On the Phone With Gov. Howard Dean

Right now, on his birthday and mine, DNC Chair, Gov. Howard Dean is doing a conference call for bloggers, and he's spending the majority of the time taking questions. I asked him about the DNC efforts with regard to Jim Martin's race in Georgia. He said that all of the Obama campaign offices are re-opening or remaining open, and that the DNC is investing significant money in the race, along with the DSCC. Gov. Dean praised Jim Martin, saying that he is a great person and a great candidate who anyone supportive of Barack Obama should be pleased to vote for. Dean correctly noted that this runoff election is all about turn out and stressed the importance of grassroots efforts, especially knocking on doors, to get those all important voters to the polls.

There were also questions from bloggers in West Virginia and Louisiana about how those of us in 'red' states could work to improve chances for Democrats. Again, Dean pointed to both the national trends, the gains made in those states this cycle and said that his eye was on Texas as a prime target for Democrats over the next two election cycles. (Just so we're clear, I'm making it my personal mission to make Georgia a prime DNC target, and we'll talk more about that later.)
In response to a direct question, Dean essentially said that he could not explain why President-elect Obama's overall performance was better than Gore and Kerry, yet in some areas of Appalachia and the "inland South" Obama did not preform as well as they did. Of course, the question essentially raised the issue of to what degree race was a factor in some areas of the country.

I really appreciated the fact that Gov. Dean did this call today, drawing in the bloggers in a substantive way. Thanks, and Happy Birthday, Gov. Dean!

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By the Company We Keep

John McCain can't have it both ways-either he's the "original maverick" who "fought corruption in both parties" or he's Ralph Reed's cut-buddy. My mother frequently admonished me to be careful about who my friends were. "We are all," she said, "judged by the company we keep." I can't say that bit of wisdom always fell on welcoming teenage ears, but with time and maturity, I see that she was right. It begs the question-what is John McCain thinking, coming to Georgia to dine at a table set by none other than Ralph Reed?

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Oh, Thank God

No fried food? Organic? 50% of the plate must be fruits and veggies? And include three of the following five colors: purple, red, white, yellow and green? Had the DNCC finally gone over the left edge? Were they really writing off the South? I was worried. Honestly, when I read these "rules" for convention food vendors-made famous by none other than The New York Times, my first thought was that the DNC might as well go ahead and set up a booth offering $400 haircuts. (Sorry, John. You know I love ya'.) The idea that these were the requirements for any food served at the convention reeked of, oh, I don't know, elitism, Big Brother, Nanny State, all things out of touch-all things laughable. If we had done this, I'm pretty sure the RNCC would've had a fish fry at a shooting range to celebrate. Fortunately, this week , the DNCC host committee finally put the kibosh on the rumor, dubbing it a "frivolous food fight."

What's the truth? The DNCC is allowing vendors to voluntarily serve designated "Lean N' Green meal options. To be so designated, the food item must meet the above listed requirements. So, rest easy. We will have no trouble keeping our cholesterol levels up while in Denver.

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America's Convention: DNCC Press Call

I just hung up the phone from the press call regarding the decision to move the 4th day of the DNCC to INVESCO to allow more than 75,000 people to participate. DNC chairman, Gov. Howard Dean said, "Obama does not view this as his convention; it's America's convention." Dean said that opening up the last day of the convention to as many people as possible was consistent with the message and vision of the Obama campaign and with Dean's own philosophy. Dean stressed that this is an historic event, something that has never been done before, and in keeping with the historic nature of this convention.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius also joined the call and stressed that nothing better symbolizes the new face of the Democratic Party than hosting this convention in the Mountain West-a place that was once a Republican stronghold that is now becoming more Democratic. Gov. Sebelius also pointed out that people are enthusiastic about the convention and about Obama's nomination. For example, instead of the 10,000 volunteers the committee sought to recruit, more than 22,000 people have responded to the call for volunteers.

If you read the NYT article today, then you know that there are concern about paying for this change. Because of the long primary season, fundraising for the convention has been a bit late getting started. Gov. Dean and the Obama campaign representative, Anita Dunn brushed aside those concerns, saying that the DNCC is within budget and that the Obama campaign will assist the committee with raising the needed funds for the convention.

