On cell phone between Pocatello and Sun Valley, Idaho...Dean talks party line.

[madfloridian]

Sticking to his guns about taking no sides and not speaking out.

DNC chair holds party line

Hoping to mine some deep Idaho pockets for campaign cash, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean took a road trip on Wednesday, Aug. 8, from Pocatello to Sun Valley.
He had few comments beyond the obvious during a brief cell phone interview as he crossed the Snake River, heading for a private fundraising dinner here. Dean said he had been in Idaho several times when he ran for president in 2004. He has also skied here.

..."The Mountain Express asked if the eventual nominee would have any fight left for the Republicans.

"It's a long process. It's good process ... I think the American people want someone who is pretty tough for president," he said. Dean, however, wanted to talk only the party line.

"I can't comment on the (Democratic) presidential candidates," he said, when asked if Obama was hurting his chances with recent comments.

..."In espousing the party's message, Dean said the party believes we should get out of Iraq and "get rid of the culture of corruption." Dean said about 250 people attended a public picnic campaign event in Pocatello earlier in the day on Wednesday.

Then on to Wyoming for a big fundraiser. I think a lot of visits are being made to the western states by many Democrats.

Democrats’ 50-State Plan includes Tapping Teton County’s Gold

JACKSON, Wyo. – By the time county Republicans grabbed local headlines Tuesday, gushing over two Valley residents having moved up the rungs of the GOP ladder, about 50 or so of their rivals had met in near secrecy on famed attorney Gerry Spence’s ranch Monday night to toast Democratic national chairman Howard Dean.

At $2,500 a plate, $500 for cocktails, the main entrée appeared to be the fattening of the party’s war chest for their big push to widen their congressional margins and take the White House in 2008, according to an invitation obtained by NewWest.

The difference in party profiles and public relations is likely one of occasion rather than introversion. High-stakes political fundraisers here tend to be well-choreographed, sparsely chronicled events, often conducted under the radar, while the promotional upgrades of local party loyalists are things of irrepressible joy that lend themselves to easy and desirable headlines. Still, the increasingly frequent, high-flying Democratic stopover here of late indicates that national leaders and candidates of that party are seizing upon something that their current Republican competitors have so far been slower to grasp: Teton County is good for business.

“Democrats think (Wyoming is) an automatic loss. Republicans think it’s an automatic win,” former Wyoming Democratic chair Mike Gierau said Tuesday in explaining why national leaders of his party have kept their visits here low-key and largely off Main Street.

Added Gierau, “Democrats to their credit are trying to change that. Take (Gary) Trauner’s candidacy. The DNC invested in him. That would be unheard of two election cycles ago.”

If I am not mistaken I believe Dean's policy is still to leave part of the fundraising in the states. For a while he left it all, but changed. May be wrong on that, but think so.