The Hill: Election result leaves McAuliffe in limbo

[ProgressiveOne]

Excerpt:

Democrats across the country rallied to support Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe yesterday, a day after the party lost governorships in Kentucky and Mississippi and less than four weeks after losing the gubernatorial race in California.

But on a morning of bitter misgivings for Democrats there were also rumblings in Mississippi, California, New York, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, with many party rank- and-file members complaining that the DNC has written off the South, taken black voters for granted and picked a poor 2004 convention site in Boston.

“Terry McAuliffe is out there on his own agenda, which does not involve the South,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the only black member of his state’s congressional delegation.

“It does not involve African Americans to the extent that they need to be. There are some real organizational problems at the Democratic National Committee that need to be corrected if in fact this party is to ever regain a majority status in Washington.”

McAuliffe has got to go, Clinton favorite or no. We're done for a generation if we don't turn around the GOP trends in 2004.

Link:

Election result leaves McAuliffe in limbo

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Agreed.

McAuliffe's time has been and gone. The Dem's can leave him in as chief moneygrubber, but they need a new strategy czar.

[ewagner]

2. Agreed

The situation is critical for us. Terry must go!

[joeybee12]

4. Agreed

I mean, should there even be any debate over this? Dump him!

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

3. Whoever picked Boston should be fired

Sure why not San Francisco or Chicago? I thought we were supposed to "reach out" during the convention, but you're holding it our back yard?

At least the Republicans shameless exploitation of 911 is going to backfire on them in a big way.

[truthspeaker]

5. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out. (no text)

[Yavin4]

35. My Choice Was St. Louis for Our Convention

I think that states like MO and Tenn are still winnable states.

[CMT]

6. Agreed

Also agree about Boston being the convention site. It is a state we will carry anyway and what we should have done is held the convention in Florida as a reminder of the divisive presidential race of 2000.

[CounterCoulter]

11. Uhh...Jeb Bush??

Somehow, I think Jeb Bush would have found a way to make it very difficult for Dems to do this.

[piece sine]

19. Bingo CMT....

Maybe YOU should take Terry's place. Great idea!

[MarkTwain]

38. Right On Target....

.... The convention should have been held smack in the middle of the Jebster's playground to remind the bastard exactly who truly owned it by getting more votes.

Terry's been a disaster. Going back two years now, just how many failures on his report card do we tolerate before he gets thrown out of school, huh?

As ignorant, as primitve, and as inherently cold-hearted as the core of the Republicans base is, the only reason they prevail to the extent which they do is because the Democrats just do not know how to fight, to protect their position, or to establish and maintain the rules of engagement.

We are pitiful. Just plain damn pitiful. And Terry's our poster child for pity.

[0007]

39. Bingo! Florida is the best idea yet!

Is it too late to change?

[montanacowboy]

7. I have been writing letters

to the DNC for over a year about McAuliffe - send his sorry ass packing - I don't care whether Bill Clinton likes him or not - the days of the DLC and their way of thinking must end NOW. Dean is right, right, right - we need the South and we must open a dialogue before we get our rear ends handed to us AGAIN in 2004. Bye Terry - you sorry excuse.

[Liberal Veteran]

24. The simple fact is that this is not Clinton's personal party....

...It's OUR party and to have our leadership pretty much decided by one man regardless of who that man is stupid.

[yellowcanine]

8. Dump Terry and Move the convention to Miami

Take the fight right to the Bush boys at the scene of the 2000 crime. Let them know that the Dems are going to make sure there is a big enough win in Florida this time that it can't be erased by butterfly ballots and hanging chads. Have Valerie Plume address the convention and talk about how the Bush Whitehouse slimed her and her husband and endangered national security in the process. Bring in reservists to talk about the clusterf**k in Iraq and how they weren't properly equipped or trained.

[montanacowboy]

10. Great Idea !

Hello - earth to DNC .... it should be onward to Miami - NEver forget, never forget what they did - wake up you pansies, cowards, handwringers, pink tutus -

[LuminousX]

25. Absolutely

Bring the fight to them.

[ldf]

44. excuse me?

THIS pansy takes offense.

