NPR: Howard Dean discusses "Moderate Democrats Concerned For Party's Future" (with audio/text)

NPR with text and audio (33:13).

After providing a voice to moderate Democrats for more than 25 years, the Democratic Leadership Council is closing. Former Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean addresses fears that the loss of the D.L.C. could be a blow to moderates in the Democratic Party. MORE...

Howie P.S.: Here's a tidbit from Dean:

...what I think a moderate Democrat is, is somebody who understands that capitalism, in order for capitalism to work, there has to be regulation.

Capitalism, we save capitalism from itself by having reasonable regulations. But it's definitely true, if you go too far with the regulations, then the whole system grinds to a halt because, in fact, it's people in private enterprise that create jobs. That's true. And if that's what a moderate Democrat is, I don't think we have any interest in driving them out.

I think what you all in the media - talk about people like Ben Nelson as moderate Democrats. If you vote with the Republicans 65 percent of the time, I don't think that qualifies you as a moderate Democrat.

Ari Melber: "DNC Slams Journalist and Trippi Over Midterms Article"

Ari Melber (The Nation):

Campaigns often heat up after Labor Day, and a fighting spirit has clearly taken hold at the DNC, which launched an unusual defense of its mid-terms strategy on Thursday evening.

Organizing for America (OFA), the field arm of the Obama campaign that was rolled into the DNC, released a lacing rebuttal to a new Time article reporting that OFA had become a shrunken "ghost of its former self." The article depicted OFA as an operation abandoned by voters and donors alike, while airing anonymous suggestions that campaign guru David Plouffe was sereptitiously using national funds to "rebuild an army for 2012 under the cover of boosting turnout in 2010." (Plouffe "strongly" denied the charge within the article.) Time added geographic fuel to the fire, too, reporting, "OFA is putting staff into such states as Virginia, North Carolina and Arizona, which have few close statewide races this fall but which are all prime targets in an Obama re-election campaign."

At 5pm Thursday, OFA posted an official response [1] on the DNC website and circulated the text to reporters. Like the White House, OFA rarely publicizes written rebuttals to specific articles -- that would be a full-time job when the subject is the President -- and the reply was also striking for its heated tone. Blasting Time's Jay Newton-Small as "a misinformed journalist" who did "poor reporting" with a "total aversion to the facts," OFA spokesman Lynda Tran hammered Newton-Small for relying on clueless or anonymous sources, and "falsely claiming that OFA is exclusively focused on turning out 'surge' voters."
(SNIP)
All told, the 850-word rebuttal was more than double the length of the original article.

Time obviously struck a nerve. But the strong response is strategically odd -- a short piece in the print edition of the magazine is unlikely to rock Washington, while the DNC reaction gives it legs. Before, most of the (few) links to the piece were by conservative bloggers, not a very vital or persuadable constitutency for OFA. Then DNC officials began sounding off, and the item got picked up in Politico (and The Nation). Ben Smith, a widely read Politico blogger, headlined a Thursday afternoon post [2] on the dust-up, "DNC goes nuclear on Time, Cook for Ofa critique." Smith's tweet on the kerfuffle was even crisper:

"OfA incredibly defensive."

Chuck Todd, the NBC News White House correspondent who regularly deals with top Obama aides, tweeted [3] in response to this Nation piece that DNC officials are "super-sensitive on proving OFA was a good idea." I also asked Time for its response to the response, and spokesman Daniel Kile emailed that the magazine “stands by the story and Jay Newton-Small’s reporting.”

Finally, on a personal note, I spent plenty of time on OFA while researching and writing a 74-page report [4] about the organization's first year. The touchy and sometimes combative stance towards independent reporting on display here is familiar -- for a new school organization, OFA is pretty old school when it comes to transparency and dealing with hard questions from reporters and constituents. (I discuss its work and potential reforms at length in the report, so I won't rehash those points here.)

