Dean stands for values in bid to chair Democratic Party

Western states Dem convention hears seven candidates

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, aggressively seeking to become the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee, urged his fellow Democrats on Saturday to appeal to voters not as "mini-Republicans,'' but as "the party of centrists" dedicated to bringing "America back to a reasonable central moral position in the world.

"We balance budgets; they don't. We stand up for job opportunities,'' said Dean, who received standing ovations from many of the 600 Democrats gathered at the Radisson hotel. He urged Democrats to "speak with conviction'' and give the party base reasons to vote for Democratic candidates "other than that we don't like the president.''

Dean's fiery appeals seemed to dominate the convention in Sacramento, where DNC members and party loyalists from around the Western states amassed. They came to hear the seven candidates vying to become the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee, the powerful political and financial post now held by the outgoing Terry McAuliffe. The choice will be made Feb. 12 by 447 voting members of the DNC.