Posted on 01/30/2006 8:01:04 AM PST by slowhand520
DEAN UNDER FIRE FROM PARTY DEMS; NEARLY ALL CASH SPENT Mon Jan 30 2006 10:52:31 ET
Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill are privately bristling over Howard Dean’s management of the Democratic National Committee and have made those sentiments clear after new fundraising numbers showed he has spent nearly all the committee’s cash and has little left to support their efforts to gain seats this cycle, ROLL CALL reports.
Congressional leaders were furious last week when they learned the DNC has just $5.5 million in the bank, compared to the Republican National Committee’s $34 million.
Senate and House Minority Leaders Harry Reid (Nev.) and Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), along with the Senate and House campaign committee chairmen Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), have made their concerns -- directly or indirectly -- known to Dean, claims the paper.
Emanuel was particularly upset last week upon seeing the latest DNC numbers.
“A lot of people are scratching their heads as to what’s going on,” said one senior Democratic aide.
Another Democratic source familiar with the party fundraising apparatus said there is “obvious displeasure” among the leaders.
Developing...
gave it to Abramoff
Just when you need an Abramoff, ya go and kick him to the curb.....
LOL!
Dean is a gift that just keeps on giving!
Belly Laugh!
You mean Air America?
Limbaugh mentioning this now. Did Dean do the spending, or is Howie a useful idiot and smokescreen for somebody else?
No I was comparing how saddam and DNC get their word out in a similar manner. One pays Koffi and company, the other pays the US media machine.
That is GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!
I bet it was neither. They aren't raising any money and that's what's disturbing them. McAwful was good at one thing and that was raising the bucks. And even then they couldn't compete with the republicans--mainly because the republicans have lots of mid to upper income people giving money. Where as the RATs rely on the richest of the rich to make big donations.
So without the money coming in, what's a RAT to do? Plus with Dean at the helm they can't do what they did in the past and over spend during an election just to payback the money after the election. With Dean there they can't go into debt as they'd never raise the money to pay it off.
I guess they will start focusing on more campaign finance reform since they can't afford to run for office anymore.
Not only are they morally bankrupt, but it appears that they are also financially bankrupt.
BWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
No doubt...
You're taking their word for that? :) Without an audit?
That philosophy has worked so well for them over the years...
Yep, he's a GREAT asset to the Republican party--heh heh.
Much better.
Dr. Dean should stick with what doctors do best, overbilling Medicare and Medicaid. :)
...And then i'm going to take money away from Mississippi, and then
North Carolina, and then i'm gonna rob Vermont's bank clean, and then move on to Delaware...YEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH
Sadly, the dims are so unprincipled, it's true. But Soros will want return on his purchase of U.S. political party. Ya think they're whacky now? Just wait until he buys the dims.
Who championed this bozo for this position in the first place???
Oh yeah... I remember now ~ (From "The Hill" publish just a year ago this month!)
Murtha: Give Dean DNC chair
By Hans Nichols
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) is writing letters in support of Howard Dean.
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) is actively lobbying Democratic National Committee (DNC) delegates to select former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean as their next chairman.
The endorsement of the leading antiwar presidential candidate by one of the Democrats’ most prominent early supporters of the Iraq invasion signals a rehabilitation of Dean’s image in the House and greatly increases his prospects of leading the party, many Democratic lawmakers and aides said.
Several lawmakers said support by the hardscrabble, old-school Vietnam veteran, who endorsed former Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) in the presidential primaries, would compel the DNC to take a second look at the firebrand governor and not simply write him off as an extreme avatar of the party’s antiwar wing.
At Dean’s request, Murtha wrote to Pennsylvania’s seven delegates to the DNC last week explaining why he is endorsing a candidate with whom he shares so few positions.
“I am not with him on all the issues, but he understands the party’s problems, what we need to do and how to get there,” said Murtha. “And he has executive experience. … A lot of people in the party don’t understand just where we are. We need a change. We need something different.”
One senior lawmaker, who asked not to be named in order to speak more candidly about internal party matters, said his colleagues would be shocked to hear of Murtha’s support for Dean. The lawmaker added, “Maybe we’ll all have to take a second look. A lot of us will.”
Murtha said he contacted Dean to tell him of his support.
“We’re thrilled that Murtha has decided to endorse us. This is someone who is an expert on defense issues and it just shows Governor Dean’s broad appeal to Democrats,” said Laura Gross, spokeswoman for Dean.
In another sign of the significance of Murtha’s endorsement, the Dean campaign is apparently not asking all of his House backers to cajole voting DNC members to support their man. Several confirmed Dean supporters said they stood ready to do anything to help Dean but had not been asked to do anything yet. “Whatever he wants me to do, I’ll do,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).
But Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif) is also writing delegates from vote-rich California to make the case for Dean.
Dean has not formally declared that he is running, but Gross said that announcement was to be expected “shortly.” Dean would mostly likely inform his supporters of his final decision electronically.
Dean will speak at a regional DNC meeting in Atlanta this weekend, the first of four events where delegates will get to judge the candidates up close.
Other candidates for the chairmanship are also canvassing the House for support, competing for endorsements in a contest that will ultimately be decided by the 447 members of the committee. For example, Rep. Barney Frank is calling Massachusetts delegates on behalf of his onetime House colleague, former Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas), who was defeated Nov. 2.
In a late-breaking development, former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk bowed out of the race yesterday evening and endorsed former Frost.
Frost also appears to have the respect of many of his former colleagues in the House, if not the unvarnished support. Many said that Frost’s obvious command of politics on every level and understanding of House Democrats’ goals would serve him will as DNC chairman.
One Democratic lawmaker who admitted that he and Frost had crossed swords in the past said that Frost “is just too smart not to take seriously.”
Another lawmaker added, “Tom DeLay wants to chip away at the Jewish vote, both in terms of voting and fundraising, and Martin Frost is not going to let that happen.”
Meanwhile, many House lawmakers said they thought that the House minority leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was clearly leaning in favor of former Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.). While Pelosi has shied away from an overt endorsement, lawmakers said that in private conversations she is always pushing for Roemer.
“She’s always asking, ‘Well, what do you think about Roemer?’” one lawmaker said.
Wow! What an idiot! His job is fundraising, not shooting his mouth off.
Don't get me wrong - I'm glad they're shooting themselves in the foot. Sometimes I worry that the Republicans stumble also at times, so this should more than even things out! :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.