Posted on 11/24/2004 7:06:38 PM PST by Libloather
Help Wanted At DNC
WASHINGTON, Nov. 24, 2004
This is a time of generational change. Congressional leaders Gephardt and Daschle are gone, the Clinton years are fading and the Democrats are squarely a minority party.
Democrats are looking for someone to replace Terry McAuliffe as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. (Photo: AP)
Howard Dean has been mentioned as a possible candidate to head the DNC, but his liberal reputation and possible plans to run for president in 2008 may take him out of contention. (Photo: AP)
WANTED: Very blue Democratic Party desperately seeking leader. Must not be Howard Dean or anyone else who has an issue agenda or plans to run for president in 2008. Must be acceptable to all potential candidates for 2008, as well as John Kerry and Bill Clinton. (Al Gore doesn’t matter.) Women, blacks and Hispanics (as long as they are not too liberal) given strong consideration. Must be able to raise gobs of money (big and small), but must not be just a fundraiser. Must be available to outshine Ken Mehlman and any other Republican on cable 24/7. Red-staters especially desirable as long as they can gin up the base. Blue-staters who look red also acceptable.
For more information applicants should come to Democratic National Committee meeting in Orlando in December where eager party leaders will be in the mood to buy.
This week two of the leading figures promoted for chair of the DNC, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and former Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman indicated they did not want the job. Vilsack, a Kerry ally from a just barely red state, failed the "may want to run in 2008" test, and his availability for 24/7 cable duty is limited since he has a day job in Des Moines with a not very friendly legislature. His hometown guru, Des Moines Register columnist David Yepsen, let him know this in print last week.
Herman seems to think her day job needs some tending as well.
So Democrats went back to the drawing board.
McAuliffe/Clinton/Kennedy ally Harold Ickes is said to be "hunkering down," a position Harold watchers take as a sign that he wants the job. While Ickes knows the DNC and has friends in high places, he has a lot of enemies in those places as well. His temperament may have mellowed as he turns 65, but a recent article in the New York Observer recalled his legendary acid tongue. He once told his ally Bella Abzug that he’d mash her into Broadway and he "famously bit a fellow staffer on the shin in a brawl during Herman Badillo's 1973 Mayoral campaign." Now that’s a qualification not usually on the standard checklist.
Former New Hampshire Gov. Jean Shaheen is being talked about again. She would be the first woman actually elected chair (George McGovern’s Jean Westwood was basically appointed by the nominee) and is from the only red state which turned blue in 2004. Two attractive African-American Democrats, former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and 2002 Democratic Texas Senate candidate Ron Kirk, are also in the mix but neither have been major national figures. Leo Hindrey, former chair of AT&T broadband is being pushed by former Sen. Bob Kerrey, who says he is a unifier, a successful New York City businessman who understands the "Republican areas of the country." Sounds like great treasurer material to me.
Which leaves Howard Dean. Would Dean really be so bad for the Democrats? He has energy, a track record of energizing the base of the party, a position on the Iraq war with is not as "nuanced" as the other party leaders, which makes him a credible opponent of the Bush administration on an important issue. But while many say he’s not as liberal as he’s been portrayed, the leader of the Democratic wing of the Democratic party has difficulty convincing the other wing and the rest of the carcass that he’s one of them.
The leadership vacuum in the Democratic Party is huge and the person or team who fill this job could have a lot a sway over the future. Criticism over the Kerry campaign’s lack of a "narrative" in its micro-targeted campaign has Democrats struggling to come up with a big message and messenger, as well as a technical apparatus and a money machine.
This is a time of generational change. Congressional leaders Gephardt and Daschle are gone, the Clinton years are fading and the Democrats are squarely a minority party. Someone who steps up to the plate in the next few months has the opportunity to have a major impact, as well as a lot of face time on cable.
(CBS) Dotty Lynch is the Senior Political Editor for CBS News. E-mail your questions and comments to Political Points
Isn't Dan Rather available?
So is McAwful gone, resigned, or is this just wishful thinking about who can get in there and win?
The answer is SO OBVIOUS!
Michael Moore!
A short bench.... hey maybe Tom Daschle can take the job! (laughing)
At last! An opening for Lard Ass Kennedy that doesn't involve crossing a bridge...
Well if they could get Charles Manson out of prison. I think he would fit right in with the DNC.
Jerry Springer's their man.
I find it highly amusing that nobody seems to want the job. After all, who in the world would want to take on this monstrosity? I say, let McAwful have it and let him go down in infamy.
Fortunately for us, the only idiot that seems to want the job is Howard Dean. Give it to him. That would just be more icing on the cake that was baked on 11/2/2004.
Go for it RATs.
Who wants to work for a party that sits between the heartland? Only a fool would be crazy enough to take on the challenge of making the Democrats a national party again. Seriously, they should appoint Zell Miller but they won't. There they go again.
Susan Sonntag. She's perfect ! She will lead the Democraps to the depths of hell ! It's too good to pass up. Howard Dean has nothing on her. She's more than liberal, she's a communist. Which should appeal to the Clintons, the Rathers, the Kennedys, and anyone in between. The Europeans would love her, the Islamofascists would love her...let's face it, it's a slam dunk. She should be nominated and confirmed by acclamation.
I'll volunteer.
For the Dem presidential nominee in '08, I promise I would support only Zell Miller, with John McCain as his running mate, and work against all others.
I promise to get Hillary permanently elected as dog-catcher in NY. (It takes a b**** to catch a b****)
I promise to have Boxer permanently appointed warden of Alcatraz
I promise to have the Rev. Jackson permanently appointed as Grand Poobah in Siberia.>p> I promise to have sKerry recalled by the Navy and permanently assigned as barnacle scraper at a remote artic bilet.
I promise to have Clinton permanently assigned as the first black emissary to Rwanda.
I ask for your support.
I promise to have the Rev. Jackson permanently appointed as Grand Poobah in Siberia.
I promise to have sKerry recalled by the Navy and permanently assigned as barnacle scraper at a remote artic bilet.
Al Franken is my choice with Bill Maher as runner up.
Congressional leaders Gephardt and Daschle are gone, the Clinton years are fading and the Democrats are squarely a minority party. The Hildabeaste properly imprisoned for a good long time is the only thing that can improve this scenario.
I have the perfect canidate!!!.
Someone who can reach out for the Rats to both the neglected black base and the feminists.
Someone who has better name recognition in the gay community than any other possibility, who can mobilize that group.
Someone who guarantees the Hollyweird bucks keep rolling in.
Someone who has religious credentials as a spiritualist, a laid back Catholic, and a Jew.
Someone who can even appeal to stupid white males who might cross over, given the right incentive.
It's so easy I can't believe not one poster has thought of it.
I think she's missing the obvious bet. They want a true blue Dem, cold as ice, heart nowhere to be found, selfish and proud, crazy as a loon? Why not the obvious - James Carville or Paul Begala? Who better to lead the Dem Party as the demons are cast into that herd?
Oh man!!! Don't do that so early in the morning!!! Now I won't be able to eat for hours.....yuck!
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