Dean and DNC fundraising

January 30, 2006

I’ve long believed that hand-wringing over Howard Dean’s DNC fundraising is unnecessary. The DNC collected over $51 million last year, which was about half of what the RNC took in over the same period, but was far better than the DNC’s fundraising in the last off-year cycle (2003). Indeed, under Dean, the gap had actually narrowed against RNC totals.

With this in mind, the kvetching about Dean’s fundraising prowess, which helped get him the job in the first place, seemed at least somewhat misplaced. According to subscription-only Roll Call, however, concerns among party leaders have less to do with what Dean has received and more to do with what he’s spent.

Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill are privately bristling over Howard Dean’s management of the Democratic National Committee and have made those sentiments clear after new fundraising numbers showed he has spent nearly all the committee’s cash and has little left to support their efforts to gain seats this cycle.

Several well-informed Democratic sources said Congressional leaders were furious last week when they learned the DNC has just $5.5 million in the bank, compared to the Republican National Committee’s $34 million.

Sources also indicated that Senate and House Minority Leaders Harry Reid (Nev.) and Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), along with the Senate and House campaign committee chairmen Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), have made their concerns — directly or indirectly — known to Dean.

As the piece explains, Dean spent freely in 2005, developing infrastructure and nurturing state and local parties as part of his broader, long-term vision.

This represents something of a sea-change in how the party operates. For years, the party has bolstered the DNC coffers towards helping boost congressional candidates. This year, the DNC offers a key year, with the opportunity to take back Congress on everyone’s mind, but start off without much in the bank — about a seventh of what the RNC has on hand.

Dean’s response is, essentially, “Trust me; I know what I’m doing.”

Dean said then that the DNC isn’t just a presidential committee, but a support structure for the party as a whole, from local races to House and Senate contests. And, Dean said the DNC “has to be everywhere” while the DCCC and the DSCC cannot “because then they wouldn’t have enough resources to do what they have to do.”

“Our job descriptions are a little different,” Dean said. “Their job is to pick up as many seats as they can. … Our job description is to have a long-range plan for the party, a long-range plan that works for the party for the next 15 or 20 years, and my job is to make sure that we have active Democrats in all 50 states.” […]

Dean said to win back the majority, Democrats must re-energize its core by creating a stronger party structure in every state. He stressed they also must articulate a message based on values and honesty, and stand up and fight for “what they believe in and who we are.”

“I understand that makes people uncomfortable, but we have to win elections,” Dean said.

Is Dean right? Roll Call found a whole lot of party leaders who don’t think so. “A lot of people are scratching their heads as to what’s going on,” said one senior Dem congressional aide. Another Dem source familiar with the party fundraising apparatus said there is “obvious displeasure” among party leaders on the Hill.

In about 10 months, Dean is either going to look like a genius or look like a fool. Stay tuned.

I can tell you that the chair in my county is thrilled to be receiving at long, long last– talking points!

You know, even if Dems don’t have big, gaudy victories in 10 months, I would say to look at the down-ticket races over the next few election cycles– that’s where Dean’s genius will start manifesting itself.

  • The ones, who look like fools, and have looked like fools for a long time, are sitting on the Hill.

    A nearly crazy branch of conservatives has moved this country toward bankruptcy, toward a breakdown in health care, toward torture, toward military defeat abroad, toward rampant political corruption, and still the guys on the Hill cannot win a majority in national elections — hell, most of them cannot even get on Meet the Press.

    I am not sold on Dean. I am sick and tired of hearing meta-political crap about how the Democrats have to “articulate a message”. Articulate the goddamn message and be done about it, already. The country is being destroyed; Democrats have to rescue it; isn’t that a message?

    Geez, people, we have the worst President and the most corrupt Congress in, at least, 70 years, and the Democrats are worried about their ability to “gain seats.”

    Worry about the country, not the Party bank account, or get a job you can do.

  • Heaven forbid the Democrats should take the long-term, incremental approach that has been so successful for the progress of Rethuglicans in this country. That might lead to success.

  • As usual, the pinstriped losers “inside the Beltway” couldn’t find the zipper on their fly with both hands on a clear day with a 3-hour advance notice. These losers have had their heads up their collective ass for so long they think what they’re breathing is perfume.

