ON DEADLINE: Dr. Dean's prescription for Democrats

Dr. Howard Dean, it turns out, wrote the right prescription for the Democratic Party.

From the depths of that full-throated scream that reverberated in the presidential race four years ago, Dean survived to assume the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee nearly a year later. The supernova of the 2004 race - the little-known former Vermont governor and physician whose summer rise was stopped cold in Iowa - suddenly held the party's fate.

Prospects looked bleak. Early in 2005, when Dean became the party's chairman, President George W. Bush had just taken the oath for a second term and Republicans were riding high in Congress.

How to rebuild?

"If we want to win nationally, we have to win locally," Dean told Democrats that February.

He embarked on a 50-state strategy - sending party organizers to each state, even the Republican ones - and sought to capitalize on the technology that had helped him raise millions of dollars for his unsuccessful White House bid by establishing an extensive national voter database.

In 2006, Democrats rode wins in Republican-leaning districts in Indiana and North Carolina to seize control of the House and Senate. Two years later, Barack Obama captured the presidency in an electoral landslide, racking up decades-long Republican states such as Virginia and Indiana, while Democrats strengthened their congressional majority.

Move over Bill Clinton and give Dean a share of the comeback kid label.

"I don't mind taking credit for the efficacy of the 50-state strategy," Dean said in a recent telephone interview. "I never thought it would result four years later in a complete sweep. How did I know I would get an assist from a president of the United States and administration that would screw up everything it got involved in? How did I know that we would have a candidate that believed in a 50-state strategy of his own?"

Dean argued that a good chunk of the credit goes to Obama - "a charismatic candidate" - and his vaunted campaign organization, for energizing supporters through the Internet, raising more than $641 million and winning in states that vexed Democrats, such as Florida, with seasoned strategists.

"Obama is Dean 5.0," said Dean, who has roots in the netroots but marveled over Obama's use of the Internet and social networking sites.

Many reasons have emerged for the Democrats' success beyond Obama's popularity and his campaign team.

A competitive Democratic primary race between Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton went the distance, to June 3, ensuring that states once largely ignored played an outsized role. States such as North Carolina, Indiana and Pennsylvania held major primaries in the spring, a test run for Democrats in November.

The Senate and House campaign organizations succeeded in recruiting candidates and raising money, due in large part to their chairmen, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. The two campaign committees built on 2006 successes. Republicans were hit by retirements and had to defend more seats.

Looming large was the national dismay with an unpopular Republican incumbent after eight years and a struggling economy.

Critics of Dean - mostly within the Washington establishment - have argued that the DNC's focus should be on competitive races rather than spending its money on strengthening state parties. In 2006, Dean clashed with Schumer and Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, tapped to be Obama's White House chief of staff, over how to spend Democratic dollars. James Carville, a former aide to Bill Clinton, famously called Dean's leadership "almost Rumsfeldian in its incompetence."

Dean's backers dismiss the carping.

"He took a lot of guff" for the 50-state strategy, California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres said. "But many states benefited from the program. Many states you never thought you had a shot."

Dean points with pride to Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico - three states that Bush won in 2004. Not only did Obama win all three, but Democrats won two open Senate seats in Colorado and New Mexico. Dean also brushed aside concerns about labor disputes, limited hotel rooms and fundraising problems to tap Denver for the party's convention; the four-day event went on without a hitch.

"The biggest thing the DNC added was the West," Dean said.

Dean steps down early next year after one term as chairman. He isn't concerned about erasing a $15 million debt and he's optimistic about the party's future.

"I think I helped turn the party into a national party," he said.

The DNC chairman wasn't eager to talk about his next step, including who might replace him, but he was certain about one element of his life.

"I'm not going back to practicing medicine," Dean said.

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EDITOR'S NOTE - Donna Cassata has been political editor for The Associated Press for the past three election cycles.