[Lost4words]

9. Agreed.

Terry must go! IMHO

[lovedems]

12. DU has been complaining about McAuliffe since I became a member

it just goes to show DU'ers are ahead of the game! I wish Franken would consider.

[mndemocrat_29]

13. The convention should've been in Miami

And if not Miami (Jeb could've made it difficult), then Milwaukee.

[lancdem]

14. I have to agree, too

and with Loretta Sanchez's analysis of our terrible strategy in the Calif. governor's race.

However, this statement by Gillespie is BS:
"On Wednesday, Republicans were anything but frustrated. The party’s gubernatorial wins in Kentucky — the first in more than 30 years — and Mississippi showed the president’s broad appeal, current RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie said at a press conference."
These races had nothing to do with Bush.

[penny foolish]

21. The problem is that Terry made them about Bush

Especially in Kentucky. McAwliffe said that the gub race in KY was a referrendum on the president. I agree that these wins had nothing to do with the president, but Terry made them related. He screwed up. Now this gives the monkey something to gloat over.

[xchrom]

15. mcaulife must go

but the dlc needs to do some real soul searching as well.
unfortunately there are mcauliffe clones everywhere in dem politics these days. makes self-revelation for the dems difficult.

[Tatiana]

16. Send McAuliffe packing!

He's been an awful "leader," if one can call him that. He is so out of touch with the American population and the core base of the Democratic party. He doesn't care about the average little guy. He just cares about pushing his own agenda and getting paid.

[Flying_Pig]

17. He should have been dumped after the 2002 elections. Obviously,

the DLC big money boys are propping him up, along with Clinton, to the detriment of the entire party. No matter what one thinks of Clinton, he doesn't have much in the way of "coat-tails", and should be removed as the titular head of the party as well. It's way past time for fresh faces, and fresh ideas. Without them, we had better get used to the word "LOSERS" stamped on our foreheads.

[ScotTissue]

18. McAuliffe shoulda been toast in 02!

This guy knows about as much about winning elections as Ronald Reagan does about bladder control.

But it's too late to move the convention, unfortunately. The Democratic Party would look like a panicking bunch of ninnies if we changed venues at this date--and we would be saying a hearty economic fuck you to the city of Boston. Bad idea.

Keep the convention in Boston, but stick a fork in McAuliffe and ALL the DLCers. They're done.

[chaumont58]

20. What are the duties of a chairman of a party?

I've been hearing this disatisfaction with MacAuliffe for years now on the DU, but I wonder what decisions MacAuliffe has made that DUers would change. MacAuliffe didn't cause Mel Carnahan's plane to go down or Wellstone's either. He didn't lose California. Scharzengroper won through ignorance and because of who he ran against. How could MacAuliffe have kept Mississippi from going to the repukes? Did MacAuliffe force the Governor of Kentucky to have an affair with a coworker? The problems Dems face in the South are beyond any quick fix. Governor Dean told the truth about poor whites, in my estimation, and some of his Democratic opponets tried to hand him his head.
In baseball, the manager of a failing team is fired, but unless there is talent on the team, Jesus Christ isn't going to make them a winner.
I'm not necessarily a MacAullife supporter, but I'm not a detractor either. It seems to me that local events determine the results of local elections.

[Logansquare]

31. "Chief Cheerleader" he says

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0911/p25s01-usmb.html

On last week's "Meet the Press," McAuliffe explained his duties at the DNC saying, "My job is the chief cheerleader of the party. We are going to win everything. That's my job. My other job is also to raise an awful lot of money." <snip>

It's the money part that is really key. Ed Gillespie, the RNC chair, is a lobbyist with extensive connections in the corporate world. You can thank him for the unprecedented levels of cash going to the Bush campaign. You'd better believe its quid pro quo. How can McAuliffe or the DNC compete with a party organization that is shamelessly buying itself a government?

Now, I don't think I've ever ranted or railed on this board, so allow me one moment of dispair. What can one say, generously, about the voters of United States of America? I'm not feeling too generous right now. It seems that all you need to do to move this cattle into the right chute is to have enough expensive TV spots on during the big game. Using fear and greed seems to be helpful as well.

