DEAN UNDER FIRE FROM PARTY DEMS; NEARLY ALL CASH SPENT 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...
Time will tell.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Deano Update From Drudge
Picking up on the previous thread regarding Democratic fundraising (success for state parties versus federal panics), The Drudge Report has issued "news" which seems far more like rumor given it doesn't name any real sources only references to what staffers said off the record. For what it's worth:
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Fine by me. How much money did Kerry have left in the bank unspent after the election. How much money was wasted in the campaign. Dean is actually investing in infrastructure ahead of time.
They are bitching because they don't like how their slush fund is shaping up. Fuck 'em. Dean's money is coming from people like me, and I am perfectly happy with the way he sees fit to spend it. Those fucking jokers in DC have done nothing but piss away money and votes cycle after cycle. They, frankly, have much less credibility than Dean on the topic.
They might even have to have a message - if they don't have the money to spin the same ole sh!t.
Ewww, drudge content on our very own blog? I love ya, Studio, but I detect a wiff of joementum here.
Yeah, can we keep Drudge off this site? I'd be more likely to believe an alarm call from the Weekly World News.
Here are the rebuttal points, stolen from Kos:
1.) The DNC raised more than $51 million in 2005 - a record for a non-election year and a 20% increase over the total raised in 2003.
2.) More than 30,000 Americans have invested in the future of the Democratic Party through the Democracy Bonds program. At an average contribution of $20 a month that's roughly $7 million a year in recurring small-dollar contributions.
3.) To date, the DNC has hired talented, experienced, diverse political professionals in 43 states. Thirty of those states have sent their staffers to Washington, DC for several days of training from top Democratic operatives about how to effectively organize Democrats in their communities.
4.) Governor Dean and the DNC invested more than $7 million to elect new Democratic governors Jon Corzine in New Jersey and Tim Kaine in Virginia. Democrats also reaped important ballot box victories at the local level in places like Mobile, Alabama, St. Paul, Minnesota and King County, Washington.
5.) Governor Dean has traveled to 34 states and territories during his first year as chairman to talk about Democratic values and raise money for the local parties. Those states, red, blue, and purple, include:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
*****
So, yeah, sounds like money well spent.
Another reason why I think that Drudge piece is bogus -- the DSCC currently has twice as much cash on hand as the RSCC, and the DCCC has raised a record amount.
Both of those successes come from Dean's decentralized approach, so again, I don't think they'd be complaining about the lack of money on hand at the DNC since the reason for that lack of money is that their own safes are full.
Just more BS from Drudge.
I ain't saying it's valid - I think the bias displayed is out of line even for Drudge.
It's like me saying all fiercely Republicans are gay given they are trying so hard to hide something. I heard from a guy who worked with a very conservative person and he was secretly gay. Off the record...
Developing....
I agree with Mr. Furious here. Usually, a party's leadership is responsible not only for rebuttals against outrageous claims from the opposition, but to formulate a real campaign strategy for their party. Pelosi et. al. has done none of that (that is apparent). Dean is, by all accounts, and by Otto Man's post, doing the lion's share of winning the seats back. It's about grassroots this time around, and he's spending money on the next stock of Presidents, Senators and Congress: Governors.
Dean's explained this well by noting that his top priority is to give the party longterm viability. McAulliffe was a little too Clinton-like in that he was really aiming for the here and now with no thought to longterm gain.
We may not see the full benefits of this for years to come, but I still think it's worth it. Dean's putting strength at the grassroots and it'll only spread from there.
Interestingly, I got a "survery" with a request for money from the DNC. I wonder if this is a clever DNC pseudo story to ge tpeople like me to give.
It worked. I gave.
Developing...
Otto Man, you are a treasure trove of pertinent info. Well done.
Thank you. I steal what I can.
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