Dean campaign fires campaign chairman Steve Grossman

[RetroLounge]

Good. He should have been supporting Dean until Dean says otherwise, or else quit and go work for Kerry.

At top of page in breaking news box...

http://www.cnn.com

"Howard Dean acknowledges campaign chairman Steve Grossman is out after Grossman said he was prepared to 'reach out' to Kerry campaign. Details soon"

[pezcore64]

1. well

he shoulda got rid of him the moment he started getting flack from the press about his campaign thats supposedly over and using it as a sign of that very assumption.

theyve talked about grossman all thru the nite and all thru the morning today, maybe now they will shut up. lol. i doubt it tho.


GO DEAN !!!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. Grossman's reputation preceded him

Due diligence would have precluded him for being on the Dean team. This is not the first time Grossman has done this.

[Tinoire]

20. Are you serious? I didn't like him but it was for other reasons

always felt he was a wolf in sheep's clothing and didn't like the way he played Dean on the Israel issue but what are you talking about?

[mzmolly]

3. GOOD! This is a sign Dean intends to carry on!!!

:)

[funky_bug]

4. Go DEAN!

This guy has balls the size of Nader's ego. I'm so glad he kicked Grossman to the curb. Perhaps now, with him and Trippi gone, Dean can get a real crew in place that will highlight his many admirable qualities.

[pezcore64]

7. well

lets hope so. he definitely deserves some reward for all the work hes done for the party and this election cycle. tho i kinda wonder if any of the other people in the race would actually give him any position under them.

I just dont want to see a party that says "Thanks for getting us pumped Howard, now back to vermont where we will never hear from you again!"

like i say tho, i doubt any of them would actually give Dean a place in their administration. i hope they would, but something tells me they wont.

[Tinoire]

8. Do you think Trippi was that bad? Personally I do not like the man

but he seemed right for this dirty job and I never got the feeling that he was disloyal. I'm wondering if Dean shouldn't bring him back- making sure everyone knows that the pay was renegotiated. That's just an opinion & feeling.

[dansolo]

11. Perhaps Trippi wasn't the problem

With the recent behavior of Steve Grossman, all of his previous actions and motives are now in question. I am afraid that he may have been sabotaging Dean's campaign long before this.

[funky_bug]

19. Perhaps you are right

At least Trippi didn't undermine Dean the way Grossman did. It makes me sick to my stomach! I'd like to draw and quarter him... or make him listen to recordings of Bush's state of the union address...

[dave29]

5. woohoo!!

Thank freakin God.

[Tinoire]

6. GREAT! If you are not working FOR a candidate 100% you need

to get the HELL off his campaign. And that applies to ALL the campaigns. It's disgusting how many Clinton DLC-types with dual loyalty to Kerry are working on other campaigns and eventually 'sabotaging' them.

Good for Dean. I hope all candidates re-scrutinize the loyalties of their "aides" & staff. This dual-loyalty shit has got to go. You can't serve 2 masters.

[stickdog]

34. How true and how relevant. (nt)

[NewYorkerfromMass]

9. Grossman was crimping donations to the "bat"

of course he had to go. Dean's got bills to pay.

[Tinoire]

12. Explain please... Thanks n/t

[NewYorkerfromMass]

22. I don't believe Dean himself still believes he can win.

that's what I mean.

[Tinoire]

31. Then you are misunderestimating Dean supporters

They are determined enough about getting the DLC out of Democratic politics that they would mortgage their homes to get Dean in and he knows it. And so do the DNC and DLC.

When Dean told his supporters "They're not afraid of me" they're afraid of YOU", he was spot on.

The machinery was never afraid of Dean himself. Dean was a DLC golden-boy and fiscal conservative who made the corporations in his state very happy. But Howard Dean had to do it his way and hook up with a bunch of antiwar Leftists, Liberal Jews, and members of the GLBT community (who btw went out and shopped for him over 2 years ago) and that's when the DNC & DLC got scared. They can't control Dean! And the more they piss him off, the more beholden he is to the people who very much have NO desire to please either the DNC or the DLC.

