Here’s the Deal
I do not want to start a Hillary vs. Bernie fight here. (We have El Jefe for that!)
But I do want to say that Donna Brazile is one of the classiest dames I have ever met. She is double smart, funny, and has a voice that could lull you into volunteering for the hardest job in any campaign. I consider myself blessed to know she has a role in my party.
I think she has something important to say. It’s long, but worth your time. I will let you draw your own conclusions but I trust her honesty and perceptions.
I do need to offer this disclaimer. I was chair of the finance committee for the Texas Democratic Party at the time this “money sharing” idea was presented. I was given to understand that the money was going to both the DNC and Hillary that a (small) portion would be kept in Texas. I was also told that any other candidate would be given the same opportunity. We got totally screwed by it in Texas, totally screwed. I have never forgiven myself for being trusting when I’m usually the one being a horse’s patootie about stuff like this. If I ever see Debbie Wasserman Schultz I will tell her to kiss my big blue butt.
That’s all I have to say about that.
Thanks to Bunny for the heads up.
It was a well executed squeeze play. Something to be admired in baseball, but more akin to a brush back pitch aimed to maim in terms of small “d” democracy. You, Ms. Brazile and Senator Sanders were left with two choices, one bad and the other untenable. Sinking Hilz at the time also meant paving the way for Donnie.
But you trooped on, Mrs. B. Remember the column you wrote after Senator Warren visited Texas? You told us about how she was the only candidate to visit who asked “what she could do for Texas” unlike the others who arrived for the sole purpose of leaving with Texas money.
As with Louie Gohmert being a Texas problem, Debbie WTF Schultz is now a Florida problem. Raise the World Series banner, she is OUT at the national level.
1Thank you for saying this.
2I read this article a couple of times and I have to admit that I really don’t exactly understand it. I know that JJ has long complained about folks raising $$$ in Texas and taking it away to spend elsewhere. On the other hand, it appears that Hillary stepped in and rescued the DNC’s finances, no?
Brazile says the methods were legal but not ethical. How so?
And, as much as I love Bernie, did he raise any money for the DNC or state parties?
3BarbinDC: Yes, Hilary rescued the DNC finances, which we all knew Debbie W-S had let go to hell, along with Party organization.
But the Party is SUPPOSED to be impartial until the nominee is chosen. Local Parties are actually required to stay out of it (at least in my state) until after the primary – our job is to get out the vote, not influence WHO people vote for until the General Election, when we push the slate. That’s why pre-emptive control of the national Party, while not strictly illegal, is certainly unethical.
4It bothers me that one candidate “rescues” the DNC finances. He who pays the piper … Why were we overspending to begin with?
The part that’s unethical is this: I am limited to what I can give a presidential candidate directly, $2,700. If I wanted to give more I could participate in a scheme that now appears to be money laundering. Thirty two state Democratic Parties set up a Hillary Victory Fund. This allowed people to give $353,400 more.
“To Brooklyn” means to Hillary’s campaign. I do not know if any money actually stayed in Battleground states. I do know that Texas didn’t get a dime. So people were saying they were giving to 32 states but they were actually giving to Hillary with a small cut to the DNC, which was under Hillary’s control. So —-
When Elizabeth Warren was going to be in Texas and offered to do a fundraiser for Texas Democrats, she did not ask how we were going to spend the money. By the way, Al Franken came last month and didn’t ask for a dime either.
And no, Bernie did not raise money for the DNC or for Texas. I do not know about other state parties. However, he did not expect to control an entity that was supposed to be equal and fair.
In the future, any candidate who hires Robby Mook automatically loses my support and vote. No exceptions.
5Holy f*ing crap! (Sorry, Momma.) This is appalling! DWS should occupy the cell next to DJT’s. No wonder the Democratic Party is on a respirator.
6I pretty much disagree. Is a well-prepared, well-financed Hillary worse than what we have now??? Bernie is owed nothing by Democrats– he is not one. Never was, never will be. And this is JUST what we need now: we have no major candidates, no organization to speak of, and no voice except wonderful Elizabeth. So great of DB to do a mushy tell-all to be ripped apart and jeered at by the gorillas on the other side. Trust the Dems to self-destruct whenever possible– Nope, we didn’t need this.
7I don’t have a problem with people disagreeing with me.
Let me make this clear: I was a Hillary delegate to the Texas State Convention and I voted for her. My problem is not Hillary. My problem is, and has been for a long time, the disfunction of the DNC. Hillary just exploited the problem.
I think sweeping things under the rug is why we keep getting in trouble. The gorillas are going to jeer no matter what we do. They will sling poop and dance around the cage whether we make music or not. I might be the only person on earth to be fed up with making decisions based on what the Republicans might do. We are supposed to be the adults. If we are unwilling to fix our problem (which I believe has 95% to do with political “consultants”), and make an overhaul to the way we select candidates and who we sell out to, then shame on us. We are stronger than that. If we can’t run a party, then we can’t run the country. I want to hold the Democratic Party to the same standard I hold Donald Trump to. He can make the argument that now is not a good time for an investigation of him because we’re headed to war or some damn thing.
When’s the best time to fix our party mechanism? Right now.
8And THAT was quite stateswoman-like. JJ for President!
(I know– I am accusatory toward our party, but it is so frustrating to have lived through such disfunction and at the same time get request after request for money that they would probably just waste– just pitiful.) Please, someone tell me where we go from here and with whom…
9Juanita Jean Herownself, thank you. Reacting to the Republicans has been a bad strategy. Democratic candidates need to worry way less about donor desires and listen to the people. A loud message was sent in 2008, when we voted for “hope and change” no drama Obama. Again in 2016, a lesser known democratic socialist nearly won the Democratic nomination. Too many people don’t exercise their right to vote and they won’t unless candidates present real choice rather than Republican-lite.
