The last thing I want now is another Dean vs. Gep deathmatch, substituting Rosenburg for Gep. Last time it earned us a lack luster safe campaign and a loss. We can't do that anymore. If Dean and Rosenburg cancel each other out, we get Roemer.

Damn. Iowa has got some serious Karma.

http://mars.typepad.com/no_retreat_no_surrender/2004/11/the_case_agains.html

This is the guy who want's to be the chair of the DNC?!  How fast can you say "Dean".

"For instance, he gave the RNC ammo on John Gibson's show on Fox News, Sept. 9th of this year. Rosenberg said "I think the debate that is not happening is whether or not the war was a good idea. The war was a good idea. I think the American people were behind the President." In that same interview with John Gibson Rosenberg said "The President was resolute and strong in his decision to go to war. He may also have been wrong in the way they executed it." Rosenberg's problem is that he says the President MAY have been wrong in the way he executed that while our candidate was very clear that the President WAS wrong. This kind of statement illustrates how Rosenberg cannot lead a strong, aggressive opposition party, which is essential in today's DNC chair....."

END SNIP

Another stupid move by Trippi. Just like the ones where he decided he didn't feel the need to oversee the training of the ground team in Iowa, and to make national TV ad buys.

"I don't know if we all owe a lot to Joe, but I do, as he was the one who listened to me, back in the winter of 2002, tell him...that he needed to adopt a decentralized netroots blogging campaign."

There are two ironclad rules in political relationships: 1) Show loyalty even if you don't feel it, and 2) Don't violate Rule 1.

And what is Trippi's game?  Is he looking for a gig at DNC?  Why would anyone who can pontificate for money on MSNBC, and sell the occasional book, want to enter the faceless, thankless world of national party work?

What bothers me is that this sort of pettyness is why the Democrats lose. There does not need to be a "coronation" but if all the players want is payback we end up with another divided party. Another broken, barely focused DNC. Dean's best asset is the fact that if he is Chair, he gets almost the role of a shadow presidency in the media. He will not reinvent the wheel as far as the Committee goes.

But as pure, technical minds Tim Roemer or Simon Rosenburg might be even more skillful than Karl Rove or Ken Mehlman.

It's already clear that Iraq is lost, and Bush already blew his wad in "political capital" by eschewing tax reform this year to destroy Social Security and judicial nominations. Terry McAuliffe is giddy with the thought of bankrolling Tim Kaine in Virginia. Kerry's defeat makes it much easier for Democrats of all stripes to say, "so much for playing nice".

Still, if rivalries like Trippi and Dean's are not resolved, it won't matter who is Chair. After all it was a Republican President who said, "a house divided against itself cannot stand".

Glad I've stayed away and maintained scaled-down attention to authentic voices: Dean, MyDD who led me to discover him, and Liberal Oasis. The best of the best.

Let's not forget the bad blood between Trippi and Dean at the end of the campaign.

Fuck Trippi.

The endorsement, on this day, might impress the pundits, but here on the net, the subtle is obvious and the covert is wide open. The endorsement of Rosenberg by Trippi on this day reads like Joe using Simon to slap back at Howard Dean. Anyway, that's Hardball.

Jerome, Trippi deserves better than what he's getting on the net.  The consistent stream of invective and calls that Trippi is all about greed is wrong, and you should say it's wrong.  People are saying Trippi blew the $40 million - you know that's not true.  

Dean can do no wrong, Trippi can do no right.  This is bullshit, plain and simple, cult of personality crap that is dangerous to a party.

It's conceivable that Trippi believes that Dean wouldn't do a very good job as chair - you talked to him.  This could be a good faith disagreement about the future of the party, and frankly, Trippi at least deserves a hearing.  

This endorsement is a valid expression of a brilliant visionary who has worked his whole life in grassroots progressive politics.  I am disappointed that you are placing this at at the extreme level of the angriest Kossack who see red when anyone points out that Dean is just another guy.  What the hell was Trippi thinking?  You know what he was thinking, and it was pretty damn reasonable.  

Isn't a Party Chair the chief strategist, organizer, tactician, fundraiser? Those are not Dean's strengths.

Best list of reasons to support Rosenberg I've seen yet: http://gadflyer.com/flytrap/index.php?Week=200502#1367

FWIW. I'm a just a newbie.

Is this a KOS shot across the bow aimed at Richardson endorsing Rosenberg...sure sounds like it? Kerry was a hard sell for anyone.

Question: What states did Kerry win that Gore lost???

For those who would like to see Dean punished, you may get your wish if he gets the chair.

