(Updated) Dean to Stay as DNC Chair; Obama Adds One of His Own

Dean at Dem event in Albuquerque not long after becoming DNC Chair

Update: Politico reports on more change at the DNC being instituted by Obama: "Beginning Thursday, the DNC will no longer accept checks from federal lobbyists or political action committees, mirroring the strict standard Obama adopted for his presidential campaign." Gotta love it. In another nod to transparency, Obama will allow at least one pool reporter in to cover his fundraisers. McCain holds only closed-door fundraisers and bans members of the media from attending.
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Great news. Do you think this would have gone this way had Clinton won? According to Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post, DNC Chair Howard Dean will remain in his current post as Obama moves to establish his influence within the Party apparatus as the Dem presidential nominee:

Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) is moving quickly to put his imprint on the Democratic National Committee, offering a vote of confidence in current chairman Howard Dean while also installing one of his most senior political deputies in a leadership role at the party committee.

In the days since Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday night, there had been speculation that Dean might be removed in favor of a party chairman of Obama's choosing. Obama put that speculation to rest this morning.

"Senator Obama appreciates the hard work that Chairman Dean has done to grow our party at the grassroots level and looks forward to working with him as the chairman of the Democratic Party as we go forward," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton in a statement.

As I've said before, Obama is a supporter of Dean's 50-state strategy and grassroots focus within the Party, which I think was an important factor in his nomination victory. By keeping Dean on it shows that Obama believes the strategy will also be effective in the general election campaign. He'll add someone from his campaign in a leadership role at the DNC, of course, but I think it speaks volumes about Obama's respect for Dean that he's keeping Howard at the helm:

Although Obama is keeping Dean, he is also ensuring that one of the main pillars of his campaign is installed at the DNC. Paul Tewes, a longtime party operative who managed Obama's Iowa caucus effort, will take over the general-election strategy at the DNC, according to several officials briefed on the decision.

Dean will announce Tewes to the DNC staff this afternoon. No title for the nomadic political operative, who served as political director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the 2006 cycle, has been chosen.

Those close to the DNC's operations insist that no wholesale changes will occur at the party committee. Instead, the current staff will stay in tact while a number of Obama loyalists are added to bolster the committee's general election operation.

We all know that, had Clinton won, Dean would have been out as fast as it could be accomplished. We'd likely have had to deal with Terry McAuliffe as Chair once again, and every vestige of Dean's approach being swept out and replaced with the Clintonista-brand. What a thought.

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