Two new candidates, a new website, and more, more, more. Yet another
unofficial DNC Chair Cattle Call:
Update [2005-1-7 15:33:59 by blogswarm]: JekyllnHyde points out in
comments that there is now a third new candidate today (via hotline):
Some women's groups, upset over Roemer's DNC candidacy, are pushing for Kate Michelman to jump in.
David Leland is rumored to have entered the race yesterday, but a quick search of google news and technorati suggests that if he is running he chose to follow Webb and Frost by employing the stealth technique of announcement. Brutus Buckeye seems to care enough to have started an account on MyDD just to say, "Former Ohio Democratic Party Chair (and current Project Vote director) David Leland announced his DNC candidacy yesterday. I cannot think of a worse person to lead the DNC. Most people blame Leland for the sorry state the Ohio Democratic Party is in and his "hands-off" approach led to complete chaos within the party. We're still trying to recover from his leadership in Ohio."
Marshall Wittman is now the rumored DLC choice for DNC chair. In keeping with Demcratic Leadership Council tradition, Wittman is a Republican. I believe STFU is the appropriate response to this and anything else that comes for the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.
Tim Roemer's website, Tim RAemer is still as disappointing as his stances on the issues. Dave Johnson has an in-depth expose on Roemer's connection to the Mercatus Center which is an extreme-right think tank funded by Richard Mellon Scaife and other benefactors of the vast right wing conspiracy. Chris Bowers and Kos have now piled on and this scandal is getting legs. This has been a bad week for Roemer with Talking Points Memo reporting that Roemer is anti social security, pro-abortion criminalization, anti-balanced budget, and pro-deficit spending. Chris Bowers has said Roemer should not be chair. Read more here and then here. Pandagon labels supporting Roemer to be an "exercise in self-destruction" -- hear that Reid and Pelosi?
Terry McAliffe's Noalition bid imploded within 48 hours. Chris Bowers called this a "terrible idea" and that is one of the nicest things the blogosphere has said. Through the cigar smoke says he is a, "blight on the Democratic Party. To put it in sports terms, McAuliffe can't carry Karl Rove's jock." Pejmanesque: "He regularly displays strategic and tactical genius the likes of which we haven't seen since 1991 when the Iraqi Republican Guard was facing the wrong way as the Americans made their pincer encirclement move into Iraq. Or when Custer encountered the opposition at Little Bighorn and said "Hey, this should come out as a clear win!"" Suburban Guerrilla: "I have to wonder if the beltway Democrats are COMPLETELY FUCKING CRAZY" The only thing T-Mc has won as Chair is an award for the dumbest quotes of 2004: "This is the best election night in history." Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Martin Frost is still trying to take his losing streak nationwide with his Noalition bid that is supported by the General Custer wing of the Democratic Party. To recap, Frost ran an ad praising Bush. and another ad that, "casts fellow Democrat Ted Kennedy in the same liberal boogeyman role as some Republicans do." Frost is still a Loser and appears to be gaining no traction in bringing his pro-GOP, anti-Democrat approach to the DNC.
Wellington Webb still has yet to address WeatherDem's point that he, "helped make sure the state of the art baggage system would be built for the airport. Remember that baggage system? It still doesn't work. Originally estimated to cost $12 million, it ended up costing $250 million and delayed the opening of the airport one and a half years. Oh, and it's now being turned into scrap metal." Western Democrat has been following Webb but today pointed out, "It isn't necessary for us to have a DNC from the West for the DNC to help us in the West."
Donnie "king of the burning dog poop" Fowler went "poot" before he had a chance to announce his impressive campaign staff. The flaming bag of dog poop scandle has convinced Chris Bowers that Fowler doesn't understand the problems. Fowler has his scheduler running Internet Communications which may help explain why he campaign went down in "flames" online. There's more on how the wingers would exploit his nickname. Fowler has now become an also-ran.
Howard Dean still has an aggressive online organizing effort by Draft Howard, Mainstreet Moms, Driving Votes and the Dean4DNC yahoo group. Dean is gaining enough momentum for the Noalition to have floated the McAuliffe trial balloon. Still no word on whether he will run or hold the Party accountable by keeping his options open for 2008.
Simon Rosenberg officially announced yesterday and now has a www.SimonForChair.org campaign site complete with blog. BlogPAC has Rosenberg's plan for the blogosphere:
As DNC Chair, I'd like to take the DNC and make it a full part of the blogosphere. The principle behind what I offer here is to foment a continual and robust online discussion that the DNC actually is part of and that reinforces an overall Democratic political strategy. To that end, I submit that the DNC needs:
- Regular conference calls, conferences, and a blog committee of 'netroots' representatives to advise various DNC departments on strategy, research, messaging and outreach.
- A consistent non-election year blogad budget dedicated to framing and testing messaging, as well as potential seed money for specialty blogs.
- An internal champion in the DNC to break news on blogs and connect elected Democrats and high level staffers with blogs, bloggers, and effective use of the internet with the goal of having the blogosphere surpass cable news networks in reach and influence.
- To use the DNC's 3.7 million person email list to create community and promote interesting spinoff projects like and grassroots created quality video and audio content.
- Regular guest-posting from DNC representatives on willing blogs to talk through organizational, operational, and policy issues.
- To work with blogs to figure out how to use Meetup effectively as a political tool for state and local parties.
- To promote a dialogue in which the blogs continue their discussion of the Democratic Party so that we can create the social networks critical to a vibrant progressive movement.
- To integrate blogs fully into the progressive messaging machine that targets and unseats Republicans and Republican initiatives.
- A New Politics Think Tank inside the DNC that fosters the sharing of best practices among those involved in netroots politics so as to allow for a supported network of savvy operatives to permeate progressive organizing. This organ would also investigate new technologies like RSS, wikis, podcasting, and their applicability to organizing at every level.
Blogs represent a increasingly democratizing media, and I want to make sure that this trend is encouraged in the years ahead. These ideas are not final, and will evolve in accordance with yours and others' feedback.