Frost Drops Out of Race for DNC Chairman

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Tuesday February 1, 2005 8:16 PM

By WILL LESTER

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Texas Rep. Martin Frost dropped out of the race for Democratic national chairman on Tuesday, winnowing the field to front-runner Howard Dean and three challengers.

Frost's decision came hours after AFL-CIO leaders decided not to make an endorsement in the race for Democratic National Committee chairman.

Frost had counted heavily on organized labor to give him a boost and many in the AFL-CIO were prepared to back him at one point, but Frost had not shown the strength in the race to get an endorsement, union officials said.

The former congressman said he called Dean and ``congratulated him for running a strong campaign.''
more...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4771351,00.html

[JI7]

1. looks like it's Dean for sure

good for him.

[Dems Will Win]

12. All I can say is YYYEEEEAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!!

We're goin' to Washington, D.C.!

[Cha]

26. Thanks, we'll see!

Can't ever count on anything until the deal is done.

[Lorien]

31. Nothing is certain

so let's keep up the pressure for Dean!

[Eloriel]

52. True, nothin' is certain, but if you read the blog

boy, it sure does seem hopeful. DO take a look at the new DNC members who endorsed, the entire state delegations that endorsed, etc. Even Leland's endorsement of Dean was particualarly inspiring, I thought.

http://www.blogforamerica.com/

[janx]

45. J17, we have 11 more days.

I'd love to celebrate, but a lot can happen during that time.

[LSparkle]

2. Dean Dean Dean Dean!!!!

How many more are left to drop out?

[saracat]

3. Wonder why they don't endorse Dean?

Many did during the primary.

[bluestateguy]

4. One DLCer down

Couple more to go. Roemer and Fowler are next.

[LSparkle]

Fowler won't drop out ...

It'll probably come down to just him and Dean.

[JI7]

6. i think it's pretty much over, the rest don't have the support

Fowler is young enough that it might be better for him to continuing working within the party and try for DNC Chair in the future. he might have a better chance and more experience by then would have taught him things to become a better Chair.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. "I think it's pretty much over"

That was my thought, also.

I'm pleased to say it looks like Dean has the momentum.

[Zhade]

40. Simon "I love the Iraq War" Rosenberg first, please!

NT!

[mzmolly]

5. Hmmmm, making room for an Anti-Dean perhaps?

:scared:

[Debi]

8. I worry that Frost supporters will throw their support to Fowler

Making the younger Fowler the current anti-Dean.

I'm waiting for him to make some cockey Texas themed comment now about Frost just so he can piss some more people off.

I hope Dean is courting Frosts friends now (like Hoyer...even though he can't vote, he's a good friend to have).

[Rowdyboy]

9. The only vaguely viable candidates left are Fowler and Rosenberg

and I just don't see a serious chance of a upset by either. Too much momentum on Dean's side at this point, barring a disasterous gaffe on the part of Dean.

[Zhade]

41. Or a "gaffe" manufactured and manipulated by the media and DC Dems...

NT!

[Rowdyboy]

47. Don't you think the media is just salivating over the thought of Dean

heading the DNC? How many stories will they get out of Martin Frost or Tim Rosenberg? Horribly boring! But Dean will be the source of enormous press coverage and constant stories.

Now DC insiders are a different matter, but-if they really had any power-Howard Dean would not be surging right now.

[jab105]

46. Please dont say that YET!! I remember December 03 when I thought

Dean had the nomination wrapped up and look what happened...

I'll be crossing my eyes/fingers/toes until the 12th...

Dean is the right person for the job...

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

7. GOOD RIDDANCE!

[BrightKnight]

19. Frost is a very good man. He does not deserve to be bashed here.

Frost is soft spoken with surprising political wit. He is not afraid to fight. After the DeLay neocons gerrymandered the Texas Democrats out of office he ran in the reddest of the red districts. He raised more money than his opponent. His signs clearly outnumbered his opponent's signs in the most affluent neighborhoods in town. I recall that Bush made an unexplained trip to this neighborhood at the end of the presidential campaign. He works hard and he gets things done. He always votes like a Democrat.

I like Dean. I don't think that he we be able to appeal to moderates. There is a lot of purple on the political map. The party will only succeed if we can turn the purple areas blue.

We need someone like Dean or Boxer that will fight hard for core democratic values. We also need someone that can appeal to moderates. I believe that it is possible and necessary to do both.

I don't believe that any of the candidates can do both of these things well. Perhaps there should be a co-chair.

[FredScuttle]

23. I won't bash Frost for surviving in an increasingly red district

What I will bash Frost for is cozying up to Dumbya in his ads and bashing, ever so subtly, the likes of Ted Kennedy to do it.

