Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean will speak to a labor group in Iowa on Wednesday morning. The appearance brings the former presidential hopeful back to the land of the infamous scream speech that heralded the demise of his 2004 campaign.
It also could be a chance to explore a possible redo of his bid for the White House. Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses render it ripe territory for both official and unofficial political tours.
Dean has not ruled out the option of rekindling his presidential aspirations, an aide close to him pointed out Monday. “Nobody goes to Iowa for no reason,” the aide said.
The official purpose of the trip is to promote a “Purple to Blue” campaign, an “effort to turn state legislatures in purple states decisively Democratic,” according to Neil Sroka, a spokesperson for Democracy for America. The Burlington-based political organization was founded by Dean after his presidential campaign folded. Dean is still involved in the organization, but does not claim an official leadership role.
Dean will address the 57th annual convention of the Iowa Federation of Labor, a state chapter of the national labor group AFL-CIO. Iowa Federation president Ken Sager said the Purple to Blue campaign — not Dean’s past or future as a presidential contender — precipitated the group’s invitation to Dean to speak.
“I know it’s Iowa and everybody always tries to put in additional meaning for everything that happens out here,” Sager said. “But it was truly all about the Purple to Blue program and what we can do in Iowa.” The state’s Legislature is narrowly split between Democratic leadership in the Senate and Republican in the House.
Sager said the convention’s overall theme this year is reaching out to allies beyond the labor movement. “We need to reach out to progressive groups … to increase our capacity to elect people who are going to do the right thing for workers,” he said.
DFA’s focus on state government is a variation on an earlier theme of Dean’s. When he took the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee in 2005, Dean launched a so-called 50-state strategy to build up the party at every level of government. Embraced by many state party leaders, it was controversial among some national political figures. Dean left the DNC chair in 2009.
Purple to Blue’s focus on swing states is more targeted than the 50-state effort, which invested national party resources even in Republican strongholds, according to a recent GOVERNING Magazine article looking back on the strategy.
DFA spokesperson Sroka said the organization is concentrating this year on five races in Virginia, with hopes to extend the campaign nationally by 2015.
If that’s the case, this week will likely be just the start of Dean’s visits to the Hawkeye State.