You think that machine is just going to fold up and fade away? That Steve Grossman is going to be able to fork over the list of Dean supporters to Kerry's camp that easily? I PITY Kerry if he gets that list and has the gall to make advances to Dean supporters.

Dean's supporters believe he can do it. And Dean is mimetic of his supporters.

There's plenty of fight in the Dean machine yet.

Bear in mind please, that I am not a Dean supporter by any stretch of the imagination.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

33. and you are overestimating.

Dean supporters have as varied an agenda as any group. They are not a monolithic bloc.

[pezcore64]

36. yeah

we are a varied group...

we actually care about issues, not electablity.

[Tinoire]

43. I'll let Dean's supporters make it clear to you themselves

Get your tea-cups out :)

[NewYorkerfromMass]

46. O.K. I extend mine...

:toast:

[Tinoire]

47. Lol

:toast: to what promise to be interesting Primaries. I just hope they don't break our hearts

[dave29]

13. maybe he should've just taken a loan out

against his house. You can have Grossman, I'm sure he'll feel more at home in the Kerry camp anyway.

:wtf:

[AmericanErrorist]

10. It's over....

It's all over....

[Tinoire]

14. To say that is to misundestimate the determination of the Dean machine

I have faith in it. Great faith because it's powered by the people. And if Dean is smart he will start talking with Kucinich ASAP and bring the grass-roots together. Progressive Clark supporters who believe in a grass-roots effort and the ideals of the movement would be on board in a heart-beat.

This isn't over by a long-shot.

[bicentennial_baby]

15. Well said

I agree with you 100% on that! :hi:

[Tinoire]

18. Hey! Lol... And we're not even Dean supporters

What are you making of these people crawling out of the wood-work of 2 campaigns like that? I know it reminds you of someone else ;) I'm getting so sickened.

Lord knows I want Kucinich to win and think he's the best candidate out there but to see the establishment just roll over the will of the people like this is dis-heartening.

:hi:

[pezcore64]

21. and of course

I agree with you both completely.

Time to join forces!

I know IM definitely voting Kucinich if Dean isnt on the ticket by the time it gets to my primary. Personally im tired of these pro-iraqi war supportin', no child left behindin' , patriot act signin' career DC politicians!



GO DEAN!!!

[Tinoire]

26. Definitely time to join forces. This needs to come from the top also

All the way!!!!!!!!!

http://oldamericancentury.org/bushco.htm

[stickdog]

38. Yes, we will need to unify the grassroots to get anywhere.

We will keep fighting until we get our party back, no matter how long it takes.

[foo_bar]

42. his supporters embetter his campaign

"I've coined new words, like, misunderstanding and Hispanically."
- GWBush

[Tinoire]

16. OMG. Woman on CSPAN right now saying that if Grossman thinks

for one minute that he is going to deliver any Dean supporters to Kerry he is high. And she is going on about Kerry's baggage that the media is not reporting.

Kerry bought and paid for by the media with NO support from the people.

Brother ABC, NBC for clients and huge Telecom companies.

OMG she is on a ROLL about Kerry being bought and paid for and how Dean supporters are NOT going to accept that.

WOW. Was that a DUer?

[hedda_foil]

29. That woman on CSPAN was a blogger.

I don't think she posts on DU, but her blog name is byebyebush. She's an older woman from Idaho, I believe.

[Tinoire]

32. She was terrific! Made me want to pick up the phone and

go on with part 2 of her tirade. Good to see you here today... Now I'm off to read your posts :)

[Kitty Kat]

37. I am very impressed with that woman

She speaks for all of Dean supporters... Grossman is effin' nuts if he thinks he'll deliver the Dean supporters to Kerry. I'm a Kucinich/Dean supporter, and I know that Grossman is a corporatist that has no business in dealing with grassroot campaign, and what's more, I think he's been sabotaging the whole thing from the start.