In a moment of levity, a reporter asked Gov. Dean whether Republicans and Independent voters would be included in the 75K ticketed guests who would witness Obama's acceptance speech. Dean quipped that there would be "good videos" and then stammered through a response about priority being given to people, especially those in western states, who have worked long and hard for Obama. Gov. Sebelius cut in (thankfully) and said that many Republicans and Independent voters are now Democrats as a result of this historic primary, and that they would certainly be among those witnessing Obama accepting the nomination.

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Snookered?

Talk about gavel to gavel coverage. At least three networks: CNN, MSNBC and CSPAN carried full coverage of the DNC Rules Committee meeting today. So, as the nation watched us make some pretty fine sausage, the committee voted to seat the full delegations from both Florida and Michigan; however, delegates from both states, including "superdelegates" will have half a vote. Michigan's pledged delegates, where most candidates, including Obama, withdrew their names from the ballot out of respect for the rules, were allocated 69/59, or 29.5 delegate votes for Obama and 34.5 for Clinton. There is also some indication that there was a separate understanding that the two delegates appointed by the Michigan chair would be Obama delegates. The Obama campaign made major concessions to allow this compromise to occur. With the support of the Obama campaign and the Rules Committee, the State Parties from Florida and Michigan got essentially what they wanted. But, were they all snookered by the Clinton campaign?

Just when I thought that Democrats might be headed to a campfire, some s'mores and a few verses of Kum Ba Yah, Harold Ickes turned on his mic and made two things clear: while Hillary Clinton accepts the ruling on Florida, she does not accept the decision on Michigan. Ickes delivered a passionate speech that I suspect contains some of her talking points for the next days, and unfortunately, perhaps weeks. How could the committee of 30 substitute their judgement for the will of 600,000 Michigan voters? How could the committee essentially steal four delegates from Clinton and hand Obama delegates that he did not earn? Ickes ended with a message from Clinton herself: he held open the possibility that she would take the fight over Michigan to the Credentials Committee.

Short of seating the entire delegations with full votes, and giving Obama nothing out of Michigan-a fairytale that was never going to happen-I think that Clinton may have gotten exactly what she wanted out of today. She got some additional delegates, and she gets to continue this fight, if she chooses, arguing that the committee's action was not fair to her-or the the voters of Michigan. Now, I think that argument is poppycock. As Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told The Associated Press, "I don't think is a position that people find terribly reasonable."

Here's the math according the MSNBC:

The resolution increased the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination to 2,118, leaving Obama 66 delegates short but still within striking distance after the three final primaries are held in the next three days. Obama picked up a total of 32 delegates in Michigan, including superdelegates who have already committed, and 36 in Florida. Clinton picked up 38 in Michigan, including superdelegates, and 56.5 in Florida. Obama's total increased to 2,052, and Clinton had 1,877.5, according to The Associated Press calculations.

Clinton's disagreement with the decision about Michigan leaves little chance that Obama will be able to claim victory next week with her blessing. The only questions that remains are(1) will he do it anyway (I think so), (2) how far will Clinton take her fight, and what will the consequence be for her own political future? and (3) will there be blood on the floor at the end of this, and if so, whose will it be?

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Congrats to Tondees

This is very, very cool. Tondee's Tavern has been chosen as the official blog to represent Georgia at the DNCC. The DNCC is plowing new ground here. They are credentialing and granting unprecedented access to blogs. Click here to see more.

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I Hate Math

But I bet Sen. Clinton hates it more right about now. I know there's this narrative out there about Clinton's comeback last Tuesday-you know, how she now has the wind in her sails. I thought so, too. At first. Now, I think, not so much.

Her three victories were impressive, but it turns out not to have helped her much in the all-important delegate count, where Obama still leads by more than 100 delegates. She didn't cut much into Obama's lead (about 20 delegates), and the ground she did make up is looking more like quicksand and could disappear entirely by the time the votes are counted in the Texas caucus and the Mississippi primary. And, remember, there were no surprises on Tuesday-two weeks out she was polling well ahead of her final numbers in all three contests.

Based on the CNN totals, Clinton seems to have netted a total of 20 delegates on Tuesday. Then, in Wyoming, Obama netted 5. That leaves Clinton netting 15 delegates total in the last week, and that's if you don't count the two super delegates who declared for Obama last week, plus the brand new congressman and brand new Illinois super delegate who was elected last week. That drops her net gain to 12.

