Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean says the key to Democrats winning the White House lies is unity, whichever candidate ends up winning the nomination.
In an appearance on NBC’s "Meet the Press” yesterday, Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said he hopes the nomination battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is over by the end of June, to give time for the party to gear up for the November 4 election against Republican John McCain.
Clinton, who won the Pennsylvania primary last week, currently trails in delegates and the popular vote heading into May 6 contests in Indiana and North Carolina.
But Deans says that if Democrats are still divided going into their national convention Aug. 25 in Denver, they’ll probably be divided after it, too.
Dean, who lost out on his bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004, says the only way to ensure that cooperation is for both the losing candidate and the winning candidate to feel the system was fair.
Dean said he feels like a referee in the NCAA basketball finals in that he has to make sure there’s a level playing field.