Kitty Kat.

[Tinoire]

41. Question from a Kucinich supporter who never liked Grossman

and was practically crucified for it at one point: Did you think that from the start? And if so why? And are your thoughts that he's been sabotaging the whole think from the start based on more than a feeling?

Welcome to DU Kitty Kat! :toast:

[mdmc]

45. was Grossman ever with Kucinich?

Thought he was all Dean.

[Tinoire]

48. No. He's always been with Dean

I've jsut never liked his AIPAC associations and some of the other stuff he pulled.

[Kitty Kat]

49. Thanks for the welcome

My observation is based on Dean being the frontrunner and then the strategy changed - started to get bad advice, ESPECIALLY attacking the media (I don't think the media ever liked to be attacked -- for some reason it damages their ego), so Dean didn't back off, but rather continued the attack on poor advice, so I suspected sabotage somewhere inside the campaign which I figured it would be Grossman because he's been the top aide for Dean for a long time, but quietly stabbing Dean in the back as well. Hopefully from then on, will make the right choices and make himself back to the top and it isn't too late (he's 400 behind, but Super Tuesday is fast approaching and if he does well in Wisconsin, the momentum is his, not Kerry's)

Kitty Kat

[Tinoire]

51. I agree. One of the most obvious moments for me was

the moment of "the Scream". I was never enamoured of Dean (it's no secret here) but I was appalled that his campaign manager, knowing how crushed and angry he was, let him get out there before calming down. When I first saw that scream I turned to my Dean friend and said "his campaign manager & chairman both need to be fired". She totally agreed. I could never understand them letting him get out there in that excited state. They were paid to watch out for him and his image and they did not do a good job at all on that. Trippi, I think, has value because he would pull any legally acceptable dirty trick to help Dean win and in this Primary, that's what it's going to take- a Pit-Bull to go after the Doberman.

Pit-bull is the expression my friend (who was part of the GLBT team that went and shopped around for Dean 2 years ago) used. This was in defense/explanation of the dirty tricks I thought Trippi pulled on Kucinich. I very much want my candidate to win honorably but I understand, appreciate the wisdom in her calculations.

Good luck to you guys. Glad you're on board... Now you can start pumping up Dean here ;) I feel like I've been doing more your job than mine lately lol.

Peace

[mdmc]

44. Welcome to DU, Kitty

We want Trippi... or Pitt! Nothin against Kerry prior to 9-11-01, then everything Kerry did sucked.
I'll still support him.

[ModerateMiddle]

17. there is an article now

Dean spoke to reporters before a campaign event about Steve Grossman's departure, on the eve of the Wisconsin primary. Dean offered no details, saying only that he bears Grossman "no ill will."

"I absolutely do not feel betrayed by Steve Grossman," Dean said. "He's a friend. He's worked very hard, even at the times when this campaign wasn't on the map."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/02/16/elec04.prez.main/index.html

[Tinoire]

24. Smart, gracious good-bye but fired nonetheless

Dean is so absolutely mimetic of his supporters that I can't imagine him not feeling betrayed.

[Sensitivity]

23. Dean is quoted on CNN & Fox saying the OPPOSITE. Steve not FIRED

Dean seems very loyal to his former campaign chairman and gave him
credit for much of his success. Dean seems to be gracious than his supporters.

[revcarol]

25. And was Clark's campaign sold out too?

Sounds like we either have "dirty tricks Kerry" or people at or near the top of other campaigns who don't believe in their candidate and just want a nice cushy job with " the electable one."

[wtf]

27. good riddance

with friends like these...

[Tinoire]

28. RevCarol. Are you sitting down? Do you remember Mike Ruppert's

article "Beyond Bush II"? You should re-read it in its entirety and focus on the mentions of Kerry and the specific references to Daniel Sheehan (and this was written in July 2003).