Add to that the fact that Texas caucuses are still being counted, and Obama is ahead. When that counting is done, he may well have erased her seven delegate lead in Texas, or even passed her. But let's say he only cuts her lead in Texas by three. That reduces her net gain for last week to 9 delegates, and leaves me saying, "So, what's the big deal?"

The Mississippi primary is Tuesday, and Obama is favored. If he wins, he may completely erase any delegate ground she gained last Tuesday. As I watched the Sunday shows today, I heard Clinton surrogates argue: 1) that Florida and Michigan should be allowed to seat their delegations; 2) that big states are more important than other states; 3) that swing states and blue states are more significant than "red" states; 4) that it is the role of super delegates to supersede the will of the voters if in their super-wisdom they think it's the super-right thing to do; 5) "Caucuses are undemocratic." Funny, I don't remember her talking about undemocratic caucuses in Iowa. In fact, this was her campaign's statement when she signed the four state pledge in September of 2007:

Sep 1, 2007 4:02 PM Clinton Campaign Statement

The following is a statement by Clinton Campaign Manager Patti Solis Doyle.
"We believe Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina play a unique and special role in the nominating process. And we believe the DNC’s rules and its calendar provide the necessary structure to respect and honor that role.
Thus, we will be signing the pledge to adhere to the DNC approved nominating calendar."

Changed our mind, have we?

But, it's really not about math, is it? It's about the integrity of the process and the will of the voters. The integrity of the process means following the rules and making sure the will of the voters is reflected in the choice of nominee. There may be a way to give voters in Florida and Michigan a chance to vote again, but as Howard Dean said today, the measure of success will be whether the loser feels the process was fair. That, my friends, is going to be a tough row to hoe.

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Calling All Delegates!!!

There's never been a better year to be a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, and if you live in the 8th congressional district, tomorrow from 10-12, you can get the scoop on just what you have to do to get yourself elected. Given the tight race on the democratic side, the selection of the delegates to the National Convention takes on new meaning. Many people don't think about the fact that this delegate count isn't just numbers, it's people who will go to Denver and vote in August. Given the high interest in the race, and the possibility that nominee will actually be decided at the convention, there will probably be significant competition for these slots. The DPG has information about delegate selection posted on the web and is holding a delegate training for the 8th congressional district in Macon on 2/23. There, people interested in running will get information about the steps they need to take to become a candidate.

Here's the info for the training:

If you are interested in being a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver from August 25-28, 2008, a delegate training session will be held on February 23, 2008, at 10:00 a.m., at the offices of the Boston Law Firm, 300 Mulberry Street, Suite 601, Macon, Georgia, 31201. At that session, potential delegates will learn the ins and outs of running to be a delegate to the Convention. The delegate election caucus will be held on April 19, 2008, at 10:00 a.m.

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Front Page Promotion: LOAF

From the excellent comments this morning on "What Are We For?", Fall Line Dem offers up a proposal for a brand new political party, LOAF. See a portion of the comment below:

Simply in an effort to get elected, it seems that Democrats are running as barely as they can to the left of Republicans. With regard to Marshall's vote, I would have thought the increasing access to reasonable health care for children of working families would be a "Democratic" value. It would also seem to be an issue on which Marshall could lead. However, our Congressman appears more interested in trying not to be objectionable to members of the Republican party than he is of distinguishing why he is a "Democrat" in anything other than in name only. Perhaps there should be a new "party" for Jim Marshall and his ilk: the Least Objectionable Alternative Front (LOAF)".

Update:c And, now for a little levity, Button points out that members of the LOAF party would correctly be referred to as "Loafers."

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What Are We For?

What are we for? That's the question I've been asking in the wake of Jim Marshall's troubling vote on SCHIP. I've made more than a few Democratic ripples by publicly criticizing his vote, but I think that just as it is our role to get Democrats elected-it's our responsibility to hold them accountable once they're in office. Frankly, if Democrats cannot agree on doing more to help provide health care to the children of the working poor, then I'm not sure what we can agree on or what compelling case we can make to the American people for why they should buy what we're selling.

Beyond this particular vote, by this particular Democrat, if we hope to earn the confidence of voters, then we must develop and articulate a vision for where and how we plan to lead in the 21st century. The solutions for a rapidly changing world with a technology-rich global economy and a burgeoning service sector flush with low-wage, no insurance, forget-about-retirement-benefits jobs are not the same solutions our post-depression, post-WWII parents and grandparents needed.

