WP: DNC Chief Advises Learning From GOP

[Pirate Smile]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., Dec. 10 -- Outgoing Democratic National Committee Chairman Terence R. McAuliffe said Friday that President Bush won reelection last month by skillfully leveraging terrorism and cultural issues to attract swing voters and even core Democrats, and he argued that his party must learn from Republican successes to become competitive.

McAuliffe spoke to state party leaders who have gathered near Walt Disney World to begin the process of selecting a new DNC chairman. The new chairman faces frustration among state leaders, who complain that the national party has neglected them, and a possible revolt from grass-roots activist groups such as MoveOn.org, which say they are determined to wrest control from corporate and Washington-based interests.

In one of his final acts as chairman, McAuliffe on Friday announced the makeup of a 40-member commission that will study and possibly revamp the calendar and rules governing the presidential nominating process in 2008. The commission's mandate is widely seen as a threat to the long-standing influence of Iowa and New Hampshire in selecting the party's nominees. Former labor secretary Alexis M. Herman and Rep. David E. Price (D-N.C.) will serve as co-chairs.

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McAuliffe said Republicans got a jump on the Democrats by testing and experimenting with communications strategies in 2001 and 2002 when the DNC was struggling to bring its technology up to date. Once that was completed, Democrats did some testing of themes, but McAuliffe said not enough. "Could we have done a lot more? You bet," he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56159-2004Dec10.html

There are a lot of demographic details in the article but I can't post it all.