Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, rumored to be the front-runner for the chairmanship of the DNC, withdrew himself from consideration yesterday, saying he simply couldn’t divide his time between the party position and his role as governor.
Citing his responsibilities as governor, Vilsack said “these challenges and opportunities require more time than I felt I could share. As a result I will not be a candidate for DNC chairman.”
Of course, there may be a little something else that weighed on Vilsack’s mind, namely presidential ambitions.
The Dems have made it clear that no one thinking about running for president in ’08 ought to consider the DNC chair job. Not only does the party not want the new chair acting with an ulterior motive, it’s also impractical to think a candidate can build a national campaign network for himself (or herself) while simultaneously leading the party.
So Vilsack, who next year will be the nation’s longest serving Dem governor, has kept the presidential door open. As his hometown paper, the Des Moines Register, reported today:
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack withdrew his name from contention to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee on Monday, a move that leaves the path clear for a potential run for president in 2008.
“The door is now wide open for Tom Vilsack in 2008,” said senior Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, who ran Al Gore’s presidential campaign in 2000.
I happen to think this is a good thing.
Vilsack, who was almost John Kerry’s running mate, has a very effective pitch. Tom Schaller did a nice job capturing the environment for Vilsack a couple of weeks ago:
He’s the governor of swing state in pivotal region. He has a super spouse who taught for 30 years, and together they have two sons. He was orphaned and later adopted as a small boy outside Pittsburgh. He has crossover appeal…heck, even the National Review once called him “the nicest guy this side of Tom Hanks.”
No more senators, no more northeasterners, no more people who cannot bridge the gap to independents and moderates.
In other words, consider Vilsack yet another Dem governor to keep an eye on in the next couple of years.
As for the DNC job, Howard Dean is still fighting hard for the post, leaving the party in the same position it was in a year ago — divided between pro-Dean and anyone-but-Dean camps. Stay tuned.
Post Script: Jerome Armstrong is hearing rumors that the NDN’s Simon Rosenberg, who’s fantastic and would make an excellent chair, is coming on strong. I consider this great news, because as The Gadflyer’s Bart Acocella explained recently, Rosenberg brings a lot to the table.
I see one individual who is both vested in the Democratic Party and who understands the ways in which it has atrophied. Simon Rosenberg of the New Democrat Network has the strong establishment credentials still required to run the party. But he also recognizes that more than a little fine-tuning is needed. He understands the imperative of building a new message infrastructure to rival the Murdoch/Scaife/Drudge axis of evil on the right.
Simon Rosenberg also gets the importance of the Latino vote. He has been willing to challenge his New Democrat brethren at the DLC, whose jihad against Howard Dean was not only nasty and counterproductive, but also suggested their own flirtation with irrelevance.
While I believe Simon is more operative than wonk, he comes out of the party’s intellectual tradition. Near as I can tell, he can go beyond talking points pablum to speak with intelligence about Democratic Party ideas and ideals.
Sounds good to me.