Let's talk about the DNC Chair.

[Skinner]

Who are the candidates?

Where can we get info on all of the candidates? Why are they running? What is their vision for the party?

Should DU endorse or get involved?

[rabid_nerd]

1. Nominated for homepage - invite to DC during the DNC meeting

http://www.yda.org

Founder's Day!

On endorsement:
I believe endorsements are perfectly legitimate and ethical and should be won only through a supermajority (2/3) (which I highly doubt would be reached here)

That said, endorsement's don't always work*, and you don't always get what you want**, but I would never discourage the right of an endorsement, although I may as a voting member contribute to the defeat of an endorsement I dont agree with!

* Gore endorsed Dean
** I supported Rendell in '02, the state endorsed Casey (Rendell won, is Gov)

On who is running: (Alphabetical)

former Governor Howard Dean
Texas Rep. Martin Frost
Democratic strategist Donnie Fowler
former Ohio state Democratic Party chair David Leland
former Indiana Rep. Tim Roemer
Simon Rosenberg, head of the New Democrat Network
Former Denver mayor Wellington Webb

[Old and In the Way]

15. I like that-

"I believe endorsements are perfectly legitimate and ethical and should be won only through a supermajority (2/3) (which I highly doubt would be reached here)"

I betting Howard by 75% here.....

[WLKjr]

22. Same here

Dean would be a great DNC chair, maybe even force it to grow a set for once in a long time.

[ibegurpard]

2. I think a DU endorsement would be unwise

Facilitating civil discussions would be okay, I think.

[genius]

38. I agree. This is a very divisive nomination.

You can't win with an endorsement. The way I see it none of the options are acceptable. I want a new option and a new candidate.

[cali]

3. No to the idea of an endorsement.

Alas, I fear that a DU endorsement would just be seen as a vote by the far left. Not only that, but it would simply further the ongoing battles between certain factions, and increase the bitterness here.

[Skinner]

6. If we were considering an endorsement

we would only do it if the recipient of the endorsement actually wanted it. If they said, "thanks but no thanks," then we would not do it.

[Old and In the Way]

10. Why not?

Seems that this site is getting a lot more attention these days. We seem to have the pulse on the Democratic disenfranchised.....and what group of Democrats are as geographically/culturally as broadbased and diverse as the DU?

I'd suggest having a hi-profile poll only (no posts), maybe pinned at the top of this forum.

My $.02

[Skinner]

13. We are probably going to do a poll.

I think everyone would be interested to see the results.

[pinto]

19. to complicate things, a "proportional" poll would be interesting, you know

the 1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice process, with a weighted result....makes people think about options after a first choice candidate.

(like you didn't have enough to consider...:evilgrin: )

[Obviousman]

21. I second that

This is how the actual ballot works, and it would also avoid a huge showing from Dean, in other words, it would rank the other candidates

[Orangepeel]

24. would it be possible (or even appropriate) to restrict the poll

to people who registered before a certain date or to donors or something to avoid "freeping"?

Just wondering.

[frictionlessO]

26. Id be very interested to see the results but I think

we all have a very good idea who'd take it!

Thanks for starting this forum Skinner! Should help to thin out 2004 ER&D as well...

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

41. I "vote" for a poll, Skinner.

:P

[genius]

44. du can do for Dean with the DNC what Gore did for him in Iowa

Endorsements tend to do more harm than good.

[patricia92243]

25. If the endorsement is for Dean - go for it. Anybody else - oh well .

[genius]

39. Bad idea. It would probably cost Dean the DNC positon

The press has already been down on us. A du endorsement could scare off the DNC voters. The DNC membership remains the same because of hte open voting. Of course if you want Dean to lose, then an endorsement is just the thing he needs.