    I think it’s time to say “Hello, we’re from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party and YOU’RE FIRED!!” There isn’t one of these fools who’s won a single anything in longer than anyone can remember.

    Maybe we ought to find a way to hire Howard Dean to build a REAL Democratic Party.

  • For too long the Dems have relied on expensive ‘consultants’ whose main idea is to throw most of their cash into huge ad buys thinking that ads win elections. Certainly ads are important, but it’s the people on the ground who get out and stuff the envelopes, knock on the doors, organize the rallies, drive people to the polls, answer the phones and all the minutiae of an election campaign that translates into actual votes. I’ve worked it from the inside myself back in my college days so I can claim some slight personal knowlege of the process.

    I’ve felt for some time that the consultants have gotten lazy. Just commission some ads and collect the fees, easy work and nobody seems to care.

    Now the consultants see Dean coming along with a dynamic new broom that may threaten their gravy train so they feed the fear of change of the party heavyweights and generate criticism of Dean’s restoration of good old-fashioned ‘boots on the ground’ political organizing. Sure it costs money, but that’s what it takes to win elections!

    I’d rather do it Dean’s way than just continue the failed strategies of elections past. And I predict he’ll be a lot more effective than the party is giving him credit for when all is said and done.

  • Oh the staggering irony, hypocrisy, and just general lunacy.

    Dean campaigned for the job on exactly this promise: to invest in state and local infrastructure and party-building, to spend on races as low as dog catcher if need be to fill the pipeline, and to try and build a 50-state grass-roots organization.

    God forbid a politician would do exactly what they promised. This truly must seem unnatural to beltway types.

    Maybe they should stop waiting for Daddy DNC to raise money and win races for them. Being the “leaders” of the party, perhaps they should cover that part of the job themselves?

  • Established “beltway” Democrats complaining about Howard Dean (offensive speech, too-rapid build-up of party structure in all 50 states, spending money too rapidly) remind me of people who “fidgeted” about the number of lifeboats on the Titanic or the arrangement of the deck chairs.

    It’s time for the Democrats to re-study (or maybe just study) Thomas Jefferson. Abandon the bloated, gravy-sucking establishment, especially the bloviators in Senate. Drive them out with younger, more forceful, more concerned/compassionate Democrats.

    As with the Alito filibuster, win or lose, it’s time some of us had the feeling that PRINCIPLE matters. Our last experience along those lines was 1968, a stomping by Richard Nixon. I’m still glad LBJ drove all those racist bigots from our party. It’s not like that now. We can be principled AND win elections (just look at all issues where the American public wants to lead our party on the issues). Our Senatorial bloated old Satyrs aren’t up to that task.

  • howard dean is to the dnc as billy beane is to the oakland a’s.

    of course, beane hasn’t won a playoff series yet…

  • Dean is doing it absolutley the right way. The goal is to build a structure that will advance progressive values over the long-haul!

  • Every time I read this story (it comes out about every 2-3 months) I donate to the DNC. Did so again just now.

  • If the Dems don’t make a serious go of rebuilding the local infrastructures, they may as well fold up the tent. Too many districts are written off as lost causes, and that’s our loss.

    There is opportunity there. Perhaps not for winning seats, but rather to develop new memes and strategy. No Repub should go unchallenged anywhere. Use the lost cause districts to develop inexperienced people of all stripes – Pols, fundraisers, organizers, what have you. Take some chances here. Use them as a laboratory/test market. But by any means, have a Dem presence – everywhere. Along the way, we’re bound to pull off an occasional upset, which is literally, more power to us.

    Does this cost money? Obviously. In the long run, it’s either that, or continue the slow spiral of decay the Dems have been following for way too long. In the short term, will this help in ’06? Who knows. If Dean manages to generate real excitement at the local level, It can’t hurt us at any level. I’d also expect to see increased contributions that would help offset the investment.
    I’m having a hard time seeing a serious downside to this.

  • What Dean is doing is fine by me. How much money did Kerry have left in the bank unspent after the election. How much money was wasted with ad buys in the campaign. Dean is actually investing in infrastructure ahead of time.