[BrightKnight]

24. The battle is for purple not blue. Frost is not a Lieberman.

Frost ran on issues and common sense. He did not compromise his political positions and he did not resort to Limbaugh type name calling and polarizing. He fought a noble battle and other Democrats could learn from him. Dean does not have experience in this type of trench warfare.

[FredScuttle]

35. I quote from Kos (1/19):

"To be clear, I don't care what Democrats might have to say to get elected in deep red districts. But if you spend a year distancing yourself from the Democratic Party and sucking up to Bush, Hastert and Hutchinson (R-TX), then you have no business trying to run the Democratic Party. I don't care if someone is a moderate, liberal or conservative Democrat. You could be any of those things and still be a partisan Democrat. The DNC chairmanship is a partisan position. As such, Martin Frost is grossly unqualified for the position"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/18/19366/7845

Here's the link to the ad that, for me, clinched why Frost was uniquely unqualified to head the party: http://annatopia.com/pics/mm/kdiary/CBS-frost.wmv

Who backed Bush? His good buddy, Martin Frost. :puke:

Wrong on Iraq, wrong on NCLB, wrong, wrong, wrong.

And as for Dean's alleged "inexperience" in trench warfare, I'd say his experiences in the primaries have certainly given him some lessons learned.

[BrightKnight]

36. My Kos response #217: Martin Frost is NOT a DINO

Martin Frost is not a DINO. He was a solid Texas Democrat long before the neocons came to town. Why do you think that DeLay wanted to get rid of him?

The ads should not be taken out of context. It was simply not possible for Frost to win without a large number of Republicans crossing party lines. He ran as a soft spoken, honest, hard working, decent man. What is more significant than his name dropping and conciliatory tone was the fact that he did not abandon his core values. Further, the name dropping in the ads was juxtaposed to biting attacks against his opponent.

The party left him to fend for himself in very hostile territory. He fought very well and other Democrats could learn from his experience. We are fighting for purple and red territory.

[Zhade]

44. Honest, decent men DO NOT BACK b**sh!

How hard is it to understand that any Dem who puts b**sh in a good light is the wrong choice to lead the party?

Is that the message Dems want to send? That they "oppose" him so much that they SUPPORT him?

Am I in Bizzare-O World or something?

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Cha]

28. If you check out Dean's record as

Governor of Vermont..you'll see he "appealed" to moderates and others across the board. My thoughts on Dean is that he is good at bringing people together.

[BrightKnight]

32. I'm not convinced.

I don't see him winning much purple. I very much hope that I am wrong about this. I understand that he is more moderate than he is perceived to be. Perception is important and not likely to change much. I think that if he wins he should bring in someone that will appeal to red and purple areas. Dean is going to need a lot of help here in Texas. I imagine that the same could be said about many other states.

[Cha]

33. I hope you're wrong, too.

Dean wants to change the Democratic Party so we can be the real winners again..and that would have to make ALL Dems Inclusive!

[ozone_man]

34. You might be surprised.

Dean is a moderate and has much cross party appeal, including fiscally and morally conscious Republicans, Libertarians, etc.

The press or the DLC has tried to paint him as left wing, but that does not show in his record. Just because he states what a sham this Iraq war is does not mean he is a liberal. It just means that he has some common sense and morals. And that crosses all party lines.

He is liberal in the ways that count like health care and education, and conservative in the ways that count, like balancing budgets and preserving the environment.

[ursacorwin]

42. winning much purple?

he's not running for an office to represent people, he's running to direct the party. do you understand the difference?

stop listening to the SCLM. dean is as moderate as they come. take a look at his record as gov. you'll see that a lot of his positions are actually more moderate than the majority of DUers.

and the reason why he's doing so well? because he's actually listening to the 400 people who run the party, and telling them how we can win elections again. these are experienced, serious players, not uniformed purple voters.

[Zhade]

43. Gee, doesn't that kind of say a lot about who he's working for?

His signs clearly outnumbered his opponent's signs in the most affluent neighborhoods in town.

How prevalent were his signs in poor areas? Might make an interesting contrast (or make me eat crow)...

[BrightKnight]

50. He represented a minority district for decades until gerrymandered out

Martin Frost represented a minority district for decades until he was gerrymandered out. DeLay and his neocon buddies told me and my neighbors to STFU.

Did anyone here actually do anything when we were screaming bloody murder about the redistricting!?

Frost tried to fight the neocons on their own ground because he did not have a choice. He faught them with core democratic values and did surprisingly well. For this he should be condemned as a DINO.

[Eloriel]

51. Anyone who says Dean can't appeal to moderates

doesn't know shit ABOUT Dean, but has just bought the lies about him that have been promulgated by his enemies within the Party, aided and abetted by the press.

There's a reason Dean drew supporters -- and a LOT of them -- from all across the political spectrum, from Greens to Dems of all stripes on through Libertarians, Independents and conscientious conservatives and Republicans. There is NO Democrat I know of who has anything like that capacity. None.

