Dean's the man (so far)

I haven't commented much on Howard Dean's rise to the head of the DNC because I haven't really been sure what to make of it. I'm not a big Deaniac, although what I have seen in various interviews and speeches has seemed pretty good to me.

For example, his acceptance speech:

But right now, as important as all of that is… it is not enough. We have to move forward. We cannot win if all we are is against the current President.

Republicans wandered around in the political wilderness for 40 years before they took back Congress. But the reason we lost control is that we forgot why we were entrusted with control to begin with.

The American people can't afford to wait for 40 years for us to put Washington back to work for them.

It can't take us that long.

And it won't take us that long… not if we stand up for what we believe in… organize at the local level… and recognize that this Party's strength doesn't come from the consultants down, it comes from grassroots up.

The whole thing, again, pretty good. He very clearly lays out what Democrats believe (including "a good job is the foundation of a strong family, a strong community, and a strong country." Nice.), but working it all down into an sound bite will take some work. But it's a start.

And there's this, from an interview where Howard made a claim that the Democrats could win in Utah:

Richard Piatt: "Was this the message you were trying to get across, consciously?"

Howard Dean: "What I was trying to get across is that democrats, in order to win, have to stand up for what we believe. We are never going to win if we try to pretend we're half republican all the time. The republicans have claimed democrats are pro-abortion. That couldn't be further from the truth. I don't know anybody that's pro-abortion. I do know democrats think women should make up their own mind about what kind of health care they get."

Dean says he has plans to create and fund grassroots campaigns--even in conservative areas like Utah. He rejects labels like 'liberal' for the party. Instead, he wants to seize the moral high ground from Republicans -- helping the poor and protecting children are consistent with religious values, he says.

So far, I'd have to say Dean's the man.