DFL leaders back Dean to lead national party

[Dickie Flatt]

http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5215286.html

Leaders of the Minnesota DFL Party endorsed former presidential candidate and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean on Monday to lead the Democratic National Committee (DNC). ...

DFL Chair Mike Erlandson and vice chair Tarryl Clark cast their votes as members of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, which also pledged support for Dean. "Howard Dean is committed to building the Democratic Party from the state level, from the grassroots on up," Erlandson said Monday. ...

Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., is supporting Roemer, a spokesman said. Roemer, who opposes abortion, is widely considered a more conservative choice than Dean. ...

Nancy Larson, executive director and lobbyist for the Minnesota Association of Small Cities and a DNC voting member, said she will vote for Dean.

Too bad about Oberstar, but nice to see Mike and Tarryl going for Dean.

[dflprincess]

1. An email went out on the state central discuss list

from another of the DFL DNC members who said he was supporting Dean for chair.

[jean]

2. Oberstar is no surprise - remember he was amid the onlookers as bush

signed the late term abortion ban in 2003


http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/11/05/abortion.ap/

[katinmn]

4. Oberstar has been in politics since he was a teenage page

While he has represented the people in NE MN well overall, anyone around that long is used to trading votes.

[no name no slogan]

6. Don't badmouth Oberstar-- he's far more progressive than many think

In fact, he was a Kucinich supporter last time around. Jim Oberstar has been around forever, but he's also a staunch supporter of progressives and progressive issues. Sure, he may not vote exactly the way we always want him to, but even Paul Wellstone made some bad votes.

Oberstar is a great Congressman and stands up for the working people in his district-- many of whom were a big part of Wellstone's base, too. He may not meet the suburban liberal litmus test on cultural issues (like abortion, gay marriage, etc.) but he has a very strong pedigree on supporting unions, fair wages and standing up to big corporations.

I'm sure Oberstar has his reasons for not backing Dean, but that does NOT make him any less of a Democrat, or a progressive. This man was fighting in the trenches against conservatives before many of us were even born. Let's not tear him down because of a single disagreement.

[katinmn]

9. I grew up in his district so I know his strengths & weaknesses

quite well!

[jean]

12. I did not badmouth the man - but he does back bush on abortion

[no name no slogan]

16. Well, I probably agree with Bush on an issue or two, as well

but I don't consciously label myself that way.

Unfortunately, it's this kind of "with us or against us" attitude that has alienated a number of "anti-choice" voters from the party. People like my in-laws, who are devoutly Catholic, economically populist, lifelong farmers, and formerly very active in the DFL. However, they don't even bother voting these days, because the Dems have spent their time focusing on divisive social issues instead of the economic issues-- where most Americans agree more with us than the GOP.

We're basically playing the role the RWers have made for us: letting divisive hot-button issues like abortion and gay marriage split the party, and driving the socially conservative/econoically progressive voters from our party.

The RW is playing the tune-- and labelling solid Democrats like Oberstar as "pro-Bush" is only dancing to their beat.

[Cha]

3. DFL Forever!

All these really cool people want Dean to be our DNC Chair..

[katinmn]

5. Yay, for Erlandson and Clark.

I think we should keep Erlandson and actually pay him.

[no name no slogan]

7. We need a new chair

Erlandson has been a disappointment as chair. He has done a good job of fundraising, true, but that's about it. Last year, the headquarters was so disorganized that it was almost impossible to get information out of them. I know of a few people who went there to get supporter lists for their Senate districts, and could not get them-- something they've NEVER had problems with before.

He's dragged his feet for calling central committee meetings, too. Did you know the last State Central Committee meeting happened before the state convention last May? IIRC, they're supposed to happen at least once every six months! We had all that GREAT energy here last winter before the caucuses, and we've LOST a lot of that, because we haven't been keeping our people involved! That makes it that much harder to pull things together in time for 2006-- which is a MUCH bigger election for MN than 2004 was.

IMHO our 2004 victories happened despite Erlandson's leadership, not because of it. If not for groups like House Legacy Project, DFA and the other grassroots organizers, we would not have gained anything. Erlandson has done a fine job, but he needs to move on. We need a chair that can handle the new wave of grassroots activism that we've been blessed with since last winter. We need to keep those new activists engaged, or else they'll go away. And that would be disasterous in 2006.

[Krupskaya]

11. Well said.

I totally agree. I hear Erlandson and Clark and I start singing, "What have you done for me lately?"

[Demrock6]

8. Great news for Dean for DNC supportes! n/t/

[dpbrown]

10. The entire DFL DNC delegation will be voting for Dean

The Chair and Associate Chair of the DFL, and the four elected DNC members have decided to vote in unity for Howard Dean for DNC Chair.

This was posted on the State Central Committee list by Rick Stafford, former DFL Chair, and current elected DNC delegate from Minnesota.

Dan Brown
SD64

[mzmolly]

13. Glad the majority are supporting Dean and "choice"

:hi:

[DFLforever]

14. Is Oberstar an at-large DNC member?

because my understanding is that MN has only 6 votes.

[no name no slogan]

15. I believe that elected officials are considered seperately

The Chair and Vice-Chair automatically get to vote, and then there's four other DNC reps that are elected by the convention, IIRC. Unfortunately my prehistoric caveman brain can't process all the information it receives. :dunce:

[goodhue]

17. Oberstar is not an at-large member, and therefore has no vote.

So who he was or is supporting is really of no consequence.