Obama Taking Over Democratic National Committee Partly To Avoid Kerry's Fate
A Democrat with knowledge of the Obama campaign's rapid takeover of the Democratic National Committee today points out to me that this is partly about ensuring that the Illinois Senator avoids the fate of John Kerry, whose 2004 presidential campaign was hampered by behind-the-scenes battles with the DNC.
You may recall that the DNC chair in 2004 was one Terry McAuliffe, and in his book, McAuliffe wrote about the back-stage infighting between the DNC and Kerry camps. McAuliffe said that Kerry's aides had wanted to oust him; that relations were chilly throughout the campaign; and that the Kerry camp muzzled him when he wanted to assail George W. Bush's military record.
By contrast, upon securing the nomination, Obama very quickly put out a statement showering praise on Howard Dean; is now moving to put staff in all 50-states, in concert with Dean's approach; and is quite literally moving swaths of the DNC to Chicago to create a unified organization with the sort of party-wide message discipline that has eluded Dems in the past.
In the primary, the Obama campaign was famously devoid of (publicly visible) infighting and/or leaking, and clearly, he's taking aggressive steps right now to ensure that this success is duplicated in the general.
Way to go, Sir.
June 12, 2008 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ready to lead on Day One.
June 12, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Isn't it great? I'm so glad to see a firm leader take the reins of the party.
June 12, 2008 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed.
It probably helps that Obama and Dean are on the same page on many issues (50-state strategy, internet organization, etc).
June 12, 2008 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, yeah, and it helps that Dean just isn't McAuliffe. But, Obama and Dean seem to have been simpatico from the outset. I'm liking the Party support and really loving Obama's leadership.
June 12, 2008 2:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Barack is the leader with his leadership skills on display! I am amazed at how much better I feel towards November compared to previous elections. As an old demeocrat (1968 my first election), I feel that we are so on the right track but I am also used to the dirty tricks and sleeze the GOP will be pulling. NO letdown and stay focused is the message for all of us as November comes!
June 12, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, Obama is making a lot of good moves, but I am not sure if folks have considered the role that his name is playing in all of this.
"Obama: It's the Name, Stupid"
http://msa4.wordpress.com/
June 13, 2008 2:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking of control, or lack of, have you noticed how Fox is suddenly apologizing all over itself, even those the "mis-speaks" are still being allowed to happen: Latest case in point:
Since Salon's Alex Koppelman caught Fox News characterizing Michelle Obama as "Obama's Baby Mama," there's been an uproar over use of such an offensive term.
"A producer on the program exercised poor judgment in using this chyron during the segment," said Fox's Senior Vice President of Programming Bill Shine, in a statement to Politico.
June 12, 2008 2:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
sorry, even though
June 12, 2008 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is where having John Kerry as an early supporter is paying off in spades for Obama. Kerry went through this process just 4 years ago, and he saw first hand the kinds of things that hurt him as he went against the GOP smear machine.
Kerry's advice will be invaluable to Obama this November.
June 12, 2008 2:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am coming around to the view that John Kerry is a mensch. Just not an ideal presidential candidate.
He gave a really rousing speech to Obama volunteers in CA over weekend before Super Tuesday; it struck me that he was more enthusiastic about Barack's campaign than he was about his own (rightfully so).
And just yesterday a friend who was very involved in trying to move climate legislation said that Kerry did a great deal of work advancing the bill even though it was clear he would get no credit for it.
June 12, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
I worked for Kerry in '04, met him a few times, and the guy is definitely a mensch. And his problem was not that he was a bad candidate, it's that he was a lackluster campaigner. (There is a difference.)
Thankfully, he remains in the Senate and continues to provide support and covering fire when needed.
June 12, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
and that the Kerry camp muzzled him when he wanted to assail George W. Bush's military record
If that's true, then I have to give McAuliffe some credit. The Kerry camp should have gone after Bush's Military record more forcefully.
June 12, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I was disappointed to hear that. Kerry has a lot of good qualities, but he seemed so determined to run a lousy campaign. I'm delighted that Obama seems to have found the right balance between respectful and aggressive.
June 12, 2008 2:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was probably the thing that pissed me off most about the 2004 election. You had a guy who got out of Vietnam by having a rich dad and basically went AWOL from the national guard shitting on the record of a highly decorated vet.
June 12, 2008 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
That whole thing was jaw droppingly unbelievable to me. I still look back on that and am amazed that people took the swiftboaters seriously. With only one exception that I can think of off the top of my head, that was the lowest point in election politics ever.
June 12, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
A strong leader -- in command.
June 12, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know he would have worn a flight suit, and carried around a bottle of tequila, when he went on the cable shows to discuss Bush's military service.
Terry drove me nuts during the primary, but that would have been awesome.
June 12, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL!
June 12, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
My thinking at the time was that Kerry should have called Bush a pussy during the debates and said if he didn't like it they could settle it right there. He would have gotten the votes of all the yahoos.
June 12, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Any one who tried to put a muzzle on Terrible McAwful is alright in my book.
June 12, 2008 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
More good news for Senator Obama. It is going to be harder and harder for Bush McCain to make the case that Obama is soft on guys like this:
Gadafy denounces Barack Obama as 'black man with inferiority complex'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/12/gadafy.obama/print
Excerpt: Use the link to read the full report.
The Libyan leader, Muammar Gadafy, has reinforced his reputation for plain and provocative speaking by suggesting that Barack Obama is a black man with an "inferiority complex" and might behave "worse than whites" if he becomes president of the United States.
Gadafy's striking non-endorsement of the Democratic candidate focused in part on Obama's pledge of "unshakeable" support for Israel, which caused dismay, if not surprise, across the Arab and Muslim worlds last week.
June 12, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
in my mind I'm gone to Carolina!
June 12, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama's organizational aptitude is going to be studied by political scientists for decades into the future. He's going to clean McCain's clock in November.
June 12, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
"You may recall that the DNC chair in 2004 was one Terry McAuliffe, and in his book, McAuliffe wrote about the back-stage infighting between the DNC and Kerry camps."
Yet one more reason why everyone remotely associated with the Clintons should not be allowed within 100 miles of the decision-making this election.
By managing to win two squeaker elections with a third-party spoiler in each, they have come to the conclusion that they are the only Democrats who could conceivably know how to win an election.
Thanks for your past service, Bill, Hillary and Terry. Here's your gold watches. Now go away.
June 12, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, so helping to lose the 2004 election is yet anther screwup we can blame on Terry McAuliffe? I mean, basically, he admits that there was infighting that undermined the Kerry campaign, all because McAuliffe cared more about being in charge and didn't want to accept that the presidential nominee was the new head of the party. (Though I have to fault Kerry, too, it sounds like he should have just fired his ass if that's how he was behaving.)
June 12, 2008 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
CARTER'S ON RECORD AS SAYING OBAMA SHOULDN'T BE PRESIDENT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_Pg577wapw
June 12, 2008 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I believe this was from 2006. You got anything more recent for us?
June 12, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
what's your point??
June 12, 2008 7:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Should'nt you be out fundraising for Hill? You have already cost me my allowance for this week!
June 12, 2008 9:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama needs to protect his chances this fall AND insure the Democratic Party's continuing existence by purging all remaining vestiages of William Jefferson Clinton's hamhanded rule over the party as quickly as possible.
June 12, 2008 9:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good job Obama - leading and with good advisors in tow.
June 13, 2008 12:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
A real leader with change we can believe in.
!
Obama 2008
June 13, 2008 3:23 AM | Reply | Permalink