[EFerrari]

12. Yes to the idea of asserting Democratic values and not letting

ourselves flinch at Neocon labels. :)

[sazemisery]

4. DNC Regional Caucus Chair Candidate Forums

http://www.democrats.org/news/200501060002.html

Jan 6, 2005
DNC Regional Caucus Chair Candidate Forums

Washington, DC - As the members of the Democratic National Committee prepare to elect a new national Chair, the DNC's regional caucuses will host a series of forums featuring potential Chair candidates. The election of the new Chair will be held February 12 in Washington D.C. ........

[blondeatlast]

5. MyDD has been following them pretty closely.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2004/12/13/114845/48

Here's a couple of good links, too:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050109/D87GJEM80.html

Partial to this one, as I'm a former Kansan!
http://www.ksdp.org/?q=node/view/609

[blondeatlast]

7. Regarding endorsements: No, BUT...

This forum is a damn good start to restoring some legimacy with the higher ups. I hope that reasoned debate will be seen by those involved in the decision--did I mention REASONED?, and this is an excellent start.

I like the question "WHY are they running?" I always thought that would be an excellent question for any candidate for public office!

[yellowdoggess]

28. Endorsement ? not so sure

I have concerns about an endorsement, or particular criteria for voting on polls or endorsement. One of the great things about this site is the discussion and equality of responses. Would those who DU-voted for the endorsee bully other opinions after the endorsement? Many of us cannot log on and stay on all day. It's wonderful to come here to catch up and get the facts. I like the idea of bringing info here, conducting polls, perhaps soliciting a statement to post from each candidate - and perhaps not just in the DNC chair election. Those actions might generate DU publicity yet would keep this as much more of a forum and continue to inspire to personal and community action on behalf of Democratic principles. I don't worry about freeper pollution, our numbers are too great.

[crispini]

8. I think that IF, and it's a big if, IF an agreement could be reached,

an endorsement would be TOTALLY cool. It would do a lot to increase DU's "cred" and awareness among the pols.

I also second the request above for REASONED, THOUGHTFUL, debate.

[Sweet Freedom]

9. Should DU endorse, get involved?

Yes. DU is 60,000+ strong. We could have a very powerful voice and perhaps more influence on the direction of our party if we stood behind one candidate and backed him up. (Small republican groups have gained power and influenced their party through unification and vocalization. We can do the same.)

Just my 2 cents.

[EFerrari]

11. Oh dear. Here's a link to the CSPAN coverage of the candidate's dinner

http://www.c-span.org/search/basic.asp?ResultStart=1&ResultCount=10&BasicQueryText=DNC+Candidates&image1.x=29&image1.y=12&image1=Submit

(Oh dear because I don't know how to use tinyurl yet. The link seems to work.)

If DU doesn't endorse publicly, it might not be a bad thing to work quietly for a collective DU choice. Roemer would be very bad news.

[Lisa0825]

31. since you mentioned tinyurl, check out url123.com

www.url123.com

I know the guy who started this site, so I thought I'd just give him a plug:-)

[Dean Quixote]

14. Strategy-wise I like Rosenberg

I think he has the potential to be "our Atwater" so to speak. Image-wise I like Roemer and Frost.

[sherilocks]

16. Here are some issues to explore

Martin Frost

http://www.issues2002.org/TX/Martin_Frost.htm

Howard Dean

http://www.issues2002.org/Howard_Dean.htm

Tim Roemer

http://www.issues2002.org/IN/Tim_Roemer.htm

I was surprised to see that Martin Frost from Texas has a pretty good voting record. When he campaigned against Nancy Pelosie for house minority leader he did so because he said she was too liberal. I immediately discounted him until I looked at his actual record.

I like Howard Dean because he is tenacious and outspoken on the issues.

Tim Roemer is way too far to the right to suit me.

The others I'm not too familiar with, but I'll go through the information in some of our posts here. I did look at Rosenberg's website, but he seems to be heavily linked to the old-line Democrats and that bothers me. His website didn't give me any warm fuzzy feelings either.

