Democrats anxious about ’50-state strategy’ under Obama
“Jen, you don’t really need to hear any questions,” New Hampshire party chairman Raymond Buckley told her. “We have three words for you: ’50-state strategy.'”
That now-famous program, implemented by outgoing chairman Howard Dean in 2005, placed paid DNC staffers in both red and blue states around the country and was premised on the philosophy that Democrats can be competitive anywhere as long as they show up, work hard and ask for votes.
But now that Dean is gone and Virginia governor Tim Kaine has been installed as President Barack Obama’s pick to lead the organization, some of the party chairs who gathered at the DNC’s annual Winter Meeting this week expressed anxiety that the precious resources doled out by the committee could vanish as the new administration takes control of the party machinery.
The DNC-funded field staff positions expired on election day, and the party chairs — particularly those in states long dismissed by national Democrats — want the hiring practice renewed.
“Right now all 50 of the state chairs are on pins and needles,” said Oklahoma Democratic chairman Ivan Holmes. “It’s possible they could undo in one year what it’s taken four years for Dean to do if they don’t embrace the 50-state strategy financially, and let the chairs have input on who they hire and what their duties are.”
Mississippi chairman Jamie Franks said it’s “critical and vitally important to continue the 50-state strategy,” which he said helped him keep four extra staffers in his office during the last two election cycles.
“I think that’s why we have majority in both houses of Congress and why Barack Obama is president of the United States today,” Franks said.
A larger concern expressed at the Winter Meeting is that the DNC could become — in the words of one state party executive director — “too Obama-centric.”
CNN
1/22/9
Magnolia Tribune
