Frost's last big chance -- a big labor endorsement -- has
gone up in smoke.
AFL-CIO leaders decided Tuesday not to make an endorsement in the race for Democratic National Committee chairman, a move that could make it harder for any of Howard Dean's rivals to stop his push for the party leadership.
The Hotline's latest delegate count:
Dean 102 (23%)
Frost 15
Fowler 10
Rosenberg 4
Roemer 4
Leland 2
This list does not include endorsements made today.
Roll Call reports (subscription only):
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) has repeatedly rebuffed former Rep. Martin Frost's (Texas) attempts to secure her support in his race for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, stunting his hopes of emerging as the alternative candidate to frontrunning former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.
Pelosi and Frost met last week to discuss the persistent talk in Democratic circles that she was telling DNC members and other party officials that it would be difficult for her to work with her former rival if he was elected chairman. The two have met three times since Frost declared his candidacy, and each time Pelosi had refused to support the Texan.
Though Pelosi assured Frost that she had no problem with him as head of the party, her daughter Christine, who is chief of staff to Rep. John Tierney (Mass.), circulated a proposal via e-mail last week that would install Dean as chairman with former Rep. Tim Roemer (Ind.) handling the day-to-day activities of the committee.
For his part, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) has been sounding out labor leaders about the possibility of unifying behind either Frost or political operative Donnie Fowler.
Roemer for the day-to-day activities? If they want to go that route, the obvious choice would be Rosenberg.
And while this is being painted as a continuation of the Pelosi-Frost feud (he challenged her for the Dems House leadership), it's probably much simpler than that -- Pelosi is tired of backing losers in this race. Dean is looking stronger by the day, and it's pointless to endorse a candidate who has little chance of winning. That's probably why the AFL-CIO sat the race out.
Meanwhile, also in Roll Call, Donna Brazile pens an open letter to Dean:
But just as you appeared to be on the verge of catching fire in the Iowa caucuses, the winter turned harsh. People loved you in their hearts, but they became frightened of what it would mean for the Democratic Party to have you serve as our standard-bearer. Some of those same people are now involved in a last-ditch effort to stop your candidacy.
Your youthful, tech-savvy supporters were new to the game of hardball presidential politics. They were playing in a league where the rules change based on who's in the game. Soon, some party insiders flush with cash went to work to cool your jets. You haven't quite been the same since the moment they made and paid for a video comparing you to Osama bin Laden.
Perhaps this time you will make it to the top. But, as you have experienced, the climb up the ladder from ex-governor, ex-presidential candidate to chairman can be steep. The hurdles now, like the obstacles you confronted in the Democratic primaries, are mainly about ego. For all its talk about inclusiveness, the Democratic Party is extremely turf conscious. Thus, it's incumbent on you to reach out and bring these people, the very ones who went to the mat to stop you, into the fold.
The bigger fish in the Democratic pond (the party is still swimming upstream) are truly bottom feeders eating away their young, casting aside callously their base and ignorant of the sharks circling our old coalitions. They have dismissed an entire generation of potential leaders when they held power by failing to lift up those who were coming behind. With you, some of the people who have been kept down found their voice. No matter what happens next week, keep fighting for them.
And the race marches on.
Update: Frost is out. Fowler is getting his wish to be the anti-Dean, but I suspect he's going to find it a very lonely place to be.