As far as an endorsement, we could make up a questionnaire and ask the candidates to answer it. Obviously if they don't answer it they are not looking for our endorsement. But with such a limited amount of time, not to mention an enormous amount of input, this probably would not be practical.

[curse10]

17. I hope DU doesn't endorse

I think this is going to be a repeat of the primaries. And if you poll we all know how its going to end up. Dean will win because he has huge support here at DU (obviously not much anywhere else, or maybe he would have won a primary besides Vermont).

Personally I like Frost and Webb. Webb was a great Mayor and likely would have won hands down if he had decided to run for re-election again. I think Webb being an African-American is also a huge plus. I'm personally tired of seeing middle-aged white guys run the show.

[genius]

45. This Webb person sounds great. Where does he stand on the issues?

Ron Brown got Clinton the Presidency. I think it reaches out to other communities to have an African-American chairman - as long as he's a LIBERAL. I find it interesting that Dean has more support here than he did in real life in the primaries. Maybe the DU is a little more conservative than the rest of the country. My big issues are the environment, the death penalty, NAFTA and the WTO, and stopping malpractice liability limits, the issues Dean is the most conservative on.

[curse10]

46. Here's some basic info about Webb

http://www.democrats.org/about/bios/webb.html

http://www.greenwayfoundation.org/gw_friend_webb.html

http://www.synaptica.com/rsa/webb.asp

Webb was also publicly against the Iraq war.



Here's some info about all of them:

http://www.ksdp.org/?q=node/view/609


I wish you could find a list of all the candidates and clear statements about some of the issues. I had no such luck.

[genius]

48. Thank you. It does look like Webb is the best of the lot.

He clearly cares about the environment. Do you know where he stands on the death penalty and NAFTA? Does he have a phone number?

[curse10]

49. I searched specifically for death penalty stuff

and couldn't come up with anything. As for NAFTA, I also have no idea. He did, however, go to China after they received MFN status for the WTO stuff. I think we'll be hard pressed to find someone who didn't think the WTO and NAFTA need to be discarded (Kucinich is the only one that comes to mind. If he decides to run, he'd have my vote)

[OzarkDem]

61. Webb's problem

He's been vice-chair of DNC for the last few years, where has he been? Shouldn't he have proven himself by now? Was he completely powerless to stop the Dems slide into mediocrity?

IMHO, he's had his chance, its passed.

[Cha]

47. That's where you're wrong ..Dean has a lot

of support elsewhere! And your avatar reminds me of how much Khephra liked Dean.

[curse10]

50. Well, Dean has never, and never will have my support

regardless of Kheph's position on the man (and way to try to persuade someone, let's pull on the heartstrings a little more. Let's not use the death of Kheph to try to persuade anyone to support Dean. One of the reasons I liked Kheph was because even though he supported Dean he didn't pull the BS that many of his supporters did-- and are obviously still doing.)

[Cha]

51. You got that all wrong just like you don't

get Dean. Sorry, if I offended you by speaking the truth.

[moggie12]

18. How about sending them a "statement of principles"?

I've got no problem with a DU endorsement of a particular DNC candidate as long as the actual vote is reported when it's presented. (That is, if it's not a unanimous vote, then I think we should say how many votes the "winner" got as well as how many votes other candidates got).

For myself, personally, I'd be much more interesting in providing the DNC with a statement of principles rather than get bogged down in politics and personalities.

I'd like to provide the DNC with a summarized version of major concerns and hopes, which we could ask the DNC to take into consideration as they choose the Chairperson. If these happen to be things that Howard Dean stands for, fine. The point is that they should be things that we think EVERY candidate should stand for. It should be something we ask them to consider using as a statement of "Party membership core beliefs" -- what the Dems will strive to do (so that they aren't so goddam insulated, hidebound and unresponsive anymore!)

In view of time constraints (the vote will be soon, right?), a rather short, concise statement would be best.