So really why did Joe Trippi go with Simon Rosenberg for DNC Chair and not Donnie Fowler or Howard Dean or others?

Short answer: Joe knows Simon has got the right stuff and can lead Democrats to victory.

It's not only Joe Trippi who has made this assesment but many others in our party also.

http://www.simonforchair.org/ is the site to learn more about Simon Rosenberg.

Take a look at all the DNC Chair Candidates and see for yourself which person is the best to lead Democrats to victory in 2006, 2008, and beyond.

Simon's got the intellect and the passion and a blueprint for victories. Joe sees that. Many of the other DNC Chair Candidates like Donnie Fowler and Howard Dean have got only the passion.

And as many Deanaholics should have learned ... it takes more than a passionate scream to win.

Will Simon play in Peoria? Will Simon pay among Democrat Dads>

As a Peorian and as a Dad ... the answer is yes.

I am a DEMOCRAT DAD For Simon

PS: I am also a Nascar Dad, a Scocer Dad, and a Jack Daniels Dad. I work, I go to church, I drink, and pray like hell that our country and the Democratic Party can bring us yet again to a country like John Kennedy wanted.

"I was informed a few days ago that the location for the DNC Midwest Regional Meeting has been changed.  It is now being held at the St. Louis Airport Hilton Hotel, 10330 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis (phone: 314-426-5600).  The time for the meeting remains the same: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.  

Alderman Joe Moore
Chicago, Illinois
Member, DNC Executive Committee"

You may already know this... Just passing it along.

I was with both you and Governor Dean since December of 2002.  I was the second person DFA hired in Iowa.  I would like to say that I signed on to work for the campaign because of Howard Dean period.

I joined his campaign because at a time when Democrats were afraid to speak out against the pending war against Iraq, Dean did.   I joined the campaign because at a time when Democrats were afraid to speak out against "No Child Left Behind," Dean did.  I joined the campaign because at a time when no Democrats spoke out against Bush's huge budget defcits, Dean did.

I have a lot of respect for you, Joe.  You worked Jones County for Kennedy in 1980.  I took you to Jones County in February of 2003, my mother filled a room with 75 Democrats when nobody had heard of Howard Dean, and listening to his unbridled message, the good Democrats of Jones County gravitated towards him.

Somewhere along the line we, the people who worked for DFA, did Howard Dean wrong.  Maybe we didn't have the best field plan, maybe we didn't have the best communications strategy, maybe we didn't guard our candidate closely enough, or maybe we didn't realize Kerry was our #1 opponent in Iowa untill it was too late.

Whatever the faults of our campaign were, we all share them, from you down to the field staffers I sent to places like Creston and Woodbine.  

Most of all, I get sick to my stomach every day knowing that the best man to lead our party out of the poll-driven comprimising wilderness back to the presidency was lost because I didn't do my job well enough.

It disgusts me to hear that you have endorsed another candidate for DNC chair.  We all bled for Howard Dean and to take our country back.  Our cause was bigger than you, me or Governor Dean himself.

People like me did not become Dean supporters because of you, Joe; sometimes I wonder if you realize that fact.  We signed on because Dean, to paraphrase you in your book "was the most progressive candidate who had a snowball's chance of winning."

You said it yourself, Howard Dean didn't find the internet, the internet found Howard Dean.  His campaign tapped into a deep-seating frustration and gave people hope.  You and I were just along for the ride.

You have no right to act in any way as mightier, smarter or above Howard Dean and what he can contribute to the Democratic Party.

Perhaps it is telling that Howard Dean can remember the names of those who fought for him in Iowa and you cannot.

You were a great asset in the campaign to taking this country back.  Now, you have betrayed our leader and, more importantly, you have betrayed what you claim to stand for; you have made this about you and not about taking our country back from the right-wing extremists who run our country.  

Shame on you, Joe Trippi.  Shame on you.

Sincerely,

Region 5

Fowler has worked on six presidential campaigns, in the Clinton White House, campaign work in fourteen crucial states in presidential elections and technology work in Silicon Valley and across the country.  He will bring to the DNC chair experience from the way the party used to be and experience in the activities that are the parties future.  Obviously the grassroots movement proved that technology and the internet are huge to Democrats succeeding, and he has that experience.  Everything in his resume points to him being the only person with the capabilities to chair the DNC.  

On a personal note, what he did with the Clark campaign was amazing.  He not only took this grassroots movement of Draft Clark and turned it into a presidential campaign but also utilized both the previous grassroots movement and the traditional presidential campaign style.  He will bring the necassary change to the party and help bring the party back to where it should be.  www.changetheparty.com