W.H. admits effort to avoid primary

[davidinalameda]

Source: Politico

The White House acknowledged having made overtures to Colorado Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff about a possible administration appointment Thursday, the morning after the former state legislator said White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina offered to consider Romanoff for three posts as an alternative to his Senate campaign.

In a statement released at 6:25 a.m., press secretary Robert Gibbs said Messina reached out to Romanoff to see if it would be possible to steer him away from a primary challenge to appointed Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, and that Romanoff had applied previously for a position at USAID during the presidential transition.

"Andrew Romanoff applied for a position at USAID during the Presidential transition. He filed this application through the Transition on-line process. After the new administration took office, he followed up by phone with White House personnel," Gibbs said. "Jim Messina called and emailed Romanoff last September to see if he was still interested in a position at USAID, or if, as had been reported, he was running for the US Senate. Months earlier, the President had endorsed Senator Michael Bennet for the Colorado seat, and Messina wanted to determine if it was possible to avoid a costly battle between two supporters."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0610/gibbs_messina_called_romanoff_1a16f431-a336-4434-80f7-35479494375e.html

[Lerkfish]

1. why can't the people decide the primary?

oh, yeah.. I forgot.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. I think it comes down to money.

Also, in these days when the population can be manipulated because of poor information from the press, you can't count on the voters to make informed choices.

We have some very fickle districts. All you have to do is allege that someone is gay, and he's out of the race. So it's going to take money to overcome the mudslinging. Every penny counts, and the weaker they make you in the primary, the harder it is to win in the big race.

Also, keep in mind that not all those running in the primary are true Democrats.

Now, on the other hand, the more obvious these deals are, the more likely that an unscrupulous person will run in order to take advantage of whatever gains he can make during the negotiations.

[No Elephants]

31. Meaning donations, which come from either voters or Big Business. Let primary voters choose,

[MissDeeds]

12. Good question

And I don't like any of the obvious answers.

[krispos42]

16. Well,the party looks at it this way...

... if the guy already in is doing a good job and doesn't have any liabilities, they consider that a success and doesn't want the risks associated with replacing a "known good" with an "unknown". They also don't want Democratic in-fighting, or to have spend campaign contributions on both a primary AND a general. And they know that incumbents have a better chance of getting re-elected than a freshman.


In the case of, say, Arlan Specter it was probably promised as a condition of him changing sides that the DNC would try to quash a primary challenge by lining up behind Specter and not giving any funding or support for anybody else.


But an organized political party does better generally than an unorganized political party, and that means coordinating policies, for example. It means finding great candidates and convicing them to run. It means identifying and discouraging weak candidates or unsuitable candidates. It means coordinating the media and the message, so you can a drunken, ignorant AWOL frat boy into Commander Codpiece, Defender of America and Jesus.


So there's a distinct advantage to having an organized primary process. Otherwise you have something that looks like the California recall election, with 130+ candidates running randomly for office.

[tqla]

17. Nice explanation krispos42!

[krispos42]

18. Thanks :-) n/t

[Lerkfish]

25. so, in other words, we can never get fresh apples?

I reference an episode of Taxi, where Reeger and Tony are trying to figure why there is always rotten apples in the vending machine.

the short version is they realize that they can't buy up all the rotten apples to convince the vending company to refill the machine, because that will only convince the company to stock it with more rotten apples, thinking they LIKE rotten apples.

So Tony asks: so how do we get fresh apples?

Reeger says: you don't.


this is what it is like in the democratic party these days, we're told we can only elect DLC candidates, and the DLC keeps weeding out more liberal candidates, and then telling liberals that they should vote for the DLC or they'll get nothing... but the fact is, as long as the DLC continues to block liberal candidates, we get nothing anyways but rotten version of what we want.

so how do we get liberals in office?

we don't.

[No Elephants]

26. Did it ever occur to the drivers to strike until management changed vending machine companies?

Or to buy their apples elsewhere?

When you do nothing about an unsatisfactory status quo, odds are, things will stay the same, or, more likely, get even worse.