I'm not talking about lack of intelligence, I'm talking about a a lack of williness to take responsibility and to see the consequences of your actions. When I think of these new conservatives, I am reminded of the biblical story of Esau, who sells his birthright, his inheritance, to his brother Jacob for a bowl of soup.

[chaumont58]

33. Regarding the American voter,

look at California. Scharzengroper got votes in liberal precincts. He got votes in Hispanic precincts. Scharzengroper supported prop 187.
I tend to be pesimistic, but I believe the truest saying I have ever heard was coined H L Mencken back in the 20s. He said something like: Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American people. I think that saying should replace "under god" on the currency.

[xxqqqzme]

45. XXXqqqqqzz me

but mcauliffe was the one who decided no other democrat could B on the recall ballot - cruz defied him when real CA democrats started screaming about that ham fisted dicta.

[GinaMaria]

22. Any ideas

for a replacement? I've been thinking and can't really come up with a name or two for a wish list. Just don't know as much about the party as I should. I'm thinking Carville.

[PlanetBev]

23. Tell you what...

What I really can't stand about MCAuliffe is that every time we lose, he spins it to make it sound like we really didn't. What we get from this used car salesman is, "who you gonna believe, me or your lyin' eyes?"

This guy has got to go.

[davidinalameda]

27. Bob Graham would make a great DNC chairman

[dolstein]

30. Yeah, considering what a brilliant candidate he was -- NOT

He'd be a lousy spokesperson. He'd be a lousy fundraiser. DU'ers would love him.

[MaineDem]

26. Contact your state DNC members

Each state has at least one male and one female committee member. Ask them why Terry remains as Chair and if there's a replacement in the cards. Tell them how you feel about Terry and ask them to vote him out.

Contact your state party for the names; they're probably listed on the state Democratic party web site.

How about running for your state spot on the DNC?

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

28. mcaulliffe is a joke

and his ties to global crossing alone should have resulted in his firing

how can we criticize bush for corprate corruption when our natl party head is a crook?

and while we're at it, can we get rid of The Great Capitulator himself, Tom Daschle, and get a progressive with a spine in there to take his place. Feingold, Boxer, Byrd, Levin, anyone would be better.

[CityDem]

29. McAuliffe is a sock pupet for the Clintons

If Dean wins the nomination I hope he personally walks Terry to the door and boots his ass out.

[goforit]

32. McAuliff's pretty face just doesn't work against mass murderers.

Granted, he has placed great effort behind it, but
I feel that there is some wisdom in the fact the only
way to fight a bully is to bully them right back.

All McAuliff has done is stand and report that their is a bully
in the neighborhood. Quite frankly a good punch in the nose
would have been more effective.

[Zolok]

34. Terry has tarried too long for the good he has done but

ditching Boston for another site at this late date smacks of panic, opportunism and cowardice.
As a Bostonian I'm excited to get the convention up here, I plan to be there every night...it's been my life's dream for a democratic convention to convene in Boston.
To break faith with us is to deride Boston as a second class city that can be safely overlooked...conservatives hate and deride us and now the liberals are getting in on the act.
I want the convention here cause I wanna get in America's face for a week.

www.chimesatmidnight.blogspot.com

[LiberalFighter]

36. If anyone should replace him it should be...

Joe Andrew the previous chair. But that would depend on whether Joe Kernan decides to run for Governor of Indiana. Right now Joe Andrew is one of 3 candidates. But if Kernan does decide to run then both of the current contenders will drop out and that will leave Andrew open to be the DNC chair again.

[Orrin_73]

37. Terry should have been

fired long time ago.

[KoKo]

40. McAuliff should go! Definitely.

He has "lost his touch." If he ever had one!

[RuB]

41. If McAuliffe is forced out pressure will be

to replace him with an African American, then Republicans will accuse Democrats of pandering for the Black vote which by appearance will by true. Republicans eat their own, will Democrats or will they stand by him until his term is up?

[IndianaGreen]

42. McCauliff will be out if Dean wins the nomination

Terry is the weakest link, but we no longer have a Maynard Jackson to run against him.

Any suggestions? I think we should ask the Big Dog to run the DNC!

[Stephanie]

43. Let's get Rick Kahn

Seriously.

[farmboxer]

46. Get Rid Of Him Before We lose All Our Democrats!

Is he a Republican?