Wednesday, November 03, 2004
New Faces
With the sad loss of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle last night, and the retirement of Rep. Dick Gephardt, it marks the end of an era (I know Pelosi is House Leader, but Gephardt still has the face of the Dems). We can all have a toast to them, but in the long run, a new face is what the Democratic Party. We should no longer have a Senate leader who is from a conservative state. It's just bad politics. We can't have someone who during an election year, suddenly votes like he/she is a Republican. The next leader MUST be from a Blue State. I agree with Kos, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin should be the next Senate Leader.
In the House, Pelosi needs more time. I think the jury is still out on her leadership, but keeping Dems of all backgrounds in line is a tough job. However, the retirement of Gephardt is a good thing. I've had the chance to meet Gephardt, and he's a great guy, but his dry demeanor and stale face will not attract anyone to the Party. Give Harold Ford (TN) a bigger role. He's smart, popular and an attractive face for the Democratic Party in the South. We need to take advantage of him more. Likewise Rahm Emmanuel of Illinois. He's only served one term, and yet he's a major influence.
Terry McAuliffe was brought in (or should I say installed?) by president Clinton to lead the DNC because of his fundraising prowess. In that standpoint he was amazing-I heard the Democrats raised something like $350 million across the board. Granted, a lot of that was the "internet/Dean" money that poured in, but McAuliffe can take some credit. However, it's time for him to go as well. Since 2000, the Democrats have done nothing but lose. If this were a baseball team, and McAuliffe was manager, he'd be fired. We can't continue to be run by people who lose. A winning mentality produces winning. For the DNC job, people have mentioned Howard Dean, I like it. I'm not the biggest fan of Dean's campaign, but at the moment, I think it's what we need-a blunt talker who is willing to try different things, and appeal to all types of people. We can't continue to write off the South, in hopes of winning the Mid-West. We should give the other side no ground. These kinds of electoral changes don't happen over night, and I don't thin we should nominate a Southerner just to keep them happy, but we need to start working on it. A simplified message is key.
Kerry hasn't officially conceded yet, and the "I voted" stickers are still attached to some t-shirts, but we need to get started looking for our next candidate. Who will it be? Governor Ed Rendell, a blunt talking sports fan, who was "America's Mayor" before Guiliani? Senator Bayh of Indiana, who could appeal to the so-called Mid-West values?
I don't have all the answers, but there's a few suggestions where we can start to get us back on track.
|
In the House, Pelosi needs more time. I think the jury is still out on her leadership, but keeping Dems of all backgrounds in line is a tough job. However, the retirement of Gephardt is a good thing. I've had the chance to meet Gephardt, and he's a great guy, but his dry demeanor and stale face will not attract anyone to the Party. Give Harold Ford (TN) a bigger role. He's smart, popular and an attractive face for the Democratic Party in the South. We need to take advantage of him more. Likewise Rahm Emmanuel of Illinois. He's only served one term, and yet he's a major influence.
Terry McAuliffe was brought in (or should I say installed?) by president Clinton to lead the DNC because of his fundraising prowess. In that standpoint he was amazing-I heard the Democrats raised something like $350 million across the board. Granted, a lot of that was the "internet/Dean" money that poured in, but McAuliffe can take some credit. However, it's time for him to go as well. Since 2000, the Democrats have done nothing but lose. If this were a baseball team, and McAuliffe was manager, he'd be fired. We can't continue to be run by people who lose. A winning mentality produces winning. For the DNC job, people have mentioned Howard Dean, I like it. I'm not the biggest fan of Dean's campaign, but at the moment, I think it's what we need-a blunt talker who is willing to try different things, and appeal to all types of people. We can't continue to write off the South, in hopes of winning the Mid-West. We should give the other side no ground. These kinds of electoral changes don't happen over night, and I don't thin we should nominate a Southerner just to keep them happy, but we need to start working on it. A simplified message is key.
Kerry hasn't officially conceded yet, and the "I voted" stickers are still attached to some t-shirts, but we need to get started looking for our next candidate. Who will it be? Governor Ed Rendell, a blunt talking sports fan, who was "America's Mayor" before Guiliani? Senator Bayh of Indiana, who could appeal to the so-called Mid-West values?
I don't have all the answers, but there's a few suggestions where we can start to get us back on track.
