Howard Dean, one of seven contenders vying for the Democratic Party’s national chairmanship, met with supporters yesterday and called for a stronger party vision, denouncing efforts to adopt Republican values as a way to win elections.

“In order to win elections, you have to have a clear difference between parties,” Dr. Dean told a group of about 300 supporters in Manhattan. “We need to establish ourselves as a party of reform and a party of change.”

Dr. Dean only briefly referred to his campaign for the chairmanship of the Democratic Party, which brought him in front of Democratic leaders Saturday to campaign for the position. Rather, he resurrected many of the broad themes from his vigorous but unsuccessful presidential campaign – health care reform, economic security, and education.

[Late yesterday the Associated Press reported that Dr. Dean’s campaign for DNC chairman took a hit when a group of state party leaders backed rival candidate Donnie Fowler. The executive committee of Democratic state party chairmen voted to endorse the 37-year-old Mr. Fowler, a Democratic activist who successfully led Senator Kerry’s presidential campaign in Michigan last year. Mr. Fowler, the son of a former DNC chairman, Donald Fowler of South Carolina, has worked on campaigns in more than a dozen states. The executive committee’s nod for Mr. Fowler will be considered this morning in a conference call by the group of Democratic leaders.]

As Dr. Dean’s words boomed through the SEIU local 1199 meeting hall of the health care workers union, he urged supporters to focus on developing a robust grassroots network to get their message across. “The key to a democracy and the key to a strong Democratic Party is to invite everybody in by organizing those people that are least able to defend themselves,” he said.

Above all, Dr. Dean roused the crowd with criticism of the Bush administration, decrying its efforts to divide the nation along cultural lines.

“Next time we are not going to be diverted by guns, god, and gays,” he said to applause. “These are the standard issues of the Republican Party. The reason they pick those issues is they have nothing to say about jobs, health care, and education.”

Favored for his conviction and outspokenness, Dr. Dean is considered to be the front-runner in the race to head the Democratic National Committee. At the rally yesterday, he claimed that as DNC chairman, he would not temper his values. “We need to go forward with the faith of our convictions,” he said.

On Saturday, he and six other candidates scrambled for DNC votes at a two-hour forum of Democratic leaders. With less than two weeks until the committee’s final vote on February 12, the Democratic race is touted as a pivotal decision among Democrats to realign the party and organize for the next election.

High on the committee’s list of priorities for the new chairman is a strong commitment to “organization and party-building skills.”

The other six contenders include former Indiana congressman Timothy Roemer, who was a member of the September 11 commission and is an opponent of legalized abortion; a former Texas congressman, Martin Frost; former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb; Democratic activists Mr. Fowler and Simon Rosenberg; and Ohio Democratic Chairman David Leland.

A number of Democrats who attended the event yesterday expressed support for Dr. Dean.

“The Democratic Party need someone of stature to guide the party and nurture its ideology,” said Chuck Lesnick, a Yonkers lawyer. “I think Dean is the one to do it.”

Others participants were less confident that he would succeed in winning over moderates with his candor.

“The Democratic people need someone that can stand up to the senators and congressman,” said Denise Barbarita, of Forest Hills, Queens. “Dean has no problems doing that. But some people think he is too outspoken, too opinionated. That is his greatest asset, but also his greatest weakness.”