Kaine: Dems will court all 50 states ‘now and forever’

[babylonsister]

Kaine: Dems will court all 50 states ‘now and forever’
By Michael O'Brien
Posted: 01/21/09 03:12 PM


Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, installed Wednesday as the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), vowed to aggressively campaign in all 50 states and promised to rely on ideas and not ideology.

“The 50-state strategy is now and forever what Democrats do,” Kaine told DNC members at the party’s winter meeting in Washington, D.C. The plan to seek to compete in all states was put in place by Kaine’s successor, Howard Dean.

“The results speak for themselves. I’ll oversimplify: everybody matters. Every state, every region, every community matters,” Kaine said. However, he also warned Democrats to not simply trust that strategies that worked last year would also work in the future.

Dean had earlier defended the strategy in a valedictory speech before Kaine’s election as chairman.

more...

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/kaine-dems-will-cou...

[cynatnite]

1. Yay!

[elleng]

26. YAY YAY

YAY!!!!

[Romulox]

2. More Blue Dogs dominating the Party. Hooray? nt

[babylonsister]

4. Is there a thing on this board you approve of? Do tell. nt

[Romulox]

6. I don't answer to you. Go try to push someone else around.

[babylonsister]

9. So that's a no, huh. That's what I figured. For a discussion board,

you're just not that into it, are you.

[Romulox]

16. Whatever. You whine when anyone posts ANYTHING but "Rah team!" nt

[babylonsister]

18. I ask you a question and that's your comeback? Do you have

reading comprehension problems, too? There, there... never mind. Carry on with your mindless criticism. And have fun!

[Romulox]

19. I've seen your work elsewhere on these fora. nt

[Bodhi BloodWave]

35. Ok, since you don't want to answer babylonsister then i'll ask ya the same thing

Is there a thing on this board you approve of? Do tell.

[Romulox]

42. I enjoy telling centrist bullies where to get off. :) nt

[Romulox]

7. Edit: dupe

[anonymous171]

8. Yeah, fuck the 50 state strategy.

And fuck that DLC shill Howard Dean for inventing it.

[Romulox]

13. Dean was a member of the DLC in the past. Just FYI. nt

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. It sure beats being in the minority

[Romulox]

14. What do you care? Corporatists win either way, so you will be happy. nt

[SidneyCarton]

23. Pardon me sir, but the whine cellar reports that we're out of hemlock.

Can we interest you in a fine vintage of wormwood?

[Chulanowa]

15. Gotta start somewhere

I'd rather have a conservative Democrat than any variety of Republican. It's not IDEAL, but if that's the options, that's the choice I'll make

[Romulox]

17. Yeah, but that "somewhere" shouldn't be a MM away from the Republican Party. nt

[Chulanowa]

21. But the fact is, sometimes it IS only a millimeter

And it's better to have a tiny distance than no distance. Call it a "foot in the door" if you will - If Texas or Alaska (for instance) swings to a conservative Democrat, and that Democrat does well, the state will be more receptive to the party, and can be courted to a more progressive position from there.

Would you prefer the Democratic party just write all these states off? That sort of approach put the Democratic party in a slow but steady decline for two decades.

[Romulox]

22. I am not willing to sell my own interests out for the good of the Party, no.

"Would you prefer the Democratic party just write all these states off?"

No. I would prefer it if the Democrats won new converts by standing up for their traditional principles.

"That sort of approach put the Democratic party in a slow but steady decline for two decades."

Really? Because a lot of people feel that Clintonian "triangulation" has been the problem.

[BzaDem]

44. And those people would be... wrong.

McGovern and Mondale were very liberal, not centrist at all. Both came before Clinton. Why don't you take a look at how they did. Luckily, there are enough reasonable people in the Democratic party so that we don't continue to follow people like you and lose 49 states.

[Romulox]

45. Again, you are looking at whether politicians "win" or "lose". I'm looking at the American people

and the impact on their lives.

So Clinton, a center/right Democrat, may have won two terms. But real wages declined during that period, the trade deficit exploded, and more people were imprisoned than ever before in US history.

So a shift to the hard right may be a "win" for a (D), but it's a loss for the American people.

"Luckily, there are enough reasonable people in the Democratic party so that we don't continue to follow people like you and lose 49 states."

So, I guess you were a Republican during W's term, right? Since winning at any cost is all that matters?

[dionysus]

43. do you do anything otherthan complain about everything? is your mission to drop turds in the punch

bowl?

