DNC Chair Faces Enormous Task

[sandnsea]

With Howard Dean officially in the DNC race, one thing is for certain, it won’t be boring. Just yesterday Chris Heinz dropped by DU to attempt to rally support for Rosenberg, and later Joe Trippi announced his support as well. Are these the first shots? I suppose I’d be a silly little schoolgirl to believe this race will get no more unruly than a school lot fracas. In any event, others can dissect the power politics involved. I’ve just got a few, more basic, questions.

Most candidates agree that the base cannot be ignored, but that we also cannot be the party of interest groups. They then state we have to stop conceding other groups of voters and regions and show up in the south. How do the candidates suggest we cross that gaping canyon?

DFA supported Schweitzer in Montana, according to Howard Dean’s statement today. Schweitzer ran with a Republican and I highly doubt John Kerry was ever invited to campaign with him. Having lived in Montana for many years, my bet would be that Brian yelled “STAY AWAY”. What does that mean to any of the candidates suggesting a “go west” strategy?

The candidates also promote supporting and trusting the grassroots as well as building the party at the state and local level. State Parties have power players and monied interests of their own. How do the candidates propose to fire up the grassroots without displacing the dedicated State politicians who have been the backbone of the State parties for decades?

These all lead to the main question, why we lost and what are we going to do about it. Not just the Presidential campaign, but Senate and House seats. We lost FL, GA, LA, NC, SC, and SD. We picked up CO. Do the candidates seriously miss the fact that it wouldn’t have mattered if Kerry had “showed up” in the south, southern Senate candidates lost as well. Can any of the candidates explain these Senate losses? Doesn’t this indicate a bigger problem than just “showing up”?

It isn’t the job of the DNC chair, particularly, to set the party platform. But the next chair will have the almost insurmountable task of cobbling together traditional Democratic voting blocks while simultaneously transforming the issues of these voters into a vision of change for the future that also reflects basic American values. Structural change won’t be enough. Regional strategies won’t be enough. Tepid variations of tired policies won’t be enough. Dressing up a mouse in a dragon suit won’t be enough. We need a candidate who is capable of true soul searching, who can ask the tough questions and really hear the answers, who can learn and then articulate with strength and clarity. So my final question to each candidate would be, what exactly, Mr. Candidate, is a Democrat?

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