Howard Dean-s Comeback as New Chair of DNC

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As a Presidential candidate, Howard Dean said he represented "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." As National Committee Chairman, he now represents the whole thing. Dean supporters say he can raise money, mobilize the grass roots and challenge Republicans with a progressive message. Republicans claim his confrontational liberalism is a gift to them, and conservative Democrats worry he'll drive away big contributors and Red State moderates. Is Howard Dean the right leader for a party that does not want to get used to losing elections? We ask journalists, strategists, pollsters and Democrats of all stripes, including the chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party. Making News: Former Lebanese Prime Minister Killed in Beirut Blast Lebanon's Rafik Hariri has been killed by a massive bomb attack in a fashionable district of Beirut. Several cars were hurled into the air in the blast left a 15-foot crater, killing at least nine others and injuring more than 100. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan vowed the US would work with the UN to "punish those responsible" and "restore Lebanon's independence- by freeing it from foreign occupation." Political analyst Paul Salem assesses the implications of Hariri's death. Reporter's Notebook: The Murky Pagan Origins of Valentine's Day The man who's supposed to have been St. Valentine was a Roman, but the Romans had no concept of romantic love between men and women. So, what was the origin of St. Valentine's Day as we know it? Was it the creation of greeting card companies, or does it really date to ancient Rome? Barbara Gold, Professor of Classics at Hamilton College in upstate New York, considers the latest historical theories.
As a Presidential candidate, Howard Dean said he represented "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." As National Committee Chairman, he now represents the whole thing. Dean supporters say he can raise money, mobilize the grass roots and challenge Republicans with a progressive message. Republicans claim his confrontational liberalism is a gift to them, and conservative Democrats worry he'll drive away big contributors and Red State moderates. Is Howard Dean the right leader for a party that does not want to get used to losing elections? We ask journalists, strategists, pollsters and Democrats of all stripes, including the chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party.
  • Making News: Former Lebanese Prime Minister Killed in Beirut Blast
    Lebanon's Rafik Hariri has been killed by a massive bomb attack in a fashionable district of Beirut. Several cars were hurled into the air in the blast left a 15-foot crater, killing at least nine others and injuring more than 100. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan vowed the US would work with the UN to "punish those responsible" and "restore Lebanon's independence- by freeing it from foreign occupation." Political analyst Paul Salem assesses the implications of Hariri's death.
  • Reporter's Notebook: The Murky Pagan Origins of Valentine's Day
    The man who's supposed to have been St. Valentine was a Roman, but the Romans had no concept of romantic love between men and women. So, what was the origin of St. Valentine's Day as we know it? Was it the creation of greeting card companies, or does it really date to ancient Rome? Barbara Gold, Professor of Classics at Hamilton College in upstate New York, considers the latest historical theories.

UN's Kofi Annan on murder of former Lebanese Prime Minsiter Hariri

Security Council Resolution 1559 on Lebanon, Middle East

New York Times' article on death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Harari

Howard Dean

Democratic National Committee

Dean's acceptance speech as Chair of the DNC

Franke-Ruta on Dean as DNC leader

Lupercalia

Valentine's Day, History Channel on

Esther Howland, inventor of the first valentine

Credits

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Warren Olney