Republicans-with their regressive tax plans and program cuts-see the service sector as a vehicle to help today's landed gentry get richer. I hope that Democrats see these low-wage workers as partners in this new economy-partners for whom government ought to provide a ladder out of poverty that they can choose to climb. But, our voice, on this and other important issues, is weak. So weak that Marshall is apparently hoping for an easier road to re-election in 2008, despite his SCHIP vote.

Our task is not simply about finding media-ready candidates, not just about raising bucket-loads of money, and not about figuring out a new way to "say" what we have always said while defending the Democratic holy trinity of Social Security, Medicare and public schools. It is not about using the right language or correctly framing the message so that the women who makes your coffee tomorrow morning will decide to go to the polls and vote for a Democrat-it's about deciding what we will do to help her lift herself out of poverty once we are elected. It really is about deciding what we are for.

The great leaders of our generation will not simply look back to the past in an effort to preserve the Party, but, instead, they will look around them and to the future and dare to offer a compelling argument for why we should be allowed to govern.

I'm interested in what you think Democrats should be "for." When I move away from programs and think about values, the first words that come to mind are "fairness" and "opportunity." I like Elizabeth Edwards' idea that it is right for government to provide the ladder so that people can climb out of poverty, but not the job of government to climb the ladder for them or carry them up the rungs.

What do you think Democrats are "for"? Think values, not programs.

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That's Right

Here's what Edwards had to say today when he signed the pledge to not campaign in those states trying to break in line in front of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina

"I strongly encourage my fellow candidates to support this four state pledge. The Democratic Party is the party of ideas, not money; Main Street, not Wall Street; and real people, not Washington insiders, and signing this pledge reaffirms that.” John Edwards

Obama signed today, too. Hillary? Oh, Hillary???

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From Mary Long

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What a List of Supporters!

This Saturday, the DPG will elect a representative to the DNC. If you're a State Committee member, you need to be in Macon on Saturday at 1 pm to vote. While we have three wonderful women running for this position, one of the candidates, Mary Long, has an especially impressive track record and the proven ability to stand up for all Georgia Democrats. Mary has a most impressive list of supporters, and you can view a sample of them here. Many sent along their personal comments and videos about Mary. Click on the names below to read or see what these Georgia leaders had to say about Mary:



- Kathy Ashe
- Carolyn Fleming Hugley
- Heidi Davison
- Gail Buckner
- Hattie Dorsey
- Melita Easters
- Lauren Benedict
- Jenna Moore
- Amy Morton
- Daryl Morton
- Rev. Kathy Morris
- Patty Payne

Here's a quote from just one of these supporters:

As an experienced, effective and highly respected communicator, Mary Long will represent Georgia well at the DNC. She will bring energy, experience and great wisdom to her role in strengthening the relationship between the state party and the national headquarters. She will be a strong advocate for rebuilding the southern grassroots of the party and for insuring that the importance of the south is not forgotten as the 2008 campaign season plans are made.
Mary Long is a dedicated Democrat, a compassionate and committed civic leader and a woman who would make Georgia proud as she represents the state on the Democratic National Committee. I urge you to support her.

Melita Easters

Founding Chair, Georgia’s WIN List

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Mary Long YouTubes and Wants to Hear From You!

Mary Long is taking a page from the YouTube debates, and asking Georgia Democrats to send questions or comments about what YOU want in your next DNC representative. Mary wants to hear from YOU! Send Mary an email with your questions or comments (longm22@bellsouth.net), or give her a call. Or, if 'you tube,' then make your own video question, email it to her, and she'll respond. (As far as I know, this is the first time a candidate for Georgia Representative to the DNC has used YouTube to reach out to voters.)



You can learn more about Mary, and see a list of some of her many supporters, on her website.

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Lauren Benedict Stands Up for Mary Long

See what Lauren Benedict, DPG State Committee member and soon-to-be Macon City Councilwoman, has to say about Mary Long's candidacy for DNC representative. This position will be elected at the State Committee meeting in Macon on Aug. 4th.

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Mary Long for DNC

On Saturday, August 4th, the Democratic Party of Georgia will elect one representative to the DNC. Here's a video endorsement for one of the candidates, Mary Long:

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