DNC Chairman Howard Dean held a barbecue lunch for the more than 120 bloggers who are credentialed for this year's Democratic National Convention. He began his remarks by telling the bloggers, "I know this will break your heart, but you have better credentials than the mainstream media does."

And that's very true. Most reporters have a "perimeter pass," which grants them entry to the convention area, but not to the Pepsi Center convention hall itself. A select few have hall and floor passes, granting them greater access. But all credentialed bloggers have at least a hall pass and very few restrictions on their activities. Dean also noted that there twice as many bloggers here in Denver then there were in Boston back in 2004.

After his remarks, Dean grabbed some BBQ and sat down, asking any interested bloggers to join the "scrum." Several did, chatting with Dean for about an hour before he jumped into his hybrid SUV and returned to the Pepsi Center for another event.



HorsesAss scribe David Goldstein of Seattle told me, "In 2004, the state party wouldn't even return my calls. ... They've shown us a lot of faith and innovation to be letting us do what we're doing."

Square State's Aaron Silverstein (who blogs from Colorado) added: [blogging] Widens the participation. It lowers the barrier to entry so we don't have to worry about one person's bias serving as a gatekeeper."

Despite that tough 2004 caucus loss, Howard Dean obviously still loves corn. Here he is today at a blogger bbq luncheon, with two pieces! And he made a reference to his '04 "scream" moment, telling attendees in a deadpan voice:

"We're going to win in South Carolina and Michigan. We're going to take this all the way to Washington DC. Woo."

It's being reported this afternoon that Barack Obama has decided to keep Howard Dean as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. CQ's Emily Cadei also reports that the DNC will abide by Obama's rules on lobbyist donations.

In short, it's a good move by Obama. First, Dean's 50 state strategy has become extremely popular with state party chairs. Second, it would be hard to fire Dean after the Democrats' huge wins in 2006, even if that success likely had little to do with Dean's 50 state strategy. Dean himself has said the effects of his plan aren't likely to be seen for a few more years at the earliest. Retaining Dean also will please the netroots, who like Obama, but haven't always felt the endearment was reciprocated.

The reaction so far from progressive bloggers have been mostly positive. I agree with Ari Berman's general assessment of how Dean and Obama complement each other:

Dean and Obama complement each other in unlikely ways, with many Dean insiders viewing Obama's campaign as Dean 2.0, the next iteration of the grassroots-fueled, people-powered, bottom-up, web-savvy operation that Dean pioneered in 2003-2004.