Posted on 11/06/2005 10:59:14 AM PST by yoe
After some early missteps, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is gaining the confidence of Congressional Democrats now that he's been on the job for 10 months.
Many in Congress were wary of Dean when he took over the post earlier this year, fearing his politics were too far left for Democrats trying to make inroads in conservative "red" states, according to the publication Roll Call.
They also saw the former Vermont governor as somewhat of a loose cannon, as when he commented that the Republican Party is made up of white Christian conservatives.
But now Dean has been toning down his sometimes incendiary remarks and "he's gotten pretty smart," one high-level Democratic House staffer told Roll Call.
"People are cautiously optimistic [that] Howard Dean has gotten smarter and more strategic about what it means to be a DNC chairman.
"In the last several months, he's doing a much better job."
Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.), who supported another candidate for DNC chairman, said he has been "pleasantly surprised" by what he's hearing about Dean's work.
Roll Call reported: "Hoyer said he has been getting positive feedback from party officials across the country who credit Dean with giving them needed campaign resources and working to develop relationships between the national and state parties."
Hoyer said he has spoken with the party chairmen in several states and has been "impressed with how positive their feeling is vis-à-vis Howard Dean. I congratulate him for that."
Some party insiders remain uneasy about the DNC's finances. At the end of September the committee had a cash balance of $6.8 million, while the Republican National Committee had $34 million in the bank.
The DNC has hired organizers in 38 states and paid out most of the $39.2 million collected so far this year.
But DNC spokesman Josh Earnest said: "We are going to have the resources we need to support Democratic candidates all across the country in 2006.
"The way Gov. Dean is going to build the party for the long term is at the grass-roots level and we want to do that in every community in America."
Translation: The Dem party hacks got $$$ to shut them up.
"...if a Democrat is ever elected to the White House, they will have a free ride in America and any place in the world. Democrats will not protect this nation from terrorism."
I predict that within 3-5 years of a democrat having the presidency, there would be a military takeover to save the country from terrorists because the dems would not know how to react.
Yeah right......two weeks ago he was accusing the POTUS of "HIDING the SALAMI"......that is definitely toning it down!!
He got smarter -- you mean he restricts himself to one insult a week instead of one a day?
We said the same thing prior to Clinton's election.
So, before now he was pretty stupid? Maybe they are just building him up before he "chooses" to seek other career opportunities.
Somehow, this just doesn't strike me as newsworthy.
Baghdad Bob wrote this?
GOOD! The last thing the republicans need is someone with credibility leading the demonRATs!
This is the reason they don't have any money?
They are lagging WAY BEHIND.
They have 8 mill. That's not just a little behind.
"We said the same thing prior to Clinton's election."
And today we are seeing what Clinton's election actually did to this country. The Wall, the CIA mess, Iraq, Osama all on Clinton's watch and Bush now has to clean up the mess. Imagine what it would have been like if Gore actually did steal the 2000 election?
That's 'cause they're drunk on what he's selling...
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