Although currently residing in South Bend, IN (as a law student), I was McAuliffe's designated driver anytime he would come down to Miami, FL for events back as an undergrad.

I received the gig because, at the time, I was president of the college democrats.  I gleaned the following during my time with the chairman, who we affectionately referred to as "T-Mac".

1.  I was shocked that a chairman of anything, let alone of the Democratic Party, would allow mere students to drive him around.  He is a hilarious guy, would talk to governors and senators on the phone right in front of us, and would get us into all the events for free. He is very down to earth, and an all-around average guy

2.  He would genuinely listen to our suggestions.  We had asked him to throw up a DNC blog, and within a week of him returning from the trip they had one up.  Call it a coincidence, but he may have indeed listened to his base on that one.

 I think he did alot for the party.  When you hear his generic presentation, he speaks about building a massive mailing list, completely revamping the website, raised a hell of alot of money, vacated the old headquarters which he said they rented from a Republican, etc...  Look, he couldn't do it all, but he certainly did alot.

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To view pics of his visits, see UM College Democrats website

1.  He did everything he could to sabotage Dean.  Whether you liked Dean or not, it was for Democratic voters to decide, not the DNC Chair.

2. He presided over two of the worst defeats in our history: 2002 and 2004 and had the gall to immediately try to spin those results into a positive.  Come on, if we lost, say we lost.

3. He made silly strategical decisions, such as pouring tons of money into trying to beat Jeb in 2002.  That money could have been better spent elsewhere, and Jeb won easily.

4.  He oozes creepiness and sleaziness, and turns moderate voters off.  The nice thing about Dean is that even people who don't agree with him appreciate his candor and down to earth bearing. McCaulife always seemed like a political creature to his very core.  He was incapable of seeming like a real person.  He was the Democratic Party, processed, liquified, and poured in a can.

There's a place for fundraisers at the DNC, but it's not at the top!

Second, he has a bit of a sleaze problem. I believe he was involved in the Global Crossing scandal, if memory serves.

But the most important reason Terry has a bad rep is his job performance. Frankly, he sucks. He's the George Tenet of the DNC.

As I seem to recall someone saying once, "it's time for him to go!"