Howard Dean said the Democratic Party must work toward getting gay and minority leaders on the ballot. "We've got to share power, not just responsibility, from now on," Dean told a crowd of about 200 at the International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference Saturday, an annual gathering of gay public officials, reports the Associated Press.
According to the AP, Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said little about gay-specific issues like same-sex marriage and instead addressed broader Democratic agendas like raising the minimum wage.
Flush from big Democratic gains in last week's elections, Dean emphasized that the new Democratic Party reaches out to all citizens out of respect, even those less likely to vote for them.
Dean called it the new "50 state" strategy and pointed toward Democrats sweeping judicial races in Dallas Countyóbringing an abrupt end to two decades of GOP domination -- as a sign the plan can work.
Democrats' downfall, he said, had been its acceptance to represent half of the nation.
"We've got to take the attitude: Everyone's our boss," Dean said, reports the AP.
In other news, Dean is scheduled to deliver another keynote speech to Canada's opposition Liberal Party later this month, but some of the party's leaders have criticized the idea of a failed presidential candidate telling Canadians how to win elections.
"I as a Canadian am appalled to have an American loser address a keynote convention that will choose Canada's next prime minister," said Ray Heard, former communications director of Canadaís Liberal Party, reports the Boston Globe.
The former Vermont governor lost his bid for the 2004 Democratic nomination to Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.
