Aha, I was right. Dean did indeed outraise McAuliffe.

madfloridian

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Tue Aug-26-08 12:17 AM
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Aha, I was right. Dean did indeed outraise McAuliffe.

He just never gets credit for it, and the inside the beltway consultants will never admit it. He did outraise McAuliffe by a considerable amount, he just used the money to rebuild the state parties instead of putting it in the bank or doing as Terry NcAuliffe did.....building tribute walls out of glass.

There were awkward moments during Dean's first months in Washington, early in 2005, when he found himself working among the party leaders he had repeatedly maligned. In his first official visit to the newly renovated D.N.C. building, Dean was greeted in the lobby by his predecessor, Terry McAuliffe, a close friend of the Clintons and probably the most gifted fund-raiser in the party's history, whom Dean's supporters had long pilloried as the personification of a party run by hacks and obsessed with corporate money. McAuliffe, a man of maddeningly good cheer, pointed to the new wall-size glass building dedication in the lobby, which featured McAuliffe's name at the very top, followed by a list of contributors. ''Now, Howard,'' he said, ''don't you go chiseling that down.''

The Inside Agitator

Well, Howard Dean DID outraise that "most-gifted" fundraiser, and never a word of credit for doing it.

The issue now is money -- not so much Dean's ability to raise it but his propensity to spend it. From Jan. 1, 2001, when Terence R. McAuliffe took over the committee, through March 31, 2004, the DNC raised approximately $127 million in funds that could be spent directly on campaign activities. Between Jan. 1, 2005, and March 2008, the DNC raised $190 million, considerably more.

But the DNC had $27.5 million in the bank at this time four years ago, as opposed to $4.4 million now. Dean aides say that money was well spent, creating organizations in all 50 states upon which Obama has been able to piggyback his campaign, reaching deep into an untapped electorate and developing the DNC's most complete national voter database ever. The investment will pay dividends not just in November but for years to come, they say.

Dean's 50-State Strategy Continues to Generate Debate

Wow, 190 million and 127 million. Could the strategists and consultants possibly be lying when they say Dean was not a good fundraiser? I mean, we hear that all the time.

As to where the money went, especially in the beginning....they did not go to building Terry McAuliffe's glass wall of tribute higher.

The money went to hungry and starved state parties that had long been neglected.

Dean had to get 12 state parties out of bankruptcy, pay unpaid debt, get padlocks off doors.

I had discovered how pathetic many of our state parties actually were. Many were literally bankrupt, the office supplies and machines (typewriters) had been taken for unpaid debt, and padlocks were on the door. The State Committees that had the franchise were held in one or another lawyer's file cabinet, (In Georgia it had been Bert Lance's for about 20 years), and the reason for this condition was frankly racism. The Southern States would not allow the release of the franchise to a newly elected Central Committee or Board, because it would be Black. They could do this because the parties were in bankruptcy, and whatever lawyer had the letterhead in his files was also the court appointed trustee.

....."When Dean took over the DNC -- this was the condition of about twelve of our State Parties. He actually had to find lawyers to go into court and get the parties out of this kind of "Trusteeship" before he could even begin to reorganize. In fact, one of the reasons some of the Field Organizers Dean appointed are on the staff of the DNC rather than state parties is because it avoids dealing with old trustees and old court judgments."

A little truthtelling from the consultants and talking heads would go a long way. You don't rebuild parties that were left to rot without money.

There will be another election for another chair in January or early February. I hope there is some inclination to set the record straight before then.

Thanks for bringing the party back to life, Howard Dean. You may never get credit from the usual suspects, but some of us will continue to get the truth out there.