Preview of a Dean DNC

Feb. 7, 2005 — -- Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has assured party leaders that if he's elected to head the Democratic National Committee this Saturday, he will focus aggressively on raising money and winning elections, party officials and Dean advisers have told ABC News.

Dean has also said he'd allow members of Congress and Democratic governors to set the party's policy agenda, the sources said.

Dean has started planning a transition that would make his mark on party operations, but he is also trying to calm a chorus of Democrats who believe his polarizing image will hurt the party. Dean has assured Democratic strategists and supporters he will choose deputies they will find credible.

"No decisions have been made except that his team will be broad, inclusive and diverse," said Democratic consultant Steve McMahon, one of Dean's closest advisers.

If elected, Dean plans to embark on a national tour to rally supporters and meet with his detractors in an attempt to get them on board for his four-year chairmanship.

His first orders of business will be to unify the party and communicate to Democrats that he views his tenure as a partnership with them, Democrats said.

The Republican National Committee has an extensive file of Dean's colorful quotations and a Republican official said GOP officials will work to brand Democrats nationwide as temperamental and cultural allies of Dean's.

Even though he is the clear front-runner for the DNC job, Dean is telling his advisers to focus on winning by as broad a majority as possible. Sources say he is haunted by last year's presidential primaries, when he came in third in the Iowa caucuses despite being the front-runner for the previous six months. However, he is lucky to be faced with a better set of circumstances going into this race. As of today, all of his opponents had dropped out of the race.

"He's focused on Feb. 12," said his communications director, Laura Gross. "The guy is still working the phones."

For that reason, current Dean aides and leading Democrats refused to discuss plans for the transition, although several said that Dean had begun to seek their input.

Dean spoke last week with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the two discussed improving the internal communication between the DNC and Reid's new press shop, which currently coordinates message and media response for national Democrats.