Dean edges closer in his bid for top DNC post

WASHINGTON – Howard Dean’s bid to lead the Democratic Party surged Tuesday as former Dallas congressman Martin Frost became the third challenger this week to quit the race.

Although Frost did not endorse anyone, he indicated Dean has the race wrapped up.

“The challenge ahead for Governor Dean will be to unite the party, rebuild the DNC (Democratic National Committee) and win elections in every region of the country,” Frost said.

“This campaign was never about me or any other candidate. It was about rebuilding the Democratic Party so that we can better present to the nation our strong, hopeful alternative to the dishonest, corrupt and elitist Republican government that keeps selling out the nation in order to reward its few privileged friends.”

Frost, a House veteran of 26 years, turned his sights on the DNC chairmanship after Texas Republicans carved up his district and he lost his re-election bid.

Like others in the DNC race, he positioned himself as anti-Dean, wooing Democrats who see the former Vermont governor and presidential candidate as too liberal or volatile.

But Frost never won over some key players he’d courted, including the Democratic Governors Association, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California – who beat him for that job two years ago – and organized labor. All stayed neutral in the race.

Dean won a big endorsement Monday from the Association of State Democratic Chairmen, which includes 112 chairs and vice chairs from the 50 states and six territories – representing a quarter of the 447 DNC members who will vote Feb. 12. Frost hoped to keep his bid alive with union help. But Tuesday, AFL-CIO leaders decided to sit out the race, reportedly nervous about bucking the Dean momentum. Hours later, Frost called it quits.

Earlier in the day, David Leland, former Ohio Democratic Party chairman, dropped out and endorsed Dean, a day after former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb did the same.

That has left Dean a strong front-runner. Three others remain in the race: New Democrat Network President Simon Rosenberg; political operative Donnie Fowler, whose father once led the party; and former U.S. Rep. Tim Roemer of Indiana.