DNC Chair candidates to visit Atlanta this weekend. Two drop out of race in advance of weekend meeting.
The field of potential candidates for Democratic National Committee Chair shrank by two yesterday when former White House deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes and former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk announced they had decided not to enter the competition.
Kirk, the 2002 Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas, gave a boost to former House member and fellow Texan Martin Frost by endorsing his candidacy, while Ickes, a veteran party strategist, said he would defer supporting another candidate
The decisions did little to clarify a contest that remains wide open, with several energetically competing and several others still trying to decide whether to run.
The four candidates definitely in the race include Texan Martin Frost; former Denver mayor Wellington E. Webb; New Democrat Network founder Simon B. Rosenberg; and party strategist Donnie Fowler from South Carolina.
Other possibilities include former Vermont governor Howard Dean; former Michigan governor James J. Blanchard; and Timothy J. Roemer, a former Indiana congressman and member of the panel that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The decisions by these could be influenced by the amount of congressional or gubernatorial support they corral.
This Saturday in Atlanta southern Democratic leaders will hold the first of four regional conferences for potential candidates. The full DNC membership will select a new chair in early February in Washington.
Although some Democrats continue to talk about trying to entice current Chair Terry McAuliffe to extend his tenure, particularly if no current candidate catches fire, I do not foresee this happening. This man can raise some kind of money, but I think it is generally agreed that he does not grasp the big picture of what our Party must do to recapture the White House.
(The Washington Post, 01-04-05.)
Kirk, the 2002 Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas, gave a boost to former House member and fellow Texan Martin Frost by endorsing his candidacy, while Ickes, a veteran party strategist, said he would defer supporting another candidate
The decisions did little to clarify a contest that remains wide open, with several energetically competing and several others still trying to decide whether to run.
The four candidates definitely in the race include Texan Martin Frost; former Denver mayor Wellington E. Webb; New Democrat Network founder Simon B. Rosenberg; and party strategist Donnie Fowler from South Carolina.
Other possibilities include former Vermont governor Howard Dean; former Michigan governor James J. Blanchard; and Timothy J. Roemer, a former Indiana congressman and member of the panel that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The decisions by these could be influenced by the amount of congressional or gubernatorial support they corral.
This Saturday in Atlanta southern Democratic leaders will hold the first of four regional conferences for potential candidates. The full DNC membership will select a new chair in early February in Washington.
Although some Democrats continue to talk about trying to entice current Chair Terry McAuliffe to extend his tenure, particularly if no current candidate catches fire, I do not foresee this happening. This man can raise some kind of money, but I think it is generally agreed that he does not grasp the big picture of what our Party must do to recapture the White House.
(The Washington Post, 01-04-05.)
posted by Sid Cottingham | 8:35 PM
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