Smart moves

One of Barack Obama's first acts as the Democratic nominee is to keep Howard Dean as DNC chair.

Remember back when Dean was chosen to lead the party how Republicans across the board giggled and sneered that he would doom the Democrats and that the party was now beholden to the so-called "far left?"

This, of course, was back when Karl Rove was talking about a "permanant Republican majority."

How times have changed.

Dean's leadership has reinvigorated the party at the grassroots level. The 50 State Strategy has made the Democrats competitive in regions the old Clinton team of the DLC had written off.

House seats are being won in deeply conservative districts and a landslide for the Democrats is expected in fall's Congressional races.

Dean has been the most successful DNC chair in a generation and Obama is wise to keep him.

That's one smart move - here's another:

The campaign also announced that the DNC will no longer accept donations from lobbyists and political action committees, to comply with Obama's campaign policy. Party officials say they expect the DNC's staff to quickly expand to run an aggressive general election campaign.

In this March 27, 2008 file photo, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean gestures during an interview with The Associated Press at DNC Headquarters in Washington.