I've been a Dean supporter, but this kills it for me...

[Bush loves Jiang]

The guy who replaced Joe Trippi (Roy Neel) calls himself the CEO of Dean For America. What the Hell happened to grass roots? CEO?!?!?!?! That's something a GOP campaign would call its leader. :( I'm very disappointed.

[xultar]

1. I didn't like the whole CEO thing either. n/t

[mouse7]

12. They did that to try to allow Trippi to stay with same title

When they told Trippi he was being demoted, they were going to let him keep his title, but his responsibilities would change. Trippi, of course, freaked and walked. That left Neel with the goofy new title with no campaign manager beneath him. As the offer for Trippi to return if he agrees tio work under Neel is still open, they can't hand Neel the campaign manager title now, either.

[Mass_Liberal]

2. wait

do you mean you are leaving the campaign because the campaign manager is an asshole? Are you kidding? It's a camapign managers job to be an asshole ;-) . And to win, of course.



Don't be disheartened.


Don't worry (steel drums), be happy.

[Bush loves Jiang]

3. He can be as big an asshole as he wants...

But the fact that he sounds like corporate director instead of the leader of a grass roots campaign kills it for me. It may not seem like much, but he sets the tone for the campaign.

A lot of people here in Canada compare Howard Dean to Jack Layton: Layton would never do that, and I thought the same of Dean.

[bearfartinthewoods]

15. errr.....the grass roots campaign hasn't won anything

maybe it's time to move beyond, to bring in big guns? it all depends on what you are more interested in, dean success or maintaining the grass roots.

[Ninga]

4. Take a deep breath and reconsider.

Joe Trippi was asked to stay. It was his choice not to.

Fact;
Howard lost Iowa and New Hampshire. No matter the reasons, this happened under Trippi's watch.

Dean's campaign needed to transition from grassroots to prime time.

You know how the saying goes.

"If you can't run with the big dogs, you gotta stay on the porch."

With no primary wins, Dean is still on the porch.

Bravo for him, to try to shake up the organization and find a winning solution.

[northzax]

11. asked to stay?

sure, but he realises that there cannot be two campaign managers. someone has to be the guy (or gal, of course.) It's like firing your CEO and keeping him on as a "president emeritus" it does few people any good.

[Cheswick2.0]

5. Someone managing tens of millions shouldn't be called CEO?

They aren't all evil you know.

PS.. when was it you supported Dean?

[Bush loves Jiang]

6. Revealing when I was more openly pro-Dean...

Would get me banned.

[SixShooter]

7. I supported Dean in the past

but Im afraid he cannot beat George W. Bush....I think the loss of Trippi will just about do it for Dean. Sad, because Dean really had something special going on for awhile. :(

[Ninga]

9. Hello and welcome to Du

Having said that, Howard is Howard no matter who the CEO is. Howard is not going to sit in the White House and call his campaign CEO before his signs a bill or gives the SOTU speech.

So are you following Trippi or Howard?

And what do you think of Trippi's continued support of Howard?

And was it ok that under Trippi Howard lost the first 2 primaries?

[ibegurpard]

25. Being openly for any candidate on this forum has NEVER

been a cause for anyone to be banned.

[lastknowngood]

8. get a clue he was already the CEO of Dean for America

his title has not changed. This was his title all along.

[intheozone]

10. WAIT A MINUTE!

it most likely is just that he has to have the title legally under the state's laws in order to be a responsible person who has the authority to act on behalf of the campaign and sign contracts and other legal documents. Remember, it is grass roots but it still is required by law to have a legal structure in order to conduct business. Think about how much money is going into and out of the campaign. Someone has to be able to act on behalf of the campaign, someone has to sign papers, someone has to sign campaign finance reports. Someone has to be in the responsible position to be held accountable by law should it be necessary. That means someone has to be at the top position and go on record in that position, as the CEO!

So, GET A GRIP, the CEO label is just a function of state law. You should not be reading it the way you are.

[loudsue]

13. Just my opinion, but I thought losing Trippi was a bad thing

for Dean's campaign. If Trippi was skimming too much off the top, Dean should have called him on the carpet, and forced a re-structuring of the money flow. Trippi was brilliant in too many ways, and really did lead the charge for Dean...Trippi, too, was a kind of "hero" for the grassroots.

Dean bringing in a Gore campaign staffer to replace (or marginalize) Trippi diminished his over-all message, in my opinion. After all, Dean DOES have more delegates than Kerry at the moment going into the convention, even though Dean didn't actually "win" either of the two (very small) primaries to date. That was done under Trippi's watch.

I love Dean's message, and Trippi was packaging it in a good way to mobilize and motivate people.

I want ALL our candidates to be heard until the very last day of the nomination at the convention. I think this change of staff will hurt Dean, and I fear he would drop out before the convention due to falling from top-tier runner status.

Just my point of view....I could be WAY wrong, and I really hope I am on this one.

:kick:

[Ninga]

14. I think losing

Iowa and New Hampshire was worse.

[Ninga]

16. All of Trippi's packaging

of the message and mobilizing the grassroots didn't win Howard one primary.

[Nicholas_J]

24. The voters have spoken clearly so far

They simply prefer a Washinton Insider, to a candidate who simply does not exist in reality.

The Dean campaign was never Dean. It was Trippi. There is nothing in the Dean campaign that in any way shape or form resembles Dean the Governor. It was all Trippi. A new campaign manager will not help Dean at all, as the entire campaign, its image, and even the picture of Dean it created was not Dean. It was Trippi's creation. There was not substance behind the creation, so whioever is running Deans campaign will try to have to mold Dean into something else that doesnt really exist. A new batch of smoke and mirrors.

[onecitizen]

17. I'm disappointed too. nt

nt

[stopbush]

18. So, are you voting for Mr CEO or Dr Dean?

Please explain...

[THUNDER HANDS]

19. of all the things to be disappointed in

That seems like a rather trivial reason.

[slinkerwink]

20. oh come on. The grassroots still exist.

I didn't join the campaign because of the campaign manager---I joined because of Dean.

[jsw_81]

21. Not to mention that he's a lobbyist and the ultimate insider

[Tatiana]

22. Doesn't matter what he calls himself.

The guy seems to be professional and have his finger on the pulse of this campaign. He also seems to have a feasible strategy and has been honest, so far, with Dean's supporters on the blog. I have a feeling this "CEO" just might surprise all of us.

He deserves a shot.

[tmwat]

23. CEO? Ouch. What's next, mandatory drug testing? (eom)

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

26. CEO?

Wow.

[lurk_no_more]

27. CEO.....I love it

What's that make dean? Chairman of the board? LOL


And then there were none!
” JAFO”

[David Dunham]

28. My Friend Said "Hari Kari Is Dean's Best Strategy Now"