For the second time in one amazing week, the New Republic actually ran something good on their &c blog. Here's the "money quote," with the disclaimer that since I'm not from California, I would never say those words out loud:
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"Still, as bad as McAuliffe's efforts to bring discipline to the nominating season have been, his electoral record is even worse. Between the disastrous midterm elections and yesterday's dismal off-year elections, the DNC chairman has had few Election Day successes. And on McAuliffe's watch, it appears, the Democrats' once fearsome turnout operation has withered on the vine.
In the two election cycles before Bill Clinton's victory over George H.W. Bush in 1992, then-DNC Chairman Ron Brown was busy building an impressive turnout machine known as the "coordinated campaign." Brown's innovations helped Democrats notch a string of victories in 1989, 1990, and 1991, which presaged Clinton's eventual win in '92. But these days all the innovation is on the GOP side. Republicans conducted dozens of tests in 2001, which they used to transform their party into a powerful voter mobilization tool on the back of strategies like their 72-Hour Task force. A PowerPoint presentation used by the GOP explains, "This is not an optional program. It is the direction that the party is going, and has been unanimously agreed to by party leaders at every level.... We conducted over 50 live tests in the 2001 off year elections. Now we are conducting training seminars all over the country."
If there's a similarly aggressive program on the Democratic side, McAuliffe has kept it a secret. But you'll excuse us if we don't hold our breath."
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Terry must go. Why do we even pretend he's doing a good job? He's become the Paul O'Neill of the Democratic Party.