For me personally, for example, some of my big issues would be:


* Ensure that the Democratic Party is continually responsive to rank-and-file Party members (e.g., by providing methods of input, keeping in touch with the membership on major issues, etc.)

* Ensure that the Party recruits as many donors as possible and that the views and desires of large donors are not given preferential weight.

* Ensure that the policy and beliefs of the Democratic Party are well-communicated at all times, not just during the political campaign season (e.g, strengthen the Party's professional media team, create an effective on-going "war room" to respond to arising issues, etc.)

[EFerrari]

20. I'd vote for you, moggie & agree. n/t

[moggie12]

27. Thanks for saying you'll vote for me

Now how about a campaign donation??? Cash, money order & credit cards accepted.

[EFerrari]

29. Sorry, all we have 'round here is love and talent, lol

[sherilocks]

23. Moggie, I like your ideas eom

[DaedelusNemo]

58. Like it - what i would add

A strong suggestion that at least part of 'keeping in touch' be done online as a public forum. Indeed, i would argue that more of the decision making should be done that way.

Running dem candidates everywhere throughout the red states regardless of expectation of winning - there is no better way to get your message out locally.

And ABANDON the notion that some charges are too scurrilous to respond to. In the red states, silence equals guilt (and sending out surrogates equals silence.)

EDIT/ And insist on electoral reform! Dedicate the party to it until it happens. Make a big stink if you must - people do want the vote to be honest and verifiable, regardless of politics.

[gottaB]

30. My gut says DU should not endorse, but....

DU should feature an endorsement for each candidate written by a DUer, and a poll showing who is favored. If you decide to endorse, there should be a supermajority, and it should be sustained over at least one week. Two weeks might be advisable. It would be better to delay the endorsement as long as possible in the interest of facilitating discussion.

For info about the candidates, I've been lurking over at Kos, who is taking cues from mydd.

http://www.dailykos.com/section/Democrats

[Adelante]

32. In favor

Of DU involvement and endorsement. Thanks. :thumbsup:

[Connie_Corleone]

33. What would be the point of endorsing?

It seems to me Dean is the ONLY choice to alot of people here.

I'm open to other candidates, but I think I'm in the minority here.

[katinmn]

34. Conyers in endorsing Dean

Here's his letter to him:

http://www.johnconyers.com/vertical/Sites/%7bEF00C507-612C-4BA3-84C0-446C97F7E413%7d/uploads/%7b129465FC-89BB-40F6-8365-DB3D130BBADB%7d.PDF

Inspiring.

[katinmn]

35. I am in favor of an endorsement based on results of a poll

[janx]

36. Yeeeaaarrghh!

Let's do it!

Seriously, let's get info. on the candidates, have a discussion, and vote.

[crispini]

37. Is Donnie Fowler still in?

Here's a good article about him & Rosenberg & about the race:

http://start.earthlink.net/article/pol?guid=20050113/41e60050_3ca6_1552620050113-513811410

(snip)
Last year, Fowler served as Michigan state director for John Kerry's presidential campaign and has largely built his career on the low-profile but essential work of identifying voters and getting them to the polls.

Despite his years in the crucible of Silicon Valley technology and love of "blue state" California, he is pursuing the DNC chairmanship with a decidedly "red state" mission: wooing back rural and religious voters in states the party has recently written off.

"We've conceded the South, we've conceded the Rocky Mountain states, we've conceded religious voters, and we've conceded rural voters," Fowler said. "Republicans do the George Patton theory, which is always attack, never stop pushing the line forward. We need to be able to do that, too."
(snip)

[fnottr]

42. well, he's still got a site up

http://www.changetheparty.com/

Now I'm kinda intreagued about him, I hadn't heard of him before. His ideas for growing the party are very similar to Dean's, but he isn't the media figure that Dean is. But the DNC chair's job is generally out of the limelight, so maybe he would be just as good as Dean as DNC chair, leaving Dean plenty of time for DFA.

Anyone have thoughts on this?