    They are bitching because they don’t like how their slush fund is shaping up. Fuck ’em. Dean’s money is coming from people like me, and I am perfectly happy with the way he sees fit to spend it. Those fucking jokers in DC have done nothing but piss away money and votes cycle after cycle. They, frankly, have much less credibility than Dean on the topic.

  • “Several well-informed Democratic sources said Congressional leaders were furious last week…”

    And then,

    “Sources also indicated that Senate and House Minority Leaders … have made their concerns — directly or indirectly — known to Dean.”

    I call BULL$H!T.

    Check this out. What the heck is the DNC supposed to do, park it in CD’s so every one can get a free toaster? No, they’re out SPENDING it because… hmm.. let’s see… oh yeah! Its AN ELECTION YEAR.

    Stone the crows. And a handful of stones for those “well-informed sources.”

    ft, you & me both. Sorry, kids, it’s spaghetti again – Daddy has to help Mr Dean save our sorry backsides before the Stazi kick the door in.

    -GFO

  • The great Howard Dean and the Democratic party are doing the best they can. Will their best be good enough? There is lots of opportunity for democratic candidates, given all the issues provided mostly by the Republicans, the war, the defecit, health care, social security, lobbyists,spying, and on it goes…Its not about the money or any one message, its about local elections, winning in those congressional districts, it will take some money, it will also take some candidates with courage who are willing to stand up, speak out, reach out and inspire people to get involved and vote! Its about leading by example locality by locality. Dean is not the end all be all. There is no magic pill, that includes money. Leaders lead. Lets go to work.

  • Has there ever been a more inept, spineless, craven collection of worthless bags of shit than the Beltway Democrats? Here are these clowns bending over day after day for the Bush crime family and they have the nerve to complain about Dean giving money to build local party infrastructure. How do they think the Christians got where they are? They ran for school board, for Pete’s sake. Any of these grandiose loads of crap ever think about that? Christ, I hate these people almost as much as I hate the Rethugs.

  • Farinata X, of course there has been a more inept, spineless, craven collection of worthless bags of shit than the Beltway Democrats.

    For instance, the Beltway Republicans.

  • Dems are dead meat if state houses turn over to Repugs in perpetuity. They’ll gerrymander Dems into permanent minorities. It is already happening in some states. While I’m concerned about having enough money in the national coffer, I think Dean is on the right track.

  • Oh, another thought — I wonder how much of this unrest is being fomented by consultants who are worried there won’t be enough money to pay them big fees come the fall?

  • Whatever happens in this election cycle, it’ll be interesting to see the Dem establishment lift their heads from the trough and try to claim that Dean’s record of accomplishments is actually any worse than theirs.

    They’re just like Mel Brooks’ Producers. Which, come to think of it, may explain all that unspent money in Kerry’s account….

    -F.

  • Of course the DC insiders are mad. The consultants make money regardless of whether or not they win election. ( Amy Sullivan gets into it here).

    Personally, I figure after 10 years without Congress, and 8 years without the Presidency, and a bunch of states where the party is nearly defunct, it’a about damned time we start building from the bottom up. I’m sending another check…

  • I love to watch you guys talk yourselves into as suicide pact. Keep going and Bush’s dog Barney will be the next POTUS!

  • Speaking for Republicans and conservatives everywhere, I cannot wait until the Democrats get crushed this November, yet again. Even if Dean has set up a grass-roots Dem organization, all he’s done is get even with local Republican organizations. The bottom line is there is still almost a 7-to-1 ratio of RNC to DNC dollars, and that is going to kill you guys yet again. That, and the fact that the Republicans will be sure to highlight that the average American, if he/she is in his/her right mind, would NEVER trust the Dems with national security.

    Sorry to inform you guys, but you’ll all be weeping again this November!!!!!

  • Dean is such a caustic twit. Every time he opens his mouth out spews boiling hot venum. It sure must make the hard-core libs excited but I find his antics to be a complete stomach-turning barf-a-thon.

  • I think post #9 reveals more of the Democrats’ problem than Dean’s spending cycle- the mentality that Dems need to “advance progressive values” is what will keep them from regaining control. A lot of us are former Democrats who were turned away by what the “progressive” (liberal) wing has wrought, i.e. increased secularism, abortion, intrusive government, an activist judiciary… concepts which are no longer open for debate in the “progressive” Democratic party. Keep embracing these mantra exclusively and you’ll only further alienate the middle and right of the country.