Beyond the press, though, the core argument of the Time article seems off. The height of the 2008 campaign is not a logical or fair baseline for assessing participation in the off-season, and OFA has undoubtedly engaged supporters around the country with social, political and service activities, both online and off. (See the broad data above, or more granular indicators in my report.) While politicos gush about how a President can benefit from a mediocre midterm showing, the article offered no reason how such cyclical electoral politics relate to organizing, where relationships and long-term momentum are key. So I don't see any tension between a strong turnout in the midterms and a strong turnout in 2012 -- this is an area where the Plouffe/Stewart/Bird agenda for Obama activists is naturally in line with the Barack/Rahm ambition for a second term. MORE...

Howie P.S.: Rahm? But I thought he was headed back to Chicago.

Saturday Roundup: #Question Time, Health Care, Obama and the DNC (with LIVE video)

"A Few Questions about #QuestionTime" (Nate Silver):

Just a brief word about why I've signed onto this cause: perhaps I'm an idealist, but I tend to think that the lack of open, unmediated, and honest dialog between members of Congress, between the Congress and the Executive, and between both Congress and the Executive and the public, is the greatest threat to the efficacy of our democracy today. While structural constraints like the filibuster certainly also play a large role, these structures are nothing new -- it's the ways that our political culture have evolved around them that may be more problematic. In particular, it seems to me that there is a need for conversations that are not staged, that are not reduced to 30-second soundbytes, and that are not filtered through the lens of the media. A Question Time period, if reasonably well structured, could be a significant step toward achieving that goal. Politics needn't always be zero-sum, particularly at the time when our country faces a number of threats -- from the economy, to Islamic and other forms of radicalism, to the aggregation of power by elites, to the the changing climate -- in which we will all sink or swim together. That's why you're seeing Democrats and Republicans, technocrats and populists all working together to agitate for Question Time.

"White House Pushes Back, Says Prez Didn’t Concede Reform Might Die" (Greg Sargent):

The White House is now pushing back hard on the claim that Obama acknowledged in his speech last night that health care reform might not happen, dismissing it as a “fundamental misinterpretation of the President’s comments.”
White House spokesman Reid Cherlin emails me this:

“This is a fundamental misinterpretation of the President’s comments. Last week the he stood before the nation and said he ‘will not walk away’ from health insurance reform. That was his position then, it’s his position now, and he’s said as much in stops across the country nearly every day. He used his remarks last night to motivate Democrats to come together and get this done, noting that the public will judge their leaders on what they accomplish.”

"November chill seizes DNC meeting" (Politico):

As the Democratic National Committee convened in Washington Friday for their winter meeting, the chill in the air was due to more than the snowstorm howling through the D.C. streets.

Gone was the exultant mood of jubilation that party officials felt when they last gathered for President Barack Obama's inauguration a year ago. In its place was a sense of palpable concern that the party is on the verge of suffering significant - if not crippling - losses.

Even as top Democrats sought to strike an upbeat tone, they were unambiguous in discussing just how treacherous 2010 could be.

WATCH Obama LIVE @ the DNC meeting (email from the DNC, with video):

Don't forget to tune in for the President's speech to the Democratic Party this morning.

It begins at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and you won't want to miss it.

You can watch online here:

http://my.democrats.org/WinterMeeting

DKos: "Should Dean be in charge of the DNC again?" (with poll)

jhawklefty's diary on Kos:

Poll

Should Dean be in charge of the DNC again?

	Yes
94%	5219 votes
	No
3%	175 votes
	I can't hear you over my clapping for the president
2%	136 votes

| 5530 votes | Vote | Results

Howie P.S.: Go here to vote.

Ari Melber: "Obama, Democrats Face Liberal Fundraising Boycott"

Ari Melber (The Nation):

Politico's lead story today tracks how both progressive and conservative activists are using intramural fundraising threats to challenge the party establishment.

For Democrats, the fight is about accountability for campaign promises. For Republicans, sophisticated grassroots fundraising is a tool in the ideological squabbles over new congressional candidates and party leaders. The story suggests conservative strategists have led the way:

For months, most of the action was on the Republican side, where conservative activists targeted the National Republican Senatorial Committee for its recruitment of moderate candidates and the National Republican Congressional Committee for its role in supporting a liberal GOP nominee in an upstate New York special election. But now Democratic officials are also feeling the lash, with the [DNC] coming under fire for allegedly not working hard enough on a recent Maine ballot initiative to repeal same-sex marriage and the [DCCC] taking flak for supporting incumbents who voted against the health care bill. In each case, activists have dispensed with the pleasantries and gone straight to the committees' wallets--a move guaranteed to raise alarms at party headquarters.