It's in the part

Kerry is the Sleeper - What is Dan Sheehan Doing to Dennis Kucinich?

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/102003_beyond_bush_2.html

[Tinoire]

35. In answer to your question. I think so.

You know I didn't like Clark because of the baggage he had but what they did, how they did it, was extremely tacky & unforgivable.

It is not politics as usual for aides to announce a candidate is dropping out. Clark went gracefully after refusing to say a word for a full day (even though reporters were asking him to); Dean will not be so graceful.

First they had Dean's "aides" announcing it to the media and then his "chairman". This is all so disgusting. Did you read the story about how Clinton torpedoed Dean out of Carter's endorsement?

===

FRIENDLY PERSUASION
Former Vermont Gov. Howie Dean traveled to Georgia on Sunday thinking he was getting an endorsement from Jimmy Carter. Instead, Dean got a lesson in humility from a man not known for possessing much of it. Late last week Dean's staff had been spinning the press in Iowa that a trip to Georgia one day before the caucuses was worth it, especially if it meant getting support from a former Democratic president.

Dean arrived to a warm welcome, some kind words from Carter, and news that the former president had told reporters that he had never extended an invitation to Dean and that the northerner had simply invited himself.

"Governor Dean shows up and everything we thought was planned was now off," says a Dean adviser in New Hampshire. "No endorsement, nothing. It was like we got shivved in the back."

It got worse. Carter also told reporters that he had extended an invitation to Dean's competitor Wesley Clark to come down to spend time with him. It is unclear when Dean's planned coronation by the peanut farmer got crushed, but a Clark staffer in Washington claimed that on Thursday, when word was leaking out about the Dean visit, both Clark and "a very senior friend to the general" made calls to Carter.

Who was the "friend"?

"Let's just say he held the same job as Carter did, but was more successful," says the Clark staffer. "The calls were made to the former president to encourage him not to jump the gun on any endorsements at such a critical time in the campaign. Apparently, President Carter agreed with that assessment."

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=6040

====

On edit: Hmmm, this is interesting about Clark:

CLARK DID WHAT?!
Senior staff to Wesley Clark rose in objection on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning on news from their former candidate that he intended to endorse Sen. John Kerry for the Democratic nomination. Clark told his senior staff that he had talked to Kerry and that he intended to back his former competitor. Clark never spoke to other Democratic hopefuls Sen. John Edwards and former Vermont Gov. Howie Dean.

Perhaps the most stung by Clark's decision was his senior adviser Chris Lehane, who prior to joining Clark's staff had briefly advised Kerry's campaign.

<snip>

Clark's staff was made up of a number former Bill Clinton adviser and campaign employees, many of whom were led to believe that Clark would stay in the race through Super Tuesday. "It was obvious he wasn't going to win the nomination, but we were given every indication that he was going to stay in this. The timing is just surprising, that's all," says a now former Clark staffer.

Lehane was vocal in his opposition to Clark's endorsement of Kerry, says the former Clark staffer. And some believed that the rumors about alleged Kerry extracurricular activity that hit the Internet on Thursday came from angry Clark staffers seeking to scuttle the endorsement.

In reality, though, stories about Kerry's behavior behind closed doors appear to be coming off of Capitol Hill, where Kerry is probably known best.

<snip>

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=6154

[revcarol]

40. Shades of McInnis' "Agent in Place!!"

Not activated until there is something vital or until the time is right!!

Guess Kerry learned some things from BCCI after all.

[NashVegas]

50. Ooh MacInnes!

My mom used to have all her stuff, I read a bunch as a teen. Loved it.

[stickdog]

39. That's my take on it. (nt)

[spooky3]

30. I think it's appalling that Grossman made the statements he did

while working for Dean.

I don't know much about this situation but I'm glad he is gone.

[nonconformist]

52. Kick for the evening crowd

WTG Dean! Reminding me once again why you make me proud to be a supporter.

:kick: