Obama snubs Dean, says the title of Jonathan Martin's Politico piece. I doubt that Obama himself knew that Howard Dean was not invited to attend the introduction of incoming DNC Chair Tim Kaine. Obama shows up, someone else does the scheduling. But between Robert Gibbs and Rahm Emanual, there is enough hostility toward Dean for that person to get the cue for this type of childish act.

And yes, the blow-off was intentional. As the AP notes, "Democrats with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering the Obama team, say Dean won't attend the event at the request of Obama advisers." That is also the confirmation I received from current DNC officials. "If he had been asked to go to that event, he would have been there," Jim Dean, the chairman's brother, noted twice in an interview.

The reaction I read among bloggers:

John Aravosis:

Yea, it must seem odd to the netroots activists with Deaniac roots, that got on board with Obama in the primaries specifically to defeat the Clinton's, now watch the political clique of Clintonites be engulfed within the Obama administration, while Dean gets the private shaft and the public boot. Perhaps the viewpoint that Clinton & Obama are 'the same' is now being learned.

Steve Benen:

Well, look. The numbers of us online and active that were around when Dean was big, in the '03-'06 era, are a small minority compared with the numbers now engaged-- even within the blogosphere. We know what Dean did, and that without his leadership and embracement of the netroots people-powered 50 state strategy, victory in '06 would never have happened. It did, and it laid the groundwork for Obama's in in 2008-- that's his legacy, and its a fine one.

Kevin Hayden:

haha, Kumbaya... The Chicago Way has arrived in DC. Yea, and there's a special election for Rahm Emanuel's Chicago CD that the netroots ought to engage.

As for Howard Dean's next step, I've heard he is going on an international speaking engagement tour, and also is planning on getting involved in the battle for universal healthcare, either through some known advocacy group, or through DFA. Well, if Obama really screws up, by staying put in Iraq and putting 40,000 more troops into Afghanistan, maybe Dean will once again be the outsider voice that tells the truth on behalf of progressives. With that in mind, it's certainly not a strategical move in line with the 'Team of Rivals' Obama administration narrative.

There's another issue that has been boiling up, about the "firing" of the 50 state organizers. The truth is in-between. They all had contracts through the end of the election, like most organizers. The bigger concern, that the 50 state strategy goes on, under Obama via Kaine, seems to be the issue.

I'm sure it will, but entirely under the auspices of the Obama organization being brought in, which will likely make OFA 2.0 quite an efficient centralized machine-- with similarities with how the Bush ran the RNC during his presidency (effective but very top-down)? How will the states react to the development? Probably pretty well, as long as the DNC continues some sort of funding of their activities. Probably not well, if the Dean vision of decentralizing the power away from the DNC, and to the states, is effectively reversed back to the pre-Dean era Clinton strategy of centralizing the money within the national DNC.

Update [2009-1-9 11:9:24 by Jerome Armstrong]:DFA has begun a petition for the DNC under Tim Kaine to "Reinstate the 50 State Strategy."

Update [2009-1-9 11:27:41 by Jerome Armstrong]:Flashback, to May 12th, 2004. Howard Dean, then Chair of DFA, sends out an email announcing the first ever "Dean Dozen":

Maybe this will have a good ending, maybe not too.

There's more...