  • It is amazing to me how anyone could possibly be a democrat these days.

    It’s the party of 96% tax brackets and the Great Depression …

    It’s the party of getting 200,000 Soldiers killed in WWII when it should have taken less than 20,000 dead had Fascist De Roosevelt acted when he should have ….

    It’s the party of Get rid of Our Nuclear Weapons because we’re the ones who would use them (hence Truman) ..

    It’s the party of Butcher all our Babies so Red Staters get more electoral votes ….

    Geesh … Natural Selection is occuring right before our very eyes …

    Dems are losing their base …

    Hurry Hillary … Must permit the felons to vote … Without those violent fellons … democrats don’t have any hope to win …

    I think we need to use the same tactics democrats use against republicans …. Prosecute them for their political beliefs ….

    Most of you guys are pathetic and unfit to call yourselves Democrats .. You should call yourselves neo-socialists.

  • The Dumbocratic Party needs more Howard Deans! That would ensure more victories for the GOP! Dean needs to get back on his medication before he spends the last $ 5 million of his party’s measly warchest before campaigning has even begun. The Dems are going to get crushed by the the Republicans yet again this year. With far-left nuts like Dean and Pelosi as their leaders, they Dems don’t have a chance in taking charge of our country. YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Post #2 and post #27, a loon on the left
    and a loon on the right, “fair and balanced.”
    I grew up in the Democratic Party and like
    Reagan I didn’t leave the party it left me.
    The hyperbolic rhetoric over the Alito nomination,
    the never ending defeatist crap over Iraq, and the
    never ending desire to spend my money on
    programs that do not work are three of many
    items that are killing the Democratic Party
    for millions of moderate American voters. If you
    won’t reach for the middle you may as well not
    exist.

  • My father was a Democrat. He was truly shaken the only time he voted for a Republican (Eisenhower) and never got over it. I, too, had been a Democrat all my life ( 69 Yrs), but two weeks ago I changed my party affiliation to Republican.
    The Democratic Party, under the current leadership, offers nothing of value, no alternative view. Other than hatred of Bush, what is their view? I am not interested in name-calling and epithets, but actual proposals. I don’t hear any. By the way, I am a Korean War Era veteran (11th Airborne Div.) Cut out the anit-military crap that goes back to the Clinton era.

  • I see it as typical democrat managment. Take peoples money, waste it, and then tell everyone to “trust me”.

    I wouldn’t trust Howie Dean to fix my wheelbarrow. He is a lunatic!

    Democrats and their “culture of madness” is destined to failure.

  • As long as the dems have Howard Dean, Barbra Streisand, Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, Al Sharpton, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, John Conyers, Dick Durbin, etc. as the face of the party, they are going to lose. Dean is probably correct about building the party from the roots up, but they’ve got to appeal to some of us redstaters as well. We’ve heard the message and we don’t like it.

    You want to win, you have to do more than what’s good for the party, you’ve got to do what’s right for America. Fundamentalist Islam is a horrendous threat, not just a nuisance. There’s a crazy SOB in Iran right now threatening to unleash a nuke war starting with Israel, and to disrupt the world economy with his hand on the oil valve. All we hear from the dems is that Bush is listening to my phone calls to Aunt Sally or he is too tough in asking questions of captured terrorists. Until dems step up to the plate on those issues, they’ll never get my vote. Regards

  • Keep thinking Dean is the savior of the progressiev revolution. I’ll give you a glimpse of the progressive’s self-destroying problem.

    Progressive democrats abort future voters, Republicans breed them…47 million abortions since 73’…its a Darwin thing. Who is more likely to abort…progressive or conservative?

    Keep abortion your number one issue dems…it’s working…for conservatives. When you kill off your future prodigy, you kill off your future ideology. I’m no bible thumper. I believe abortions should be safe, legal, and rare. My wife and I raised three hard core conservative, non-bible thumping daughters. All three vote republican, their children will most likely vote republican…how does that stack up to your typical progressive lifestyle? Progressives, look around at your friends, open your eyes, and you will see your future.

