Straw Poll: Your choice for DNC Chair

[HootieMcBoob]

Poll question: Straw Poll: Your choice for DNC Chair

DNC Chairman is a full time job so whoever is chosen will not likely be running as a candidate in any races to lets keep that in mind when we vote.

[LeftCoast]

1. Dean's the man

It's pretty amazing that our "leadership" would even seriously consider anyone else...show's you where their priorities are...

[HootieMcBoob]

3. I agree n/t

[genius]

20. I don't recognize all the people. I prefer Dean to Roemer.

However, I'd rather have a Sharpton or some other liberal. Dean has the wrong position on NAFTA the death penalty, Iraq, taxes and the environment.

[mourningdove92]

2. I voted for Dean.

Because I think he will make enough noise about why we REALLY lost. It wasn't because of McAuliff, it wasn't because Kerry ran a bad campaign and it wasn't because the people like Bush.

It was about election fraud and I hope, if Dean gets it, he make a lot of noise about it.

[HootieMcBoob]

4. If you vote for "other"

I'm curious who that other is that you're thinking about. I couldn't come up with anybody else to stick in there.

[Lenape85]

5. DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN

DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN

[IStriker]

6. I doubt that it will happen, but Dean is definitely my choice.

[Tom Rinaldo]

7. Dean. No question. If he wants it and the party is wise enough to agree.

Our Party has lost the ability to frame issues so that most people understand that Democrats stand with them. Our Party has forgotten the importance of an involved and energized base. Or Party has become dependent on special interests to provide the money we need to compete.

We desperately need someone who can turn those things around or we will remain locked into minority status. I think Dean is best equipped to do what must be done now. A great deal of damage can be done in 4 years if we don't start fighting immediately and work to expand AND mobilize our base. Dean understands that. I think he's the man we need in that position.

[HootieMcBoob]

8. Very well said

I couldn't agree more.

[buddhamama]

9. Dean

His placement as DNC Chair would help the disappointment and animosity i have felt toward the DLC and the party as a whole.

[Coastie for Truth]

10. Voted for Dean, but some of the others are good....

1. Martin Frost is a collateral descendant (great grand nephew) of the historical "Lone Ranger" . There were a bunch of Texas Rangers who went out capture a bandit, and were massacred. One of them was Frost's Great great uncle.

2. Jim Blanchard was a good solid Democratic Congressman from the Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge section of suburban Detroit (a rock solid, "Blue" suburban area where the people actually put out Dean and Kucinich signs before the primary). He was a good progressive governor.

Definitely part of the Bonior-Conyers-Dingle team. To use Ed Schultz language - Jim Blanchard is supported by Lefties who go to Church and who shower after work.

[Adelante]

11. Absolutely Dean nt

[PassingFair]

12. Dean

He knows what's entailed.

[Rowdyboy]

13. Question for any Dean supporter willing to answer...

If Dean is elected party chairman, that pretty much rules out a run for the nomination in 2008, when there will be no incumbent.

I agree that Dean would re-energize the party and build up the base, and would make a very good party chairman. But is it worth the trade-off.

Are you willing to give up any hopes of a Dean presidential candidacy in an open year just so he can take on the thankless job of DNC chairman?

[cascadiance]

14. I'm confident there will be some good people in 2008 to choose from...

... even if Dean's not one of them. However, he can be one to help get the right people in front of us to choose from.

I really believe he's the right man, and one of the few with the right resume of building up a grass roots emphasis that this party sorely needs right now. The time for worrying about the DNC chair and fixing the problems within the Democratic Party is *now*, not 2008. A lot of time between now and 2008. If we don't get the right person in as DNC chair, who is available to run in 2008 will probably be a moot point anyway.

In some ways, even though I supported him for pres earlier, I like the idea of him as DNC chair even moreso. I think it's the job that he should have and he is the man that the job should have fill it.

