Dean elected DNC chairman

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Howard Dean was elected Democratic National Committee chairman by acclamation yesterday after promising to end his party's decade-long decline by sharpening its message, broadening its base and strengthening its operations at the grass roots.

"Today will be the beginning of the re-emergence of the Democratic Party. The first thing we have to do is stand up for what we believe in," the fiery former Vermont governor told hundreds of cheering DNC members who gathered at the Washington Hilton to choose their new party leaders.

Using the organizational and personal networking skills that made him the front-runner for the 2004 presidential nomination before his candidacy imploded in the Iowa caucuses, Mr. Dean drove nearly a dozen rivals from the chairman's race and calmed party doubts about his temperament and anti-war, liberal image to win the top DNC leadership post.

To alleviate concerns, he promised the DNC's 447 members, who serve as the party's board of directors, that he would not run for president again in 2008 and gave House and Senate Democratic leaders an ironclad pledge that he would leave the party's policy-making to them.

"We will not set the agenda. That will be set by Democratic congressional leaders," he said.

The Hilton ballroom exploded with cheers and a thunderous standing ovation when outgoing DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe slammed down the gavel and declared Mr. Dean the new national chairman. Many viewed Mr. Dean's victory as a remarkable political comeback for the man who had attacked the party's leaders for backing President Bush in the Iraq war and whose political career seemed all but over after his collapse in the presidential primaries.

"If you'd told me a year ago that I'd be standing here doing this ... I would not have believed you, and neither would a lot of other people," Mr. Dean said.

Mr. Dean said at a press conference after his acceptance speech that he would be embarking on a nationwide party-rebuilding crusade to reach out to pivotal parts of the electorate that the Democrats have been losing, including Catholics and evangelicals, whose support has been a key factor in the Republicans' victories, particularly in rural America.

"We are definitely going to do religious outreach. We're definitely going to reach out to the evangelical community," he said.

Acknowledging the Catholic Church's active role in speaking out against John Kerry's pro-choice stance, Mr. Dean said, "We have to remind Catholic Americans that the social mission of the Democratic Party is almost exactly the same as the social mission of the Catholic Church."