[David Zephyr]

40. Skinner, you really dance close to the fire, don't you?

Would love to see your poll.

[sparky_in_ma]

43. Even though I would like to see Dean

as the chair, I would not wish DU to endorse him. I wouldn't want DU to endorse anybody in the primaries either. Even with a poll, many people, especially those who live in red states, will feel their vote doesn't count.

I'm a new member, but an old lurker, and the direction I would hope DU would take would be to unite all factions in helping elect Democratic candidates. The GOP stands against us, we need to stand together.

On the individual level we will all fight to push our own candidate, on the local, state and federal level. Many groups have their own lobby, reproductive rights, civil rights, etc., which make endorsements. In any race, at any level, once the democratic candidate has been selected, that's when I would hope DU would mobilize to help them defeat the GOP. I think that is where our strength of numbers, and activism comes in to play.

I like the spirited discussions here, and have learned a lot about the different candidates. The only opinion of mine that I would want DU to endorse was the defeat of GOP candidates.

Thank you, and please don't hurt me. I'm old and my bones are brittle. I'm also allergic to flames, have a doctors note.

:)

[MIScott87]

52. Did I hear right? Is Jim Blanchard running?

I think I heard someone say Blanchard was running. Is this true?

[MaineDem]

53. What does anyone know of David Leland?

Another candidate for Chair.

He's a former Chair of Ohio Democrats but that's all I know about him.

[Eloriel]

54. Very bad idea, IMO

and I'm disappointed that you're even considering it. And I say that thinking that if you endorsed based on DUers' preferences, in all likelihood it would be Dean.

The reason I think it's a very bad idea is the SAME reason I think it's a very bad idea for a Chris Heinz to come to DU and campaign for HIS candidate. The same reason I don't like the idea of Clinton, for example, endorsing a primary candidate (even if it's unofficial and never reaches beyond the "rumor" stage); or McAuliffe being ANYthing but purely non-partisan on the issue; or Carter endorsing a primary candidate (which he was persuaded not to do -- by Clinton, who may have had a good point but most of all had an anti-Dean agenda); or Zell Miller endorsing Cynthia McKinney's opponent (Denise Majette) in the 2002 primary; etc.

In short, I think that it's much, much better -- and fairer -- for certain very powerful individuals as well as certain groups to stay the hell out of internal Party dynamics and decisions like this. I don't, for example, think it would be adviseable for MoveOn to get involved and endorse a candidate either. Not for this. (And possibly not for the primary, tho that didn't end up happening.)

The candidates are doing what they can to educate and woo individual DNC members/voters -- that should be enough. Let them make up their minds on their own (as if an endorsement from us would mean anything to them anyway -- and it COULD backfire as someone upthread pointed out, considering how some ill-informed folks consider us whackos).

I just think the Party is divided enough (including here at DU), and DU doesn't really have any reason or business inserting itself into what is in actuality Party business, and that it would seem presumptuous (at best) for it to try.

[GOPFighter]

55. An endorsement? Yes, but...

...only after an exhaustive (and probably devisive) discussion. My initial choice would be Dean, but I'm open, very open, to someone else. I just don't know enough about the candidates yet.

[paineinthearse]

56. 2004-2008 DNC members

for what it's worth

http://platform.smartcampaigns.com/images/DNCRoster041108.pdf

[MaineDem]

57. That list is outdated

There's a new one but I don't have the link for it. Someone else has posted it elsewhere.

[Horse with no Name]

59. I wonder if it is possible

To contact each one of them and let them prepare a statement of their goals and ideals and then put that in a poll format and then let us vote that way?
As far as endorsement--unless it was completely overwhelming I wouldn't want to do that because we would certainly do a disservice to divide ourselves.

[realFedUp]

60. DU shouldn't endorse. You have full rights to though Skinner

and that begs the question "is Skinner DU?"

I'm sure we all have our own opinions and in
common hopes for better days for the party and this country.