Actually, liberal online activists have been using donor strikes for a long time, around issues ranging from torture to campaign finance reform to health care. (And since Democratic candidates rely more on low dollar online donations than the G.O.P, these efforts can get more traction on the Left.) What's different now, however, is that the current wave of strikes and rumblings on gay rights might turn into an ad-hoc, financially relevant coalition.

Unlike other donor strikes by a single blog or organization, the "Don't Ask, Don't Give" campaign is swiftly attracting allies and attention in the political media -- including that lead Politico article today. (Obama's top aides pay attention to Politico, even though they claim otherwise, as David Plouffe's new book revealed.) Some of the allies are explicitly striking for gay rights, like blogger and pundit Jane Hamsher, The Stranger's Dan Savage and blogger Pam Spaulding, while others are pushing strikes against Democratic Party committees based on broader grievances about Democrats voting against core party priorities, such as health care. Daily Kos blogger Markos Moulitsas recently told his readers to "skip any donations to the DCCC," in retaliation for the House Dems who tried to scuttle health care reform. (See more from my colleague Ari Berman on those "Just Say No Democrats.")

In all the progressive debates about the Obama era, from wonky panels to the Sunday shows to local coffee shops, the atavastic question is how to support The President and push for bolder reform. Fundraising activism is only one tool -- not even viable for most citizens -- but it increasingly looks like a way to amplify policy pressure and get Washington's attention between elections.

DNC launches new ad "Enough of the Mob." (with video)

AMERICAblog with video (01:05):

Sam Stein reported yesterday that Obama is still talking about the need for a bipartisan health insurance reform bill during his lunch with Senators.:

[Obama] also insisted, according to an administration aide, that he remained committed to working with the Republican Party to get reform passed.

Okay. If Obama is still committed to working with Republicans, he really needs to see this ad produced by the DNC. Because this is the GOP. The people in these mobs are the GOP base. They will not let the GOP leadership accept any of Obama's core principles for reform.

Bipartisan with this mob? Not going to happen. Stop worrying about the process and focus on the result.

Howie P.S.: Greg Sargent comments.

DNC Health Care TV Ad: "It's Time Senators" (video)

DNC, video (00:30):

Call your Senators: (202) 224-3121.

Howie P.S.: H/t to Ben Smith who has the ad's script and details about the people featured. More on the latest strategy from Bloomberg: "Obama Open to Partisan Vote on Health-Care Overhaul, Aides Say."

Barack Obama

"Dean Prepares To Step Down As DNC Chair"

Sam Stein:

After four years at the helm of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean is preparing to relinquish his chairmanship.

Dean, who has been serving in the post since 2005, has said in the past that he would serve only one term, though his successful work with the Obama campaign had led some Democrats to wonder whether he would stay on into the next administration. This won't be the case, officials at the DNC confirm. He will serve as chair until his term ends in January. The party will settle on a new head when it hosts a meeting during the week of Obama's inauguration.

In sheer political terms, the choice really wasn't Dean's to make. Indeed, any decision on who will serve as the next DNC chair will come with directives from Obama and his aides. And a name being floated around as a possible Dean replacement is one of the president-elect's closest allies: Claire McCaskill, the junior Senator from Missouri and a national co-chair of the Obama campaign.

"My sense is that the Obama folks are pretty insular and don't want somebody else building the party and haven't even decided what building the party means for them," explained one aide. "I bet they go with a split chair again ... McCaskill at Chair, and somebody like Steve Hildebrand [Obama's Deputy Campaign Manager] at Operational Chair."

