Howard Dean, Opposed to Nat’l Party Org Primary Endorsements

Former Vt. Gov. Howard Dean, speaking in Lafayette Park in support of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal on Sunday.

I asked Howard Dean — former chair of the Democratic National Committee — about his views on party primary endorsements on Sunday. I decided to hold off on publishing Dean’s response until after tonight’s races because: (1) I don’t think it would have made a difference in any of the party primary races at this point and (2) I think it is an important question that Democrats should look at now and consider before the next election.

The take-away, and key for me is when he opposed party primary endorsements from the national party because “there has to be some place where everybody who’s a Democrat can come and feel like they’re being treated fairly.”

Here is Dean’s response, in full on primary endorsements by the national party organizations:

The DSCC and the DCCC always used to do that when I was running the DNC. I never approved of it, and we never did it. In fact, I actually had something put in the bylaws that said no officer of the DNC could write a check or make an endorsement in a primary.

I think there has to be some place where everybody who’s a Democrat can come and feel like they’re being treated fairly, and I always thought that should be the DNC. So, that’s why I sort-of have this thing that I — there are a few primaries that I’ve gotten into, but very few. Actually, the only two I can think of are because the person running was the former chair of my campaign in the state. And, I, they stood up for me when times were tough, and I thought I owed it to them to stand up for them.

But otherwise, I try to stay out of primaries, still, because of the way I looked at it as, when I was chair of the DNC. And I don’t think the DS[CC] and DCCC should get into primaries either. But, they do, so they do. And DFA does, so, that’s fine.

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