Some Democratic Party leaders, while offering sympathy for Mr. Dean’s plight, said it was urgent that he take a more assertive role to restore peace. Several suggested that Mr. Dean  who has sought to build a legacy by expanding party operations to all 50 states  risked having his tenure as party leader remembered for a traumatizing loss in a year where most Democrats think victory should be easy.

“I think he should be talking to governors and Al Gore and John Kerry,” said Donald Fowler, a former party chairman who supports Mrs. Clinton. “I think he should be convening almost daily conversations with people  including the campaigns  trying to reach a solution.”

“If I were a chair, I would be a little more public in what I was doing and suggesting,” Mr. Fowler said. “The D.N.C. chair rarely has an opportunity to do stuff, but this is one of those occasions.”

Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee drew attention last month when he proposed a solution: Have the elected Democratic officials and party leaders known as superdelegates convene after the voting is done on June 3 to resolve the fight. Mr. Bredesen said he had acted in part because he saw no evidence that Mr. Dean or other leaders were trying to resolve the situation.

“What I try to do is when I see a problem to step up,” Mr. Bredesen said. “I think the party needs to take a hand in this thing.” ‘

Mr. Dean, a reserved former governor of Vermont, goes home most weekends and spends most of his weekdays on the road. In Washington, he stays at a hotel. His approach and style offer a sharp contrast to a string of big-shoulder, high-profile party chairmen Terry McAuliffe or the late Ron H. Brown  who rose through the party ranks and were fixtures at the parties, fund-raisers and restaurants that make up this city’s political culture and where much of the political conversation takes place.

He in many ways ran for chairman as a candidate defying the Democratic establishment, and his first years were marked by a very public feud with Representative Rahm Emanuel, Democrat of Illinois, over Mr. Dean’s trademark proposal to use Democratic National Committee money to build organizations in all 50 states. He does not have particularly close relationships with many of the people who are central to the Clinton and Obama campaigns or Washington Democratic players.