Howard Dean is returning to Iowa, the birthplace of his innovative 2004 presidential campaign â€" and the site of his amplified death wail.
Mr. Dean’s main topic will not be the White House, but rather the state house, according to an aide at Democracy for America, the group the former Vermont governor founded after his failed bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Mr. Dean plans to speak at the Iowa Federation of Labor convention in Altoona on Aug. 21 about his group’s effort to elect more Democrats to state legislatures.
The group’s “Purple to Blue†campaign has focused on five races in Virginia this year, but will expand to other states in 2014.
Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, who endorsed Mr. Dean’s campaign almost 10 years ago, encouraged him to speak at the labor convention, according to the aide. Next month, at his annual steak fry, Mr. Harkin will host another former â€" and possibly future â€" Democratic candidate, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Though Mr. Dean has been promoting Democracy for America’s efforts, he does not officially lead the organization he founded. That job belongs to his brother, Jim.
A former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Mr. Dean now works as a part-time consultant on health care, alternative energy and grass-roots politics. So he surely knows that, while he might be looking down the ballot in his speeches, a trip to Iowa will prompt chatter about his aspirations for the top of the ticket â€" and draw national attention to a state labor event.