[davidwparker]

2. K&R

I wonder if the USAID position was unpaid too, (wink, wink)

[Autumn]

3. "wanted to determine if it was possible

to avoid a costly battle between two supporters." . Now they choose to pinch pennies? :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Hawkeye-X]

10. All of Andrew's campaign funds are 100% PAC/corporation free.

It's a true grassroots power by the people of Colorado.

When Ritter picked Bennet instead of Romanoff, it pissed off the Democratic people of Colorado. We expected Romanoff to run against him and he has done so.

He was my state representative, and he has done a wonderful job. He helped the Democratic Party here in Colorado take back the Legislature in his 2nd term as a Rep, and became the Speaker of the House that year, a position he proudly held for 4 years until he was term-limited.

Hawkeye-X

[Autumn]

15. It pissed me off big time. I really like that

the fact that his campaign funds are 100% PAC/corporation free. I either vote for Romanoff or I leave it blank. I will not hold my nose to vote again. And Ritter can kiss my ass, I am so mad at what he did with our PERA raises.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[NorthCarolina]

6. Simple. Romanoff is a Progressive, Obama doesn't want him in the Senate

Same with Sestak who is more progressive than Specter, and offered a 'position' to drop the race. In Ark. Halter who is more Progressive than Lincoln, and Bill Clinton is sent out to demonize the liberal 'attack' on poor ol' Blanche. Are we beginning to see a pattern develop here?

[Iliyah]

7. And so what

these political games go on all sides of each and every political spectrum. I'm progressive, and am happy to see progressives win, but I understand that right now America is still a democracy which at this point rules the Democratic Party.

Let the tea baggers in and slowly but surely our choices will diminishes and heck, they get enough in political offices, I pretty sure they will oust elections altogether.

[Lerkfish]

8. not sure I understand your logic

don't put in a progressive because if we do we lose our chance to vote on a progressive?

doesn't compute

[kenfrequed]

13. Uhm.. a non sequitor said what?

Seriously, I don't understand how this refers to the point the person you were responding to was trying to make. Elaborate it and connect the dots for me.

[LeftyMom]

23. Try printing that fax out again, the talking points came out garbled. nt

[PassingFair]

20. Beginning?????

These bullshit backroom deals have given
our party over to the corporations for
YEARS.

Our Progressive candidates have endured
threats and extortion since the DLC was created.

Good for Sestak and Romanoff for shining the light
in these instances. Maybe now they will think twice
before bullying populist candidates out of races
they KNOW Democrats can win.

[No Elephants]

27. I wish it were only begining. Then, we could nip it in the bud.

As it is, we've been asleep so long that it will take some real commitment to correct course.

Boiled frog syndrome.

[Hawkeye-X]

9. This, again, reinforces that the WH should stay the fuck out of primaries

Let the people pick.

Establishment people suck. They need fresh people in the Capitol. Not old crusty politicians.

[harun]

11. The WH should at least get the message that we want Progressive governance

not corpo-fascist light (blue-dog) governance.

[treestar]

14. It's up to the person in question

They can say no and do. The WH does not even seem to have much success on this. And it is stupid to try, since anyone else can step in.

[davidinalameda]

19. and we have a winner!

the party leaders should not get involved in primaries

Obama should not endorse anyone!

[saracat]

21. On a state level the Parties cannot endorse in primaries.It should be no

different for the WH. This definitely proves that Obama is no different than any other pol. Even if Rahm was behind these maneuverings, Obama hired him. This is all about WINNING, and about WHO WINS, not about issues or people. Anyone who expected differently was wrong. There has been no "change" brought to the way business is done in DC.

[No Elephants]

28. Not only he WH, but also the DNC and the Party "stars."

Both major Parties have an "perpetual re-election for incumbents" policy. Next to the Bohemian Grove, it's the best ole boys' network.

[w4rma]

22. I find it interesting that Obama always seems to back the most DLC candidate in every primary. (nt)

[Lerkfish]

24. well, don't forget Joementum was Obama's mentor in the senate.

[No Elephants]

29. As a New Democrat with an administration full of DLCers, why wouldn't he?

It would be interesting if he were to choose a classic Democrat.

[No Elephants]

30. LET PRIMARY VOTERS CHOOSE!