Regardless of who takes over, the next chair will inherit an organization far different from the one that existed four years ago. Under Dean's tenure, the DNC implemented the hotly-debated 50-state-strategy, a program designed to rebuild the party into a continental force, one in which Democrats drained the resources of Republicans while simultaneously building up younger talent. Obama's incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and others were critical, believing that the policy wasted valuable resources on impossible races and needlessly forfeited otherwise winnable seats during the 2006 congressional elections. Successes in 2008, however, have largely quieted those critiques.

Indeed, four years later, it seems, Dean's vision is poised to become party orthodoxy. Dean told a Democratic operative that he is hoping to extract promises from all potential replacement candidates to preserve the 50-state-strategy. Other insiders, meanwhile, say that the next DNC chair, regardless of who it is, will build upon the model because of its tangible successes.

"The 50-state-strategy was successful in laying the groundwork for 2006 and 2008," said strategist and DNC member Donna Brazile. "Clearly, the strategy has reaped a harvest of new voters for Democrats and the next Chair will no doubt build upon this foundation for 2010 and beyond. Remember, we have some interesting statewide and mayoral elections next year before the all out organizing for redistricting."

"DNC: Fla., Mich. Can't Be Fully Restored"--Obama campaign: "Don't demonstrate"

AP:

A Democratic Party rules committee has the authority to seat some delegates from Michigan and Florida but not fully restore the two states as Hillary Rodham Clinton wants, according to party lawyers.

Democratic National Committee rules require that the two states lose at least half of their convention delegates for holding elections too early, the party's legal experts wrote in a 38-page memo.

The memo was sent late Tuesday to the 30 members of the party's Rules and Bylaws Committee, which plans to meet Saturday at a Washington hotel. The committee is considering ways to include the two important general election battlegrounds at the nominating convention in August, and the staff analysis says seating half the delegates is "as far as it legally can" go.

Saturday's meeting is expected to draw a large crowd, with Clinton supporters among those encouraging a protest outside demanding that all the states' delegates be seated. Proponents of full reseating have mailed committee members Florida oranges and pairs of shoes to get their attention.

DNC officials are concerned about a potentially large turnout at the "Count Every Vote" rally outside the event and have asked the hotel staff to increase security to keep everyone safe. The DNC says the roughly 500 seats available to the public inside were taken within three or four minutes of becoming available online Tuesday.

The DNC analysis does not make recommendations for how the Rules and Bylaws Committee should vote, but gives context from the party's charter and bylaws for the committee to consider.

It underscores a prickly problem: If the Rules and Bylaws Committee decides to restore any of the states' delegates, there is not a simple way to divide them between Clinton and Barack Obama.

That's especially true in Michigan, where Obama had his name pulled from the ballot. He didn't have the option of removing his name in Florida, but all the candidates signed a pledge not to campaign in either state.

Clinton won the majority of the vote in Florida and Michigan and has been arguing that the delegates should be fully restored according to the results of the January primaries. But even if they were, it would not be enough for her to overtake Obama's delegate lead.

As it becomes clear that Obama likely will win the nomination, he has been working to win over voters in the two states with visits in recent days. He plans to return to Michigan on Monday.

The DNC staff analysis argues that the Rules and Bylaws Committee was fully within its rights to strip all 368 delegates from the two states when they scheduled primaries in January. Party rules said their nominating contests could be no earlier than Feb. 5. Michigan voted on Jan. 15, Florida on Jan. 29.

The analysis also said there is an option to restore 100 percent of the delegates _ by a recommendation of the Credentials Committee that meets later this summer. However, that would mean a final decision would not be made until the first day of the convention in Denver since Credentials Committee decisions have to be approved by the full convention as it convenes — risking a floor fight.

Alice Huffman, a member of the Rules and Bylaws Committee from California who is supporting Clinton, said she has been barraged with e-mails in the past few weeks. She said the senders include Floridians who are upset that they are being disenfranchised, and she has started printing out the messages so she'll have a record to explain her decision.

"This is a really, really significant issue to women. Obviously it's a significant item to people of color too. So I'm just preparing myself as best I can," said Huffman, president of the California NAACP.

The shoe shipments are being organized by WalkAMileInOurShoes.org and1 the orange idea was promoted by a group called Florida Demands Representation, which plans to bus Floridians to Saturday's rally outside the meeting. Blaine Whitford, a volunteer helping organize the effort, said they are unaligned with any candidate.

