Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean is thinking about running for the office again, more than 20 years after he left the post.
Howard Dean served as Vermont governor from 1991 until 2003. The Democrat assumed the post after Republican Governor Dick Snelling died in office. Dean would become the state’s longest-serving governor.
He unsuccessfully ran for president in 2004, becoming notorious for his Dean Scream following the Iowa caucus.
“We’re going to Washington D.C. to take back the White House, yeaahh!”
Dean subsequently led the Democratic National Committee from 2005 until 2009.
Current Governor Phil Scott, a popular Republican, has not said whether he will seek a fifth two-year term in November.
Now 75, Dean has not held elected office since he left the Statehouse in Montpelier. Vermont Democratic Party Executive Director Jim Dandeneau confirms Dean is contemplating running again for governor.
“I’ve had some conversations with him. I actually jokingly asked him if he wanted to run last summer, recalls Dandeneau.” I didn’t think he would take me seriously. He laughed at me when I asked him last summer. But he is I think seriously considering it at this point. The fact that he has stayed involved. He has good relationships with the folks who are working in state government now. He has an understanding of what it takes to win the race and an understanding of what it takes to do the job I think make him a very interesting candidate.”
Dandeneau says Vermont Democrats are excited about a potential Dean campaign.
“I was in the Statehouse on Thursday when the rumors started to spread and it was a different day than I’ve ever had in the Statehouse,” Dandeneau says. “People were excited. People were hopeful. And talking with activists over the weekend around the state I think folks are really, really excited about the idea.”
But Vermont GOP Chair Paul Dame calls the idea “bizarre.”
“My first reaction was that it was kind of strange. I know that the Democrats have had trouble fielding a candidate against Governor Scott,” asserts Dame. “He’s one of the most popular governors in the country. But sort of to go back in time 30 years and pull out Howard Dean seems a little bizarre. You know from my perspective Howard Dean has been very symbolic of the fundamental shift in the Democratic Party. When he was the governor he was very fiscally conservative. He was about cutting spending and now he’s become this sort of progressive firebrand.”
Political analyst Chris Graff has covered Dean’s career extensively.
“Well, I think it’s him thinking about the future of the state and whether he still has anything to contribute and in this case is there any Democrat who can defeat Phil Scott, who increasingly looks like he is going to run for reelection,” notes Graff. “I think Governor Dean is saying hey, he thinks he can and he could provide a Democratic alternative to the very popular incumbent governor.”
Political analyst Graff and GOP Chair Dame have similar questions about a potential Dean campaign.
“The hard question is knowing which Howard Dean will show up if he runs for governor,” Graff says. “Because Howard Dean as governor of Vermont, he was a fiscal conservative and a social moderate, much like Phil Scott. But then when Howard Dean ran for president he became seen as one of the leading progressives and liberals in the Democratic Party. So the question is how much has he changed in the two decades since? Is he going to be, as governor, a fiscal conservative as he was or is he going to be more liberal?”
“Which Howard Dean are we going to get?” asks Dame. “Are we going to get the Howard Dean from the 1990’s or are we going to get the Howard scream who ran for president as a progressive firebrand and also was chair of the Democratic National Committee? Is he going to start bringing the Washington Democrats into Vermont?”
Graff notes that there is plenty of time for Dean to ponder a possible run as nominating petitions are not due until the end of May.
“I know there are nominating petitions out there and that he’s talked to Democratic officials but I don’t think anyone should consider this is a done deal,” cautions Graff. “I think Governor Dean’s got to think about whether it’s truly something he wants to do at age 75 and at this stage of his political career.”
Dean did not respond to requests for comment from WAMC.