    The turning point was 94′ when conservatives won the house have continued to gain power every election cycle since. Do the evolutionary math.

  • If you all really want to become a party again, read Zell Miller’s book. That is THE best single advice you can get. Stop placing all your hopes and dreams on so many false premises about Bush and conservatives. Not one of the ridiculous conspiracy theories about the eeeeevil W has stuck, yet you keep on thinking another one will be your party’s salvation, yet offer NO solutions to your political issues other than Bush is evil and we’re not. The latest Abramoff deal is going to backfire like everything else because your leaders make a silly distinction between direct and indirect contributions, and you all buy it because your party’s communications system, the main stream media, buys it and sells it to you. What if I’m wrong? Your leaders will then run on “Republicans are corrupt and we’re not.” Your party’s target is NOTHING and you hit it everytime.

  • Thank God for free speech.Let Deaniac and the lefties keep it up.They’re the best friends the Pres has. Dems,where is Harry Truman when you need him?

  • Nothing to add, but this has been one of the most enlightening threads I have ever seen. It is amazing how many of you have so quickly seen through the empty assumptions that are behind the Establishment’s complaints about Dean’s management. They want scads of money spent to re-elect THEM (and by-the-way, maybe twenty others). And if it fails by a couple of votes, then you will still have to go back and build a farm team structure anyway.

    I wish that whenever the party consultants appear on major talk shows in an election year, they would always have to announce that, by the way, we are becoming millionaires from commissions for placing ads — the easiest rip-off “job” that America has ever invented.

  • Question, how much money do the DemocRATs have to spend to make Georgia (or any of a number of others) a blue state.

    Answer, That much money does not exist.

    That in a nutshell is the problem for which their is no solution with their current message (hate Bush, hate Bush, hate Bush, etc).

  • Glad to see the Democrats have finally awakened, with a fine new message, relevant, persuasive, and full of inspiration, honor, and hope for America and its allies. That message is ‘ We HATE George Bush.’

    Great. Pssst, y’all- If you promise not to tell, I’ll let you in on a little insider’s secret: President Bush isn’t planning to run for a third term.

    Meanwhile, Dr. Howard ‘Yeeeaarrrgh’ Dean continues with his endearing and enduring words for all of America: ‘I hate all Republicans and everything they stand for.’ If THAT doesn’t switch all of Red-state America to the Democrats’ column, I don’t know what will. Maybe more obstructive and incoherent antics by the senators from Massachusetts? How about a bit more overseas America-bashing by celebrities whose hair-bleach has soaked into their last brain cells? Oh, I know, I know- send the lovable, and honorable, if stolen FBI files don’t count, junior senator from New York to Hollywood for another ‘listening’ tour. That’ll fatten somebody’s wallet… maybe not the DNC’s, but who knows? Maybe this time will be different.

    Meanwhile, I’m happy to see the DNC under Dean’s demented leadership, is right on target– for another nationwide whuppin’, and how much money is or is not in Democrat coffers has mighty little to do with that.

  • This is almost too funny. After the Screaming (Dr)Dean showed the World what a totally unelectable dufuss he is, the DNC decides that he’s the only one to handle the cash. I should think that having good judgement, in your bag of tricks, would be one of the minimal requirements for the job. Not so with Screamin’ Dean, or the DNC.
    So he “blew it”! So what? Does it really matter? What did you expect? This is just one more example of what rotten stewards of the publics money the Democrats are. But it’s not their fault, they were born that way. I would suggest that you might make a better choice by going to http://www.socialistsofamerica.com, and choosing a replacement from any one of the Democrats listed on their roll of members.
    Fortunately the Dems have been out of power for some time, and the “adults” are in charge. This country is headed in the right direction, and PRESIDENT BUSH is exactly the right man for the job.

  • I agree with # 26. I was driven out of, or outright fled, the Democratic party.

    What we are seeing today is almost an identical repeat of the late 60s when the McGovernites were in control of the party. It’s the same old retread of anti-war and anti-US gov’t forces, alignment with the nation’s foreign enemies, the hoping for a US defeat in a foreign war, etc etc etc.