Susie Buell, one of Clinton's top fundraisers, has formed a political action committee encouraging women to support full seating of the delegates. The WomenCountPAC has taken out ads in USA Today and The New York Times promoting attendance at the rally.

Also: "Obama urges supporters not to demonstrate at crucial DNC meeting" (The Hill):

Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) campaign is urging its supporters not to demonstrate at Saturday’s highly anticipated Democratic National Committee (DNC) meeting on how to handle the delegates of Florida and Michigan.

In an internal campaign e-mail obtained by The Hill, the Obama campaign states, “We look forward to the meeting proceeding smoothly — and we’re asking our supporters not to show up to demonstrate, passionately as they feel about this campaign.”

This weekend’s meeting of the DNC’s 30-member Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) at a Marriot Wardman Park hotel in Washington, D.C. is expected to be a media circus, and will likely attract many supporters of Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

But the Obama campaign wants to avoid heated intraparty confrontations that would attract national headlines and be replayed on the cable news networks. Saturday’s potential public relations nightmare comes as the Obama campaign is taking steps to unify the party as the Democratic primary process appears to be winding down.

The DNC stated on its Web site that demand for the meeting was extremely high: “Just a quick note if you tried to register for the RBC meeting this morning. First, yes, it did go online. For about a minute. There was a lot if demand and we’re sorry if you didn’t get a spot...they were gone pretty quickly.”

The difference between nabbing a spot and falling short “was a matter of seconds,” the DNC stated.

The Obama campaign “talking points” e-mail cautions supporters not to speculate about what will happen on Saturday though it emphasizes that the Illinois senator will campaign vigorously in both states for the general election.

In a Q&A section of the e-mail, a question reads, “Sen. Obama has such a large lead that the outcome of this nomination is all-but academic. Why not just seat the delegates as they voted so that Sen. Clinton has one less reason to continue her campaign?”

The answer states, “That’s not Sen. Obama’s decision to make. The rules for this nomination contest were designed and are enforced by the Democratic National Committee. That’s why our campaign is working to forge a fair agreement that will ensure Democrats from Florida and Michigan will be able to participate in our convention.”

The Clinton campaign has repeatedly stressed that all the votes should be counted, including those cast in Florida and Michigan. Both states were punished by the DNC because they violated the committee’s rules by moving up their primaries.

The DNC bylaws meeting is seen as Clinton’s last-ditch effort to make up significant ground on Obama in the delegate count. Clinton won both states easily, but Obama pulled his name off the ballot in Michigan and, like the former first lady, did not actively campaign in Florida.

The talking points memo provides some answers to potential questions about Saturday. One reads, “I don’t think that any of us are in a position to speculate about possible outcomes at the meeting — but what I do know is that the Obama campaign is as eager as anyone to see this situation resolved fairly, which reflects the desire of these delegations to be seated and the fact that we and all the candidates competed under rules in which there were no delegates to be awarded and no campaigning took place.”

It adds, “Obviously, the May 31 meeting will be an important part of reaching an agreement that’s in the best interests of Florida and Michigan voters and in the best interests of the Democratic Party.”

Barack Obama

"Obama-DNC Fundraising Deal"

Mark Halperin (The Page-TIME):

After a series of discussions, the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee have decided to file papers with the Federal Election Commission establishing a “joint fundraising agreement.” Under the law, such a committee can accept up to $28,500 from individuals, most of which would go to the DNC.

Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain has already formed such an alliance with the Republican National Committee. Their group — called Victory — was created in March after McCain clinched the GOP nomination and is headed by McCain adviser Carly Fiorina.

Sources say the DNC has also held talks with Hillary Clinton’s campaign about forming a separate vehicle with her, but that no deal has been struck.

The fact that the Obama campaign is moving forward and Clinton is not at this time reflects certain important realities: Obama’s team is more confident that he will win the nomination than is Clinton’s — and Obama’s campaign has the necessity and luxury of thinking about and planning for the general election to come.

As part of that preparation, the campaign is thinking about how to divide up roles and responsibilities between the campaign’s Chicago headquarters and the DNC in Washington.

The DNC has stood out during this election cycle as the one major party entity that has not been raising money like gangbusters, and officials in both camps hope the joint agreement can allow the DNC to tap into Obama’s extraordinary leverage and popularity with donors, particularly after he secures the nomination — assuming he does.

The committee formed under the agreement is still in search of a final name.

Barack Obama

"One year to go: DNC will focus on Iraq in '08, Dean says in Denver"

Rocky Mountain News (CO):

The war in Iraq will be a major issue during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, DNC chairman Howard Dean told several hundred people at the west entrance to the Pepsi Center this afternoon.

"Every single one of the Republicans running for president thinks we ought to stay in Iraq, maybe for as long as 50 years," said Dean. "Every Democrat thinks we ought not to be there."

The gathering was held to mark the one-year countdown to the 2008 convention.

"The road to the White House goes through the west. That's why we're in Denver," Dean told the crowd. "We can win these states, but we have to work hard to do so."

Dean appeared with Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Denver 2008 host committee president Elbra Wedgeworth. Congressman Ed Perlmuter and much of the Democratic leadership in the state legislature also attended.

Dean said the Democrats would be seeking volunteers to help with the convention and will sponsor a series of forums this fall to begin reaching out to the community.

"DNC/YouTube Debates: Putting Democracy in Democratic?" (with video)

Hotline:

No more panelists, no more local TV anchors and no more Wolf Blitzer asking the questions. The July 23rd DNC debate in Charleston, SC, and the GOP WH '08 debate September 17th in Florida, is between you, YouTube and the candidates. CNN personality Anderson Cooper will host the new kind of debate, which will allow users to submit questions starting today to Democratic Presidential candidates over the video-sharing Web site.

CNN will be in charge of picking which YouTube video questions will be asked of the candidates.

"This is the most democratic of all structures," said CNN VP and DC Bureau Chief David Bohrman on the debate structure. "Everyone in the country has the possibility of asking a question of someone who might be the next president."

Debate organizers said they hope to get about 20 to 30 questions into the debate, which will consist almost entirely of YouTube user-generated questions. However CNN and Google/YouTube will not let users view their selection process for the debates, said organizers on a conference call with reporters today. That's because organizers said they don't want candidates to know which questions will be before the debate.

"It's not going to be the 100 most viewed clips," added Bohrman. "That would be far too simplistic. ... the real questions will be buried in the thousands of questions that will be submitted."

Some other basic tidbits from the call:
-They guessed they'll get about 20 to 30 questions asked at the debate, but CNN will have about 50 to 100 questions ready to go.
-Execs say they're close to picking a site for Republican CNN/YouTube/Google debate September 17 in Florida. Excepting any technological problems in the DNC debate, organizers said they'll follow the same user-generated format.
-Organizers said about 98% of the debate will be reserved for YouTube-generated questions, but they'll leave a little bit of wiggle room if, as they said, "the blogs erupt with a question," or if an issue explodes online during the forum.

So here's the other $64,000 question of the evening: Will viewers do a better job than journos at asking the candidates questions? Candidate and bloggers alike often complain about format and questions poised by the networks. Take for example Chris Dodd's Talk Clock graphic showing how many minutes each candidate had to talk in NH. And who could forget Chris Matthews wasting precious airtime asking the Republicans whether another Clinton in the White House would be good for the country?

But now that users are in charge, how will the questions differ? Or because CNN still has complete editorial control over which questions are asked, will the question differ at all? At least the YouTube videos will include all the regular features, such as how many views each video has received and a five-star rating system. Will YouTube users revolt if CNN doesn't ask what they might think are appropriate questions?

What's more, CNN and Google/YouTube will release the footage from the evening online so users will be able to mash and create their own videos from the debate. Expect users and campaign operatives alike to create, manipulate and interpret the footage for wide distribution across the Internet.

"The length of the debate is much longer than the night of the event," said YouTube News and Politics editor Steve Grove [SHIRA TOEPLITZ].