[Romulox]

50. Do you do anything other than pile on? nt

[polichick]

3. Excellent!

[Cash_thatswhatiwant]

5. yay

[supernova]

10. Is the DNC reading DU?

Didn't we just have a thread about this very subject?

[babylonsister]

11. Yes, something about the 50-state strategy RIPing. Wrong, obviously. nt

[merh]

27. you need to be mindful

some folks don't want dems to succeeed unless they tell them now to succeed.

the other thread was unsupported, just a post of rumors and worry.

[ErinBerin84]

20. interesting.

[madfloridian]

24. He also said not to trust those strategies to work in the future.

"The results speak for themselves. I’ll oversimplify: everybody matters. Every state, every region, every community matters,” Kaine said. However, he also warned Democrats to not simply trust that strategies that worked last year would also work in the future.

Dean had earlier defended the strategy in a valedictory speech before Kaine’s election as chairman.

“We cannot appear complacent,” Dean told party members. “We need to keep showing up, keep asking people for their vote, or we can lose their votes just as quickly as we gained them.”

[babylonsister]

25. He's looking towards the future, trying to keep what's been done

current. You take out one line from the whole article and conflate it. Sorry, read the title, read the story, read Kaine's words. He is not going to do away with the 50-state strategy despite you constantly saying he will.

[Shiver]

28. It's a good point

Strategies will not always work as they are. Times changes, people changes, demographics and regions and issues change. The Republicans have relied on the Southern Strategy for decades, and look how well that's turned out for them lately.

Right now, the 50-State Strategy works. Does that mean we can't make it work even better? Does that mean it is guaranteed to work in five years time? There are innumerable factors to consider; the worst thing we can do is brush off our hands and declare "Well, we're set. Don't need anything else."

[Occam Bandage]

48. Which is a very good point. We shouldn't get complicit and simply go through the motions. nt

[glitch]

29. Good. nt

[Bluenorthwest]

30. Kaine is a bore and a huge turn off

I watched the video they sent out, and he's a human sleeping pill. He droned on about how much he loves Republicans and wants to make them happy for several minutes, then I nodded off...it was a nice nap.

[TheWraith]

34. It isn't the DNC chair's job to draw attention.

We've got a kick-ass president for that now.

[KamaAina]

31. Earth to Kaine: "Cats" closed.

"Now and forever", indeed. Maybe a road company came to Richmond?

[The Doctor.]

32. Eeeeexcellent!

Hehehe.

[Raine]

33. HURRAY

that's how we win!!!!!

[That Is Quite Enough]

36. Hopefully this will relieve some people's apprehensions about Kaine.

[Pastiche423]

37. Why?

I've seen no actions.

[That Is Quite Enough]

38. I've seen lots of people worrying that Kaine would push the DNC to abandon the 50 State Strat.

If he supports it, then it would seem likely that the 50 State Strategy will continue.

[Pastiche423]

39. That's a mighty big IF you are depending on

I do not and will never understand why anyone at DU is happy w/DLCers, DINOs and Clinton retreads.

[eirteacher]

40. The smirk is now off Rudolph Giuliani pie hole. Go Community Organizers.

Yesterdays inauguration of Barack Obama wiped the smile off Rudolph Giuliani's smug face. I hope his pie hole has been slammed shut for a long time. Remember when him and Crack from the Klondike made fun of community organizers during th GOP convention.I wonder what they thinks about community organizers now?
50 states, 50 million voters for the Democrats.

[flying rabbit]

41. Isn't Kaine the successor, not Howard Dean?

Or am I reading that wrong.

[Kaleko]

47. Right. The sentence should read:

"The plan to seek to compete in all states was put in place by Kaine’s predecessor, Howard Dean." Not "successor".

[calimary]

46. It's "...was put in place by Kaine's PREDECESSOR, Howard Dean."

Kaine is Dean's successor, not the other way around.

Hey, what have we got here? Another john Airhead roberts?

[Occam Bandage]

49. Of course. Anyone with a brain could see that coming.

Hint, hint.

[malletgirl02]

51. As he should

Kaine knows the only reason Virginia went blue, and now has its second Democratic senator was due to the 50 state strategy. Also as the governor of Virginia, he knows how it feels to be left out by the DNC.

[Jennicut]

52. Kaine will do this because it s common sense. Obama won this way.

It would be sheer stupidity not to use Dean's strategy. I don't care what Kaine's politics are in the Dem party, I care how he will run the DNC. This is a good start.