Via Kos: Charlie Cook's Cook Report backs Dean and 50 State Strategy.

[madfloridian]

Markos has reprinted the column with permission from the subscription site.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/10/15241/7822

While Pelosi and Reid are right that control of the Senate will be decided by races in just eight or nine states and that, likewise, a small fraction of House districts will truly be in play, they ignored one set of facts. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee exists solely to win House races. On the Senate side, there's the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. For the party's governors, there is the Democratic Governors' Association. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee was created to boost candidates for state legislatures. And the GOP, of course, has comparable committees for all of its candidates.

The primary responsibility of the DNC is not to win House, Senate, gubernatorial, or state legislative races, but to build and sustain a national party and to oversee the presidential conventions and nomination process. The same is true of the Republican National Committee. No other entities within the two major parties are charged with those missions.

He tells of meeting a DNC hired organizer in MS who was from OK. He mentions it is new to him to see Democratic organizers in that state.

In January, while giving a speech at Mississippi State University, I happened to meet a DNC staffer, a former executive director of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, who was assigned full-time to party-building in Mississippi. In the 33 years that I have been involved in politics, I have never heard of the national Democratic Party assigning a full-time staff member to organizational efforts in Mississippi.

And he urges Howard Dean to stick to his guns, for the DSCC and DCCC and DLCC to do their jobs, and for him to rebuild.

Dean's view -- that Pelosi, Reid, and their party committees have their jobs and he has his -- is the one that he ought to stick to....
...Howard, stick to your guns

[redqueen]

1. I could not possibly agree more.

:thumbsup:

[blm]

2. The Dem party infrastructure is CRUCIAL. Why it was left to die onthevine

for so many years in even so many electorally important states is beyond me.

I'm behind Dean on this - but still would never trust Charlie Cook - he's still a GOP shill, even when he offers something logical. Beware of his intent.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Grassroots strategy is the only way to go

The reason the repukes are where they are is, in part, because of grassroots organization. We need to have a Democratic candidate for every partisan elected position.

[madfloridian]

4. The talk is the leaders want "short term" strategy. Obama said..

I think today at Bernie Sanders rally, which I thank him for doing...but I did not really like what he said.

He was asked about Dean, he said Dean had brought a lot of enthusiasm, but that we needed the short term strategy. That seems to be the talking point.

DNC raised more in January, I think, than the DSCC and DCCC did. Maybe they need to get on the ball as well and fix their own "short term strategy."

[blm]

5. Short term thinking doesn't deal with institutionalized media bias against

Dems and voting machine fraud.

People like Obama need to let Dean attack what needs to be attacked and build what needs to be built. I dislike this trend of lawmakers distancing themselves from Dean - that's stupid and COUNTER-productive to 2006 and 2008 goals.

[madfloridian]

6. Talking points are now including...

Should Dean speak out and "make it about himself." That is the newest approach. I have seen several instances on this the last week. In other words how to hush up the ones speaking out...tell them not to make it about them. That one is eluding me. Here is one example from Colmes, but some Democrats find this one useful as well:

March 2 interview:

Dean on Hannity and Colmes March 2.

Colmes: You know the Republicans like to often go after you because of things you say, and they underscore some of the rhetoric that Howard Dean says. That seems to be a diversion from real issues, but do you feel you have to watch what you say sometimes so that that doesn't become the issue, and so that the focus can be on what the vision is for going forward.

Dean: No, I think I have to say more of what I say, and the reason is that the American people understand what I'm about. They understand that I want the truth, and honesty and openness in government, and that in fact is now a Democratic party position. In order for Democrats to win, we have to differentiate ourselves from Republicans. We have to stand up for what we believe in and show a clearly different path on issues like defending America, on issues like honesty in government, on issues like jobs, healthcare, and public education, and retirement security. That's exactly what we're now doing. In the 2006 congressional elections, Americans are going to see a very clear difference between Republicans and Democrats. And my job is to try to make sure we have that clear difference in the minds of the American people, so that they have a real choice in this next election.

This one seems to work well when someone speaks unpleasant truths.

[blm]

7. The problem is that many DC Dems believe alot of what they hear in

the media, too.

If the media's dumping on Dean, they'll dump on him. Media's dumping on Kerry, they'll dump om him. They don't even wait and hear the full position first and media interviewers make sure of it with their ambush style questions.

[DURHAM D]

8. I totally agree with Cook. In fact, the Dems need to hire

some of the retired repug moderates to assist us in building the structure.

It took the repugs about 15 years to build their party structure. Now that the repug party has been taken over by the christian-taliban and the decent/moderate repugs are out of work we should hire them. They just need a paycheck.

[madfloridian]

9. "a talented bench from which to draw for higher contests"

Dean always said that we were not building our grassroots pool. Cook mentions that as well.

More from the Cook Report:

"The Democratic congressional leaders' shortsighted, penny-wise/pound-foolish complaints show why their party has become bicoastal. Congressional Democrats have trouble winning in many interior states, in part because leaders like Reid and Pelosi have failed to appreciate the importance of maintaining a strong national party apparatus. The Democrats' inability to consistently win elections in places where gun shops outnumber Starbucks is a big reason the party controls neither the House nor the Senate.

Right now, one of the biggest obstacles to Democrats' taking the House back is their failure to recruit strong candidates in many Republican-held districts that ought to be in play. Party building means lining up a solid team -- organizing and winning lower-level offices that give the party a talented bench from which to draw for higher contests."

[chaumont58]

10. It will come as a surprise, but there is life beyond the beltway

The Democratic Party does not cease to exist once a body gets outside DC. And, shocking as it is, there are also some brains outside the beltway. Dean is doing the right thing. This party can become a truly national party again.