The 447-member Democratic National Committee voted to replace outgoing party chief Terry McAuliffe with former Vt. Gov. Howard Dean Saturday. By nightfall, a few conservative students were reportedly already poking fun at Dean with a candlelight vigil on the Green mourning the death of the Democratic Party.
While Dean, who spent a brief stint this summer as a visiting fellow of the College's Rockefeller Center, is known for his fundraising skills, his blunt statements on the campaign trail proved to be divisive at times.
If his presidential campaign was any indication, Dean will likely lead the party in a more liberal direction during his tenure as chairman. He was upbeat Saturday about the future of the party under his leadership.
"Today will be the beginning of the reemergence of the Democratic Party," Dean told DNC members. "The first thing we have to do is stand up for what we believe in."
Later that evening, conservative students at Dartmouth derided Dean's beliefs under the guise of disgruntled Democrats. The group, calling itself Concerned Students for the Future of the Democratic Party, said they felt that as the DNC's chairman, Dean would move the Democratic Party further to the left and out of the mainstream.
The group sent a BlitzMail message in the form of a press release Friday asking students to join them as a collection of "alienated Dartmouth Democrats and other fellow travelers." The group, however, consisted mainly of conservatively minded students, who reportedly staged the event to mock Dean and his supporters.
"Feb. 12 is the date on which former Vt. Gov. Howard Dean -- an anti-trade, socialist, terrorist-appeasing, hateful and divisive conspiracy-monger who successfully squandered immense fundraising and grassroots advantages in his failed presidential campaign -- will be named as chairman of the Democratic Party," read the group's Friday press release.
Kevin Hudak '07, associate editor of The Dartmouth Review, a campus conservative publication, joined the vigil to voice his displeasure with Dean's appointment.
"After seeing the press release I thought to stop by and challenge the Alex P. Keaton-look-alike on the Green. He explained his position and I was persuaded to grab a candle. Unfortunately it was not a vigil candle but a votive candle that dripped hot wax on my hand. I was left feeling like one of many Democrats who have been burned by the decision of their fellow DNC members," Hudak said.
Other conservatives also attended the event to air their gripes over the recent change in the DNC leadership.
"I think they're probably wondering why they lost. They're trying to appeal to social conservatives. I think Hillary Clinton was headed in that direction. But by appointing someone so antiwar and economically liberal, certainly they're going in the liberal direction on those issues," Jeffrey Fielding'08 said.
