"The national Democratic chairman strode to the front of the bandshell and breathed in the humid Idaho air. He was in the heart of enemy territory.
He smiled.
Minutes before, "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" had blared from the speakers as people mingled in the shade of pine trees.
Now the chairman commanded all attention. His rolled-up sleeves showed thick New England forearms. He was ready.
"We didn't quite win in Idaho the last time, but we're not quitting," he said. "People say, 'Why'd you come here? This is a Republican state,' but they're wrong.
"This is a libertarian area. We're going to win on a Western platform next time."
Less than half a mile away loomed Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's office in the ornate state capitol building where he has largely gotten his way for the past six years. Kempthorne's press secretary said the governor had no comment, adding he was currently away at a retreat in Iowa.
The chairman was obviously brave. Or crazy.
Howard Dean rose from relative obscurity as a former physician to become the Governor of Vermont. Last year he rode a wave of popularity to the brink of a presidential nomination and an appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone. Then the wave crashed as Dean lost the nomination to John Kerry and watched George Bush win the national election.
But Dean resurfaced in February as the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and appeared Friday afternoon in Boise on a swing to recapture the hearts and minds of the Western states.
Nearly 500 people showed up in Boise's Julia Davis Park to cheer on his every salvo. "We need a president who's the president of all Americans and not just his Americans," Dean said, sparking vociferous applause. "The worst thing he's done is set us against each other." During a half-hour speech, Dean advocated for health insurance for all Americans, blasted Tom DeLay and Karl Rove and, with his index finger piercing the air, accused Republicans of treating veterans like dirt.
Then he turned his attention to a local issue when he said: "Imagine the Senate closing their committee hearings so the public doesn't know what's going on. We can do better than that."
Not long after the cheering died down, Dean was already gone, bound for Salt Lake City and then Great Falls, Mont. But the question lingered - Was he wasting his time? Could Howard Dean do anything to boost the beleaguered Democratic party in the Gem State?
Bill Kibble certainly thinks Dean's message can take root in Idaho, a state where less than 20 percent of state legislators are from the Democratic party. Kibble, a Vietnam veteran who served 21 years in the Air Force, needed someone to vent to by the rally's end.
"(The Republicans) are such hypocrites," said the Boise native. "The way it is now, the only people who are sacrificing are the men and women in the armed forces and their families.
"It's terrible."
Others expressed similar feelings as they crowded around Dean, hoping for a chance to meet the chairman and see if he really was as optimistic as he seemed. "I was a Republican, but you've converted me," confessed one woman. "Thanks for not writing us off, Governor," hollered another man. Through it all, Dean beamed broadly beneath the bright sun, his right arm working like a piston as he shook dozens of hands thrust in front of him.
Underneath the enthusiasm and optimism of Dean's speech lay a hint at the new strategy of the Democratic party. Outnumbered in Congress and rendered to the sidelines in states like Idaho, the party of Cecil Andrus and Frank Church seems to be turning to a new tack in their quest to redefine the country and themselves. Republicans, Dean said, are the real "big government" party. Democrats, he maintained, are the ones with traditional family values. That goes against traditional stereotypes, but Dean was adamant. "The President is so busy giving freedom to the Iraqis, but what about freedom at home?" he asked.
Dean then turned his attention to subjects such as abortion and gay marriage.
"Those kind of decisions belong to individual families - that's none of the government's business," he said. He urged crowd members to begin working now for the upcoming elections.
In Idaho, a race to replace Kempthorne looms on the horizon and veteran Republican lawmakers Mike Simpson and Larry Craig are up for reelection. The Republicans seem unassailable, near-certain locks to win. But the chairman seems determined to get local Democrats to play them at their own game, and win.
He knows it won't be easy. The sweat showed through his blue shirt on Friday. But he's ready. The sleeves are rolled up. He's ready for a fight."-from the story in the Pocatello Idaho State Journal.
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