DNC head candidates campaign among mayors. - Dean has new endorsements.

Candidates for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee talked Tuesday about the need to rebuild the party from the ground up as they pitched themselves to Democratic mayors.

Howard Dean, a 2004 presidential candidate, reminded the mayors that he has run presidential campaigns, raised millions of dollars and organized voters throughout the country.

"This is all about local politics," Dean told the National Conference of Democratic Mayors at a Washington hotel. "If you want to win, you have to start at the bottom."

Dean, the former governor of Vermont, got the endorsement Tuesday of the entire DNC delegation from Florida as well as the state Democratic chairs of Mississippi, Utah, Oklahoma, Washington state and Vermont.

Simon Rosenberg, founder of the centrist New Democrat Network, talked about the need to organize in all 50 states and touted his abilities in fund-raising and devising ad campaigns. Rosenberg also has been collecting endorsements, including the backing of former DNC chair Joe Andrew and former Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi.

Former Texas Rep. Martin Frost boasted of his leadership of the Democrats' congressional campaign committee, in which he raised $80 million over two election cycles. Frost has been endorsed by veteran Democratic organizer Robert Strauss and House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

Tim Roemer, the former Indiana congressman who is more conservative than the other candidates, said Democrats "need a chairman who can go into all 50 states and help Democrats win elections." He said he has confidence DNC members will not have a "litmus test" on issues like abortion; Roemer opposes some abortion procedures. He has collected the backing of several prominent Democrats, including Louisiana Sen. John Breaux and California Rep. Ellen Tauscher.

Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb reminded the mayors that Democrats ignore many black votes when they write off whole regions of the country, like the South. David Leland, a former Ohio party chair, said he helped deliver Ohio for President Clinton eight years ago and can help the Democrats again.

Democratic activist Donnie Fowler said the key to party victory is "listening to people from outside Washington."

"The question about Dean is: While he will have a third of the vote easily, can he get to 50 percent?" Fowler asked. Then he referred to Dean's 2004 presidential campaign, with its huge grass-roots organization and more than $40 million raised.

"Dean had the oranges," Fowler said, "but he couldn't make orange juice."

(AP, 01-18-05.)