So don't tell ME he can't appeal to Moderates. Anyone who can attract Libertarians and Republicans absolutely CAN appeal to Moderates -- unless, of course, those Moderates simply don't want to be appealed to (IOW: have an anti-Dean agenda).

[last1standing]

53. I won't bash any real Democrat and certainly not Frost.

He is a good man who deserves our respect for keeping delay down in Texas when he could have otherwise been out raising money for other candidates.

I hope you're surprised by Dean. He really is a moderate who is fiscally conservative while being socially liberal. In my opinion that's a good mix. As for his ability to organise and raise funds, DFA 2.0 speaks to that.

I want the best person in our offices, and I think right now that's Dean.

But thanks for a reasonable explanation why you don't support him. I can respect that.

[Miami Liberal]

11. I'm so pleasantly surprised

I thought the "anti-Dean" movement was going to work but it looks like Dean is on his way to Chair.

Make us proud Doc!

:bounce:

[Cocoa]

13. Both sides on "Crossfire" agreed on Frost

in their episode where they joined forces to smear Dean, they also both expressed approval for Frost.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0501/14/cf.01.html

<snip>

NOVAK: Howard Dean is running for Democratic national chairman the same way he ran for president, as the squeaky-clean candidate. Well, he may have been squeaky, but he wasn't so clean.

Zephyr Teachout, who was head of Internet outreach for the Dean campaign, has revealed the campaign hired two political bloggers to say positive things about Dr. Dean at the price of $3,000 a month. That's play for pay. Meanwhile, one of the great former DNC chairman, Bob Strauss, has endorsed one of the candidates. And it isn't Dean. He picked former Congressman Martin Frost, who, like Strauss, is a moderate and a Texan.

Will the DNC members be that smart?

BEGALA: I don't know.

First, if in fact people were paid to flack Howard Dean and didn't disclose that, that is reprehensible. We talked about that earlier with Armstrong Williams. The same standard should apply to liberals. I will say, in -- I've only been at this for 21 years. You have been at it a lot longer, more than twice as long. I don't think I've ever known anybody smarter than the former chairman, Bob Strauss. He is a genius in politics. And if he's for Martin Frost, he is going to give Frost a big boost in this race.

NOVAK: I agree with you.

[w13rd0]

14. Sad that Begala...

...advances that bullshit knowing full well that unlike the Payola Pundits, the bloggers DID disclose. So screw Begala, I'm glad his show has been cancelled.

[mzmolly]

21. Begala also pissed on Dean in the primaries.

Both he and Carville did.

I like Carville and Begala generally speaking, but I hate the fact that they peddle their losing bullshit in spite of the fact that they are continually wrong. GRR!

[CTLawGuy]

25. they can go to hell

thats what I think of them. :mad:

[mzmolly]

27. I hear ya Darboy.

:(

[Forever Free]

15. I was rooting for Frost

He was a good man, a great congressman, and would have made an outstanding chairman. Its a shame he dropped out, but I'm glad he endorsed Dean.

[progressivebydesign]

17. Will Frost be on to better things? We need a Texan to run for Prez. N/T

[neuvocat]

16. I hope Dean gets it.

It will go a very long way towards reforming the party.

[American Tragedy]

18. Good, very good.

Frost isn't a bad person, but he's well out of step with the Democratic base. I just cringed when I watched him in the DNC Chair debates.

As with other moderate Southern & Western Dems, we have use for people like him, but not in that office.

[TheDonkey]

20. wow, big news. Now Roemer might be #2 against Dean

which isn't so good. I'd rather Frost than Roemer.
Hopefully Dean has it but I wouldn't get too excited too early.

[jswordy]

22. Leland dropped, too...DEAN has the Big Mo

http://blogforamerica.com/

[Cha]

29. Wowsy! And Leland endorsed

Dean. I don't know anything about Leland but if he endorsed Dean..I'm certainly glad!

[Straight Shooter]

30. If they choose Dean, the Repubs will have to put up or shut up.

Dean doesn't cower from a fight, he gets right out there and motivates people to speak truth, and to confront what's wrong, because until you admit openly what needs to be fixed, it "ain't never gonna get fixed."

Physician, heal this country. GO HOWARD GO!!

edit: I'd blame it on my keyboard but the truth is I type too fast :D

[PassingFair]

39. I think you type real good,

Straight Shooter! I loved your post. He will be our antibiotic, cleaning the bacteria out of the democratic bloodstream!

I WANT MY PARTY BACK!!!!!!!!!1

[oasis]

37. b..b...but Bill O'Rielly says Dean's demeanor is bad for the Dem's image.

:shrug:

[KissMeKate]

49. fuck dildo reilly.

eom

[deadparrot]

38. Go, DEAN!

He deserves it. Maybe he'll actually get his party to stand up for themselves.

:party: :toast: :bounce: