Kos: DNC chairmanship has become a "stop Dean movement"

[WI_DEM]

so what else is new? When will the party learn.

Lieberman goes on record as saying Dean's not the man, but the centrist Vilsack is.

According to Kos, Kerry is working behind the scenes against Dean.

http://www.dailykos.com/

you'll have to scroll down.

I'll bet the crums will deny Dean this, too.

[redsoxliberal]

1. this is awful... do we vote for DNC chair?

[WI_DEM]

2. No, but we can influence our senators who do have a say

I'm writing Kohl and Feingold about supporting Dean as well as Gov. Doyle and Tammy Baldwin, my congresswoman.

[redsoxliberal]

3. so... um... I should be contacting John Kerry???

lol.

Teddy it is, then...

[WI_DEM]

4. Sure, write Kerry too

and let him know how you feel. Also, your congressman.

[regnaD kciN]

9. Your senators may not have a say...

The DNC chair is chosen by a committee of 440 prominent Democrats from throughout the country. In my state of Washington, that number includes Governor Gary Locke, King County executive Ron Sims, and current and former state Democratic chairs Paul Berendt and Karen Marchioro...but neither of our two Democratic Senators nor any of our House memebers.

You can find out the committee members in your area by going to MyDD.com and clicking on the "Dean for DNC" button in the upper right corner.

[Cheswick2.0]

5. do we know if Dean wants it?

[madfloridian]

6. I have heard several things.

First, I have my doubts about the reasoning behind Grossman's releasing this. He defected from the Dean campaign before Iowa. Laura Gross is PR person for DFA, and she advised caution on this.
Why would a guy with no contact to the campaign release this?

I did hear that Dean realizes, as he did during the campaign, how many many who supported him and support DFA would flat out leave the party and become independents or something.

I heard he feels he must be cautious, that if he tries and fails to get it....that it could split the party. He may be right.

Do I know if he wants it really? Or if it is rumor...no, I don't.

[WI_DEM]

7. my feeling is if he wasn't interested he would have issued a

statement by now saying he isn't interested, but I do think he is conflicted.

[NoPasaran]

8. I think he is counting the votes

If he has the support to win, he'll go for it.

[MissMarple]

10. They are shooting themselves in the foot. Dems need Dean's energy

and pragmatism. People respond to Dean and he doesn't back down or get wishy washy. We need a team leader not just another player. They are beginning to act like a bunch of panty waist wimps who are afraid of being benched. If they continue to act like that, they are dinosaurs.

[2Design]

11. dean is the main reason kerry and dnc got money - why are they

against the people - they certainly weren't voting for us when they voted for iraq war and medicare changes and a number of other issues they have gone against us with

Dean is the shining star for getting a base of new voters

[Eloriel]

12. I so disagree with all this

I do NOT want Dean to be DNC chair, esp. now that they've come out against him (Kerry, Reid, Vilsack).

I think it would hamstring him or shut him up or hobble him, and that he's FAR better outside "the system" being the gadfly he is.

I also want him to run for 2008, and there's that pledge thing if he got the DNC chair spot.

[NoPasaran]

14. You're winning me over

I was hopeful for a while that the high mucketymucks of the party were getting tired of losing elections, but now that they're closing ranks against us I guess it's more important to continue strengthening the grassroots base and DFA.

[PassingFair]

18. Eloriel...

I don't think that the party COULD hamstring him, or shut him up. I'm sure that the Gov will make the right decision.

But lets let the DNC know how numerous we are.

See if you can find it within yourself to sign the petition, with your caveats attached in your comments!

[belle]

28. Okay, but what can he do "outside the system?" Not being snarky,

asking out of curiousity.

[janx]

13. Not this again...! n/t

[janx]

15. I can't find anything about this at the link provided.

Am I going blind?

[a new day]

16. You have to page through the days at the bottom

until you get to Nov 15.

The item relates that Nancy Pelosi talked Howard up on the chair idea in August, but went with Vilsack publically after kissing Kerry's ring this week.

[janx]

17. Now I see--thanks! n/t

[NashVegas]

19. What a Shock

There's a thread in LBN about Dean and the chair right now, y'all should go see the avatar being used by the most vocal anti-Dean there.

This makes me think we'd do better to have him leading the separate, DFA organization. With the proper care and handling, it could grow to marginalize the anti-democracy element of the DNC.

[madfloridian]

20. Ok, I found this post of mine from the 16th. Janx asked me about it.

All 2nd hand from Kos.
Here is my post from then:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sounds like he knows what will happen if he tries.
Doesn't sound like this person heard he definitely wouldn't. Hard to tell. My feeling is that he probably will not. Ok with me. I think there is no fixing things now.
This part is from a Kos poster
From Yale tonight:
"Dean didn't say anything too surprising, but I was heartened to hear what he had to say. Basically he confirmed that he was seriously considering a bid for the DNC chair, but doing so would mean no Dean candidacy in 2008. He also said that while he would regret not running later if the party did not improve, if he lost it would be a catastrophe for DFA. This is because 50% of DFA ers are not Democrats and only voted Democrat in the last election because Dean begged them. If Dean was rejected by the party insiders again, there would be no way to reign these supporters back in...."

....but I did hear he said he did not think so. Wait for a news clip....they are all so reliable. (Earlier I had posted that one person had said he was not going to try. Several at Yale must have heard it different ways.}

[NashVegas]

21. re: "catastrophy for DFA" - depends

It doesn't have to be a calamity, but it will be if a DNC rejection of Dean as chair is carried out in as public and cantankerous a manner as the primaries were.

This needs to be played as low-key as possible.

[janx]

23. If the DNC rejects Dean as chair, it seems to me that

DFA would be *strengthened.*

And I'm fully expecting that to happen. It's all but inevitable.

[a new day]

22. Do you think Dean could drain off all the liberals & unions from the DNC

and put them into the graveyard alongside of the Whigs?

The minority leaders in Congress are seem to me to be following the same script they did in 2000. As Maureen Dowd said today:

"Having gutted their opponents, Republicans are pretending to patch up divisions as they ruthlessly consolidate their gains. Democrats are turning the other cheek. At the opening of his presidential library, Bill Clinton assured the audience that Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry were "good people" who "just see the world differently."

.
.
.

The ultracreepy Mr. DeLay de-pantsed Democrats on Friday, sneering: "I understand the Democrat Party's adjustment to their national minority status is frustrating, but their crushing defeat ... should show them that the American people are tired of the politics of personal destruction.""

Try as he may, Kerry isn't able to attract a couple of hours on CNN for an event or get an interview segment on PrimeTime. The Clintons are who is being looked to for leadership, and it is going the same direction.

[janx]

24. Thanks, MF!

It sounds as if it is indeed an either/or situation. I guess we just won't know for awhile.

But it does sound as if he wants to go for 2008.

[robbedvoter]

25. Bad mistake to further slap activists in the face like this.

I never supported Dean myself for president, but he's definitely a better choice than any mealy mouth offering that's acceptable to Lieberman (didn't know much about Vilsack, but Joementum's endorsement sealed it for me. Shouldn't he be begging for a cabinet post with BFEE anyway?)
So, much as I don't see myself a member of this party anymore (not middle class, no flawless pedigree), I'll write my puece of mimd to the DNC, just for truth's sake.

[IndianaGreen]

26. Kerry wants to run again, so he begins by controlling the DNC

Kerry needs a poodle in charge to form a united front against Dean. Meanwhile, Kerry's biggest threat IMHO is Wes Clark. Unfortunately Clark is now involved in business ventures that are profiting from the War on Terror. Clark may have some explaining to do down the road.

Whether Dean runs again or not, DFA's most important mission is to serve as a counter balance to the DLC. What DFA needs is a think tank, or a wonk group, to put out policy statements. We need a progressive alternative to the DLC's neolib PPI, and the neocon PNAC.

[belle]

27. Oh, fuck Lieberman.

[PassingFair]

29. If I had a nickel...

for everytime I've said that......