    The path from the extremist left wing of the party–the Soros/MoveOn wing–leading to socialism and communism is smooth and well paved.

    Until the party redeems itself, and power comes back into the moderate wings, I’ll be defending my country, its traditions, and its greatness by being aligned with the Republicans.

  • In the days of the Greeks, political science meant “a few silver and gold coins in a leather pouch” today it means “cash in a blank envelope” Dean knows, if he goes to a construction company Christmas party, most of those people their are either local, county or state building inspectors. They are there to get their cash filled blank envelopes, because leather pouches would be to conspicuous. That is the real base and Dean is just resalting it( he already is a Democratic Plantation Overseer and that base is safe). He knows that the diarrea that flows from all the openings in his body makes him the perfect sphincter muscle and those that believe him and send him money are no better.

  • I have news for everyone in Congress…. It’s NOT about getting re-elected! It IS about doing some good for your country, for the people who elected you (and this isn’t necessarily pork) and for your Party. If all Congressmen would quit focusing on their re-election and begin focusing on their jobs, this issue would be moot.

  • You democrats are such whinners! You don’t have enough sense to realize you are out of touch with Americans. Continue to implode–no amount of money raised by Dean can over-come your total stupidity.

  • SERIOUSLY — what the Deaniacs are saying is very interesting.

    They’re saying that the Dem pols in Congress are short-sighted and too interested in getting DNC funds for their own campaigns — raiding the seed corn, I think is the old-fashioned phrase. Short-sighted & selfish with DNC money. I totally believe that’s possible.

    I heard during 2004 — I haven’t googled to recheck — that in the Dem presidential campaign, in 2004 and previous cycles, the consultants have also been also ad producers who get paid for the amount of USE of their ads by the campaign — so that the consultants have conflicting incentives in terms of advising the campaign — meanwhile, the GOP practice, I heard, has been to pay a flat fee for producing an ad, irrespectively of how much it’s used. I may have gotten on or another thing a bit wrong there, but basically that was it.

    I actually don’t have a strong opinion about Dem congressfolks’ attitudes toward the Dem party & the DNC, because I’m not very familiar with Dem party politics. I’m not sure what’s “best for the party,” it’s not my party. I have to admit, though, Dean’s strategy does sound like a STRATEGY. The Dem pols have been somewhat strategy-challenged in recent years.

    All the same, I can see that it would be very STRANGE if all those Dem pols & Dem big wheels were short-sighted & selfish about DNC funds and about the Dem party AND, simultaneously, long-sighted and public-spirited about Federal money and the USA.

    The worse the Dem congressfolks behave regarding the DNC & the Dem party, the more it must become plausible to a reasonable person that they aren’t much different regarding the USA. Waste. Tunnelvision. Short-sightedness. I certainly believe it, especially the way Dem-dominated cities & school systems are, for instance. Look at what they want the party to do. Now apply that understanding of their character and intelligence, to the quesiton of what they want cities, states, and the country to do.

  • The problem with the Democratic Party, especially at the national level, is the lack of a coherent vision. Calling for the impeachment of Bush, slowing down Supreme Court nominations, and talking about the “society of corruption” is not a vision.
    Republicans were able to get away with impeaching former Pres. Clinton because they had a vision to take to the American people. While impeachment may not have been part of that vision it did allow them to demonstrate that they were working towards defined goals and had something constructive to show the American people. The Democrats have nothing.
    What the Democrats need, more than to stop bashing the President, or calling for unilateral withdrawl in Iraq, are new ideas. Not these pie-in-the-sky ideas put forward by Hollywood stars and former politicos, but solid, grounded in reality and fact to present to the public. They need new ideas on Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, defense, taxes, and a whole host of other issues. But alas the intellectuals of the party are drowned out by the shrill cries from the far left.
    Looks like another solid year for the Republicans. Hopefully they’ll stay truer to their principles this time around.

  • The Snake Pit, a movie of some thirty years ago had a classic line in it.

    An inmate of the asylum asked, “…where will it all end?”

    It will end for the democrat party, and you are witnessing it now, when more members bellow nonsense as they are doing now than there are those who will listen.

    I bet there are those that believe that Dean is a mole.

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