He might not be "the" leading candidate for the DNC Chair - at the time there is not one as far as I can tell - but Dean is getting the message right.

Former presidential candidate Howard Dean said Wednesday that Democrats have to "punch our way off the ropes" and compete against Republicans in the South after losing the last two elections to President Bush and the GOP.

"We cannot be a party that seeks the presidency by running an 18-state campaign. We cannot be a party that cedes a single state, a single district, a single precinct, nor should we cede a single voter," Dean said in a speech at George Washington University.

People will vote for Democratic candidates in Texas and Alabama and Utah if we knock on their door, introduce ourselves and tell them what we believe," he said.

The speech was widely viewed as part of an attempt by Dean to win the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee when the party meets in February to pick a successor to outgoing Chairman Terry McAuliffe.

Dean, the former governor of Vermont, lost the party's presidential nomination this year, but not before pioneering use of the Internet to raise money and organize activists, tools he believes will help the party rebound from its losses in the last two presidential elections.

While touting the advantages the party still retains despite those losses, Dean acknowledged that with Republican control of the White House and Congress, "we have to learn to punch our way off the ropes, we have to set the agenda."

Dean said the Democratic Party's rebound lies in its tradition of political reforms as well as advancement of education and health care and expansion of economic opportunities while maintaining strict fiscal responsibility.

He cautioned, however, against the Democratic Party trying to be more like Republicans. "We cannot win by being 'Republican light,' " he said. "We tried it; it doesn't work."

(12-09-04 ajc.)