Edited on Thu Jan-10-08 04:10 PM by Me.
”Some big name Democrats want to oust DNC Chairman Howard Dean, arguing that his stubborn commitment to the 50-state strategy and his stinginess with funds for House races cost the Democrats several pickup opportunities.
The candidate being floated to replace Dean? Harold Ford.
Says James Carville, one of the anti-Deaniacs, "Suppose Harold Ford became chairman of the DNC? How much more money do you think we could raise? Just think of the difference it could make in one day. Now probably Harold Ford wants to stay in Tennessee. I just appointed myself his campaign manager." Cont…
http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/11/10/134326/75“So Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel (Bill Clinton’s former White House adviser), and James Carville think that Howard Dean ought to be replaced. The comments circulating around the blogs regarding the “chuck Dean on his keister” proposal agree pretty consistently that the idea is a stupid one, and if you mean stupid for the Democratic Party, I agree. But if you mean that the proposal is stupid from the point of view of Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel and James Carville, you haven’t thought it through.
What the Clintons, Rahm Emanuel and James Carville are so upset about isn’t that Democrats lost, because overall Democrats won and won big. No, what they’re upset about is that some of their pet candidates, hand-picked by them and fed loads of cash by them — such as Tammy Duckworth — lost. Instead, Democrats candidates to whom the Clinton-Emanuel-Carville insider machine didn’t give much cash were the Democrats who won. The Clintons, Rahm Emanuel and James Carville are upset because so many of the Democrats who won this past Tuesday aren’t beholden to their machine, and so can’t be controlled by them. Replacing Howard Dean with one of their stooges is not just smart for them but imperative if they want to maintain their grip on the Democratic Party.
In short, this is not a struggle about the best interests of the Democratic Party. This is a power struggle between the ever-more powerful Dean machine and the fast-fading Clinton machine.: cont…
http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2006/11/11/machine-democrats-maneuver-to-oust-howard-dean/“Rep. Harold Ford Jr.: "(Laughing) I won't have him down so many times in Tennessee on the campaign trail with me. He has made some comments as of late that really speak to a lack of understanding I think, of the country, a lack of understanding of faith and values. I'm a Democrat and I'm a God fearing one. I grew up in church. Christianity is not reserved for white males. I think perhaps Governor Dean sometimes gets a little excited at the mouth, and says things that are simply not true. It may reach a point where if he can't find a way to kind of control some of his comments, and temper his comments, it may get to the point where the party may need to look elsewhere for leadership, because he does not speak for me, and I know he does not speak for a majority of Democrats and I dare say Republicans in my home state. I know that other, even Senator Biden and others, have made some stronger comments about him. I look forward to having a chance to sit with him here in the next day or so. I think he's going to be here in Capitol Hill a little later today to meet with us. I want to ask him directly. Can he contain himself in a lot of ways, and what is his thought process in a lot of these issues because it is not representative of where the party is."
http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2005/06/harold_ford_mis.html“Only weeks after the Democratic National Committee chose Howard Dean as its chairman last year, the nasty whispers began to circulate around Washington and among longtime party donors and activists in cities from New York to Los Angeles. "He's going to be a disaster," they muttered. "He can't raise any money. He doesn't know what he's doing. And what does he mean by this crazy 50-state strategy?"
Those early days must have been painful for the former Vermont governor -- still smarting back then from his presidential primary defeat and that endlessly looped "scream" video -- and he endured a barrage of snarks and snipes from the Democratic congressional leadership as well. Unfortunately for Dean, he doesn't play the Washington press corps nearly as well as do rivals like Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., who ran the House Democrats' campaign”committee, or Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who performed the same role in the Senate.:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2006/11/10/dean_dems/A good article by Lynn Sweet on the matter
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2006/11/sweet_blog_extra_carville_want.html“The Democratic National Committee has allotted states a total of 796 superdelegates to the party's national convention this summer. Those delegates, mainly members of Congress, other elected officials and DNC members, are free to support any candidate at the convention, regardless of the outcomes of the primaries and caucuses.
Most superdelegates contacted by the AP before the Iowa caucuses were undecided. However, among those who have endorsed a candidate, Clinton leads with 160, compared to 59 for Obama and 32 for former Sen. John Edwards.
Those numbers could change dramatically if Obama continues to win at the ballot box, which could lead to more endorsements by superdelegates.
An AP analysis of the Iowa caucus results showed Obama winning 16 delegates, followed by Clinton with 15 and Edwards with 14. In the overall race for delegates, Clinton leads with 175, followed by Obama with 75 and Edwards with 46.
A total of 2,025 delegates is needed to secure the Democratic nomination.”
http://www.clintontracker.com/hillary_clinton_campaign/index.html“The Clinton campaign also hopes to build another firewall among superdelegates -- the party officials who have automatic status and a vote at the national convention next summer. But some of them are resisting pleas for endorsements. They say Clinton must win this with the voters, not with the party establishment.” Cont…
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/01/07/post_265.html?hpid=topnews“Superdelegates might be the thing to sink the Obama campaign.
The respective primaries and caucuses which choose pledged delegates are all obviously important and are key to the nomination, but we have consider the possibility even with more early Obama wins, under any circumstance, Clinton will fight on even after Super Tuesday if she needs to. And believe me she has the money and ego to do so. So imagine if you will that she yields her organization and national prominence to take huge bites out of the states that Obama should otherwise be sweeping. You can have a situation where the nomination goes all the way to the convention and the Superdelegates will choose the winner. At the moment Clinton has twice the number of Superdelegates Obama has.”
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/6/3290/71429