My guess is that this is one reason why Terry McCaulife and perhaps other entities of the media, etc. were fighting hard against his early leads transforming him into the Democratic candidate. They probably knew that if he was successful, even if he didn't win the presidency, that McCauliffe and others associated with him would have the most to lose when this time came around to pick new leadership.

Part of me likes the idea of building up Bharak Obama for 2008. Would he be too "green" as a senator at that point to make this jump? Perhaps, but I think he has many qualities that could make him an ideal person for pres later too. I think someone like Dean working with Obama could be a real winner.

[cali]

15. Obama in 2008?

I wouldn't support him. First of all, he will be way, way too green. Second of all, I'm not sure I want to see another Senator run in '08.

[Fleshdancer]

16. my view on this....

I'm a HUGE Dean supporter and my opinion is that I'll take Dean any way I can get him. If we don't first change the way the DNC works, then I don't see how it would be possible for Dean to win the primaries in '08.

I agree with Dean's vision for the party. We need to not be afraid of going into the South and we need to support and be creative with grassroots initiatives which promotes political newcomers of entering the system on the local and state levels.

I think that in order for this party to survive, we can't put our faith on some quick fix (like constantly becoming a little more conservative so that we can say we're the "moderate" party). It's going to take time to get this country back and I think Dean is in it for the long haul and I think he's more open to new ideas...a flexibility that I don't see in most of the DC insiders. But that's just my opinion.

[rucky]

22. I'm sure he's thought about that, too.

and if he still wants the job, I'll support him.

[acmavm]

17. Sheez, it should be Dean all the way. Dean is the only dem I can see

right now who has exactly what it would take for our entire party to re-energize and stand up to the thugs and criminals currently running our government. He has the brains, the guts, and the gift of cutting right to the quick in any situation. And he's articulate. The young people love him. Yeah, Dean.

P.S. I was a Clarkie, so I'm not pandering and drooling over my favorite dem. I truly believe that Howard Dean is exactly who we need right now.

[moggie12]

18. Go ahead, blast away at me, but

Dean has several drawbacks:

1) He doesn't know how to run an effective political campaign (yes, his campaign manager was a genius at using the Internet, but the ground game in Iowa was seriously lacking). So why would we put him in charge of coordinating our political apparatus??

2) He shoots his mouth off saying politically tone-deaf things. I still think one of the reasons Dean lost Iowa was because he said a few days before that he wouldn't, "pronounce Osama Bin Laden guilty before a trial". Was that statement noble and in accord with principles of our Constitution, etc, etc. Yes!! Was it politically stupid to say it out loud where all the reporters could hear you?? YES!!!!!! GOD YES!!!!!!!!

3) All the idealistic young people in orange hats jumping up and down about Dean make pragmatic old fogies like me nervous. The Dems are losing elections because the suburban middle class doesn't like what we stand for -- Dean as head of the Party will only exacerbate our problems.

4) Dean was the one who attacked his fellow Democrats in the primaries, assailing them for their Iraq War Resolution vote (even though Kerry, for example, had explicitly said in his statement at the time that we shouldn't go it alone and had stated other conditions that Bush blew by in his haste to launch an attack). Then Dean started in on the $87 billion. I was vehemently against the Iraq war, but once Bush got us into it, I think we had to follow-through: How could we not try to fix the place after we'd made a big mess of it??


I very much like Dean's populist message, especially his stand against excessive corporate/Wall Street influence on the Party. Unfortunately, I can't judge DNC candidates based only on what they stand for. We're electing a person, not just a message, and I find many serious flaws in the person. I'm sorry, but I just do.

[DFLforever]

19. Dean is the only one on this list who has the ideas and leadership skills

to reshape the party so it can effectively oppose Rethugs.

[Renew Deal]

21. That's ugly

lol

[Stand and Fight]

23. Governor Dean has my vote -- 100%.

Only one on the damn panel who knows what progressive really means. However, I would personally like to see him run for the presidency again.