Who Is the Leader of the Democratic Party?

[JustJoe]

If you had to pick the most powerful person
in the Party, the one calling the shots more
than anybody else, who would it be?

[citizen snips]

1. It is going to be the nominee.

I can't name the most powerful person. But the democratic leader will be the nominee.

[Blitz]

8. No it's not

Mondale was never the most powerful. Neither was Dukakis, who was politically insignificant after his drubbing. The most powerful person today is Clinton. He's the only major player who represents political and ideological success on a national level. Gore can't claim that. Neither can Lieberman. Neither can McAuliffe. The eventual nominee won't be able to make that claim unless they win in the general election (and if they lose badly, not only will they not be influential, but their wing of the party, whatever it is, will likely lose influence). The Democratic party is badly splintered. I don't know of anyone other than Clinton who is generally welcome in all of the major camps.

[YNGW]

16. Reply

I understand what you're saying, but traditionally the presidental nominee is considered the leader of the party. Why Gore never stepped up to the plate after 2000 I'll never know. He just let Clinton put his people in place without batting an eye.

Whoever gets the nomination will be viewed as the spokesperson of the party, the leader if you will.

[radwriter0555]

2. Former President Bill Clinton...

definitely.

[arewethereyet]

14. the one and only

despite Mr Gore's power move

[HereSince1628]

3. The guy paying the guy making the rules.

That usually works, but at the moment the party may be being ripped in two pieces...evenso, each group has a guy giving the money to the giy making the rules...

[poskonig]

4. Tom Daschle

The congressional leaders do a lot concerning setting the tone and framing the debate. Given Gephardt is out of the picture, Daschle is the head guy.

[Fleshdancer]

5. Leader? Democratic Party???

no clue. I haven't seen evidence of leadership in this party in several years.

[pasadenaboy]

6. 6 months from now

it will be Howard Dean.

[ScotTissue]

7. It's usually the Dem nominee, but not always

There have been periods when a rogue or weak nominee fails to gain the confidence of the money machine and entrnched elements of the party. Today, you can really say the Clintons (meaning the establishment of the last White House) hold one set of reins and Howard Dean (meaning the talents in his remarkable outsider campaign) hold another set. So who is the leader? I dunno. It could come about that Dean wins and the Clintons still shape the platform and the campaign. it could be that Dean is not the nominee but his powerful insurgency still shapes the message and the platform. Who knows? It's exciting.

[dansolo]

20. I believe the Dean and Clinton groups will work together

Assuming that Dean becomed the nominee, I believe that Clinton will work behind the scenes to help him out in any way he can. Once the nominee is chosen, the most important goal is getting rid of Bush. The notion of looking towards 2008 is rediculous on a number of levels, because if the American public is unwilling to stray from the Republicans now, why would they change their minds in four years? If the Republicans win in 2004, they will only consolidate their power even more, making it that much more difficult to get rid of them.

[JanMichael]

9. We have no Chairman Mao!

K'?!

Alright...That was a bit disingenuous. Even I see the need for "democratic" Leadership. I'd say we're fairly rudderless right now.

[stickdog]

10. Karl Rove (nt)

[HereSince1628]

11. That ain't really funny, no matter how true it may be.

[Widgetsfriend]

12. Al Gore...

[revcarol]

13. He forfeited leadership by endorsing a candidate before the first vote

was cast. Any leader must respect the franchise.He's not it.

[David Zephyr]

15. The Same Corporations That Control the Republican Party.

And therein lies the current battle raging within the Party.

[Widgetsfriend]

17. I may be wrong, but I think that Gore's endorsement of Dean..

was a great big middle finger to those corporations. Sounds good to me!

[KoKo]

18. The Lobbyists.......that's who I pick.

So far, they've had a successful run of it. Let's hope that changes when we have our strong Candidate, whomever it is.

[sujan]

19. Dean