Chairman Dean asks automatic delegates to make decision by early June

DNC Chairman Howard Dean today in an interview with CNN has asked that all automatic delegates (also known as "super" delegates) make their decision by early June.

The last presidential primary are held on June 3, and Dean said the party cannot afford to have this contest go on for almost three more months after that. New numbers are showing that John McCain is benefiting heavily on the fact that we have not chosen our nominee yet. Not only is he gaining strength because he is running as the Party's nominee, he is also gaining back Republicans who were unhappy with the Republican Party, Independents, and conservative/moderate Democrats. We cannot let this continue for four more months.

Not only is it losing us votes, it is losing us money as well. The county, state, and national parties are putting unprecedented amounts of energy into this election cycle, and that costs money. It costs money for staff, voter files, offices, food for volunteers, electricity, materials to hand out to voters, and more. But many people are holding off on donating until the nominee is chosen. That is causing hardships for many party organizations around the country. And it's a big reason why I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to give what they can to their party. Even if you're unhappy with the DNC for how things have been handled, you can still give to your state and county party. The Democratic Party of Oregon, for example, has been doing a lot to get people involved, fight against Gordon Smith, and more. But they need your support to continue to do so.

Because there are still states voting until June 3, Dean recognizes that it would be wrong for the delegates to make the decision today - after all, this time all the states actually have a chance to have their votes heard. But there is no reason for them not to have their minds made up within a few days of the last primary/caucus. By then, people will have seen how many votes each candidate has, how many pledged delegates they have accumulated, etc.

Hopefully the automatic delegates will listen to Dean's words and make their decisions soon. We need to come together as a united party as soon after the last presidential contest as we can -- as I've said many times, it is going to take all of us working together to win in November.