Do you remember when Howard Dean won the Chair of the Democratic National Committee? It was a hell of a fight between the old, beltway power brokers and the State Chairs who wanted to be taken seriously by the party. Between those who wanted to protect their sinecure and those who wanted to come to the game for the first time.
Do you remember the first unveiling of the 50 State Strategy? "Nose pickers" in Mississippi were dismissed in humiliating fashion on national TV. Entire blocks of the country were declared irrelevant, and Rahm Emmanual promised no help from the DCCC, in the heroic plan to reclaim Democratic dominance by challenging the RNC in every locale.
Interesting things happened when Dr. Dean won the Chair. Voting registration increased many fold. DNC offices were opened in almost every district in the nation. Tapping the netroots raised more money for Democratic candidates than at anytime in history. (And, Charlie Schumer strode to the microphone and claimed credit for the '06 Congressional victories...Old Ladies never forget...)
Did you think the battle was over? Did you think that Dr. Dean won the battle? Did you think the Beltway Poobahs were just going to quietly step back and give up the levers of power to those upstarts, the people?
The next big challenge to the People Powered DNC is set for Saturday. It is being marketed as a "voting rights battle". CNN and MSNBC have all declared that Howard Dean is, "not an old time power broker, able to control the outcome", of the Rules Committee meeting. Senator Clinton is marshalling demonstrators to evoke memories of Florida, 2000, in the hopes of outraging Democrats across the country. And "activists" (declared Clinton supporters, all) are promising to take the outcome of the meeting to the Convention, in August, if the Michigan, and Florida delegations are not seated exactly as reflected in the January vote.
In contrast, as an Obama activist, I have received 2 e-mails requesting that I discourage any turn out by Obama supporters which might add tension and confusion to this attempt to reconcile the misbehavior of state parties with the voters concerns
It is popular to cast this as a voter issue. It is popular to pretend this is about rules.
I don't think so.
I see this as just another attempt by the Old Guard, lead by Hillary Clinton, to challenge the leadership of Howard Dean by portraying him as unfair, incompetent, and unfit to lead the party. His enormous success is rarely acknowledged. His victories are claimed by others. His skills in growing the party are all attributed to things other than his vision and dogged dedication to involving every citizen in the process, and tapping into the small donors that can take the party back from the DC insiders.
Dr. Dean has always represented an enormous threat to those who sit, like spiders, monitoring a web of Big Money Interests, and Corporate demands. Their power, funded by large donations, is entirely dependent on delivering the legislative goods when they are pressed by those who hold the purse strings.. If they lose the power to select candidates who are willing to play their game, if those candidates no longer require corporate support to win their seat, and if the insiders no longer can pick the issues, the money and the Party will slip from their grasp. They are fighting to reassert their control, and this Delegate dust up is just one more excuse to paint Dr. Dean as not up to the task, even though he is following rules laid down to benefit those very politicians now discrediting the process. And, it is impossible not to conclude that Hillary and Bill Clinton, at the center of this group of power players, are laying out the strategy for this fight.
The RNC is reporting that they have $44 million on hand for their Convention. The DNC is very short of money for our Convention because they spent their donations staffing local offices, getting out the Democratic message, and wrestling with the demands of actually implementing what they stated they would do. Imagine that! Howard Dean did as he promised! As a result we are poised to win, and win big, in November.
I am, however, increasingly concerned that the Power Brokers, the Clintons, and the Big Money Boys will sacrifice the November election if Hillary is not handed the delegates she needs to claim a victory. They will paint the Party as in total disarray. They have already begun to plant the idea in the minds of the voters that we can not even manage our internal disagreements. They will use the lock step, automated behavior of the Republi-Bots as indicative of greater governing skills, greater management skills, and greater portent of "good government" outcomes. They will sacrifice America to their own ego driven need to control and maintain the levers of power.
They believe these upstarts must be punished. Howard Dean was driven from the stage by these very same people when he gave every indication of winning the nomination in '04. When he captured control of the Party apparatus they were furious. When Barack Obama came out of nowhere and ignited the passions of millions in a disillusioned electorate, displacing the appointed heir, they were livid. They are losing control, and they will resort to any means to bring the Democratic Party back into the fold of triangulation, big donors, and their personal little frog ponds.
There are two discrete actions that are demanded if we are to insure that the Democratic Party, entering the arena of wide spread popular participation, for what is really the first time, is to be rescued from this takeover attempt.
First, the uncommitted delegate must come out for a candidate, immediately. Waiting for the wheels to come off in this blatant coup is not acceptable. The stakes are far too high, the future far too dangerous, and the challenges the next President faces far too complex to allow a small group of power players to plan a tactical defeat in hopes of a strategic victory.
Second, get out that check book and send Howard Dean some money. As much as you can afford. Right now. Make sure that he has the tools to fight the Beltway insiders who are dismissive of you, your values, and your needs. Give him enough cash to position the Party to wage a full scale battle, both at the Convention, and in November. Show the Insiders that you stand fully behind the 50 State Strategy, and the Chairman who gave the Democratic Party back to the Democrats.
The time to act is now. The boost in confidence we can provide, the assurance that we stand with Dr. Dean, and against the Old Style Pols, and the demonstration to those who would dismiss us as irrelevant is a pointed reminder that this is the party of, by, and for the people.
My system crashed 11 days ago. I have had no access to the net. If this is either a repetition of another diary posted during the past week, or just a waste of good bandwith, tell me and I'll take it down at once.