way back when. He advocated a 50 state strategy and that was what he promised to do if he received the nomination. It has revolutionized the Democratic Party.

I will miss Howard Dean on the national stage, unless of course he is named to the Obama cabinet or has a prominent position there. I hope to meet him one day and shake his hand to thank him for this great victory.

Reading on Walden Bookstore.