I am not a fan of Chris Matthews, but his book, Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit should be required reading for the DNC and all candidates.
10Educate me, please.
11IIRC, those consultants get a take from what is raised. Then when they place ads, they get another take.
Howard Dean’s guy made enough off of a failed campaign to go partners with his R friend to buy a beach house in Cape Cod. That’s a lot of money.
Years ago, we did a project to satisfy our assumptions. We got 1/3 of the vote with 1 tenth of the money. Damn sure shut down a crooked county commissioner who lusted after being mayor of Houston.
IMO, the Ds need to decide what they believe and sell it. With all the creative types who are supposed to be liberals, why is it so hard?
The problem is that Donna Brazile seems to have written an entire book based on a fallacy. Correct me if I’m wrong but the documents look legitimate to me.
https://twitter.com/WalktheTalkBern/status/926195470824640512
Haven’t seen her address it but perhaps her publisher will.
12Courtesy of Russian hackers, the 2015 JFA Draft.
https://t.co/rhvHgdzjpV
13I read this article this morning.
1)”Our” dirty laundry should be aired. JJ is 100% right about getting our house in order and first we need to know what’s been swept under the carpet. (Whew! metaphorizin’ is thirsty work)
2)Bernie RAN in the Democratic primary. Never said he was a Democrat. But he was entitled to at least the appearance of a level playing field. Your opponent paying to call the shots is not a level field, especially when pains are taken to ensure that no one knows it.
3) Our personal beliefs and ethics would be a good place to start selling the Democratic platform to America.
That said, as flawed an individual as FDR was, the statements on his DC memorial are a pretty good foundation of what it means to be a Democrat.
“No country, however rich, can afford the waste of its human resources.
Demoralization caused by vast unemployment is our greatest extravagance. Morally, it is the greatest menace to our social order.”
“In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose a path of social justice…
The path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man.”
“Among American citizens, there should be no forgotten men, and no forgotten races.”
“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much;
It is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
– all from Franklin Delano Roosevelt-
14To Jeanne Pitz:
15A well prepared and well-funded Hillary Clinton is what we had. And even with all the bulls hit that went on against her in the campaign, her only job was to convince America she would be a better President than a vulgar talking yam with an inferiority complex. Her choice of associating with people like Mook, Dick Morris, and Terry McCauliffe had a lot to do with her failure to accomplish that.
Wally: You rock.
16I realize that this isn’t directly related to this thread. But watching Chuck Schumer on Rachel Maddow tonight kinda clarified something that’s been percolating in my head for a long time now. He talked about how Donnie Douchebag has broken through political norms like no one else. Which is true. But IMHO, that’s been our (liberals) problem for a generation. We know that our parents and grandparents fought and died to establish these norms because they lived through the times before government tried to protect everyday citizens instead of the rich and powerful. But we (as liberals) continue to take for granted that these fights are remembered. They’re history right? But ever since Rush Limbaugh came on the scene, history’s different. So a major chunk of a generation has a new history. Therefore new norms. We’ve still gotta fight the same battles we thought we won decades ago. And we’ve GOT to quit ignoring this and assuming old lessons stay learned. There’s a big chunk of the economy of the greatest country in the world dedicated to reeducation.
I’ve said before that Hillary Rodham Clinton is the most experienced, qualified candidate to run for the office of President in living memory.
That, and $4.50 will get you a latte* if you don’t win the election.
*apparently it will also get you $200,000 any time you give a talk to a wealthy group.
17Is it just me?
Wasserman-Schultz ran an organization soooooo poorly that even an orange tinted reality TV host could beat HRC. For *years* she’s had a crushed-beyond-belief look, and nobody went to resuscitate.
18Admittedly HRC was wearing 30 years of the vilest slime the good ole patricians could fabricate, buffed with Ailes’ finest work. But in the end Dems fell prey to propping up the old guard chopped off at the knees by Obama’s surprise.
And didn’t learn the lesson that *thrilling* inspiration is required to defeat doom and gloom…
Aaaaand Stephanie Ruhle had a *great* segment on this topic…
(My above points, aaand) Obama got the shaft for not bothering to set up his legacy and letting DW-S run the DNC into the ground.
I realize that there are lots of other issues I don’t know about, and that Bernie (who I voted for) wasn’t actually a Democrat and therefor didn’t deserve (as much?) support from the DNC prior to becoming the party candidate, but the implications stink.
19Oh, Holy Crap!
I just skimmed the story, and don’t understand the details of the machinations it discloses. But there are a few things I do know.
1. Donna Brazile’s breathless, hyperbolic account adds to the melodrama of the whole thing. Great for her book sales. Bad for the party.
2. Just what the media’s been starved for: a Genuine Hillary Scandal! Leading to;
3. Never mind Russia, North Korea, or the continuing hollowing out of our government and institutions. It’s HILLARY! It’s the DEMOCRATS!! It’s YUUUUGE! SQUIRREL! SQUIRREL!! SQUIRREL!!!
This is a real body blow to the Democratic institution. It will unquestionably keep us at each other’s throats for months to come. Because you know that all The Usual Suspects will be sure to keep stirring it up, playing on all the existing factions and resentments. The question is: can we get past it, and work to find and support new candidates, and bolster the incumbent ones? If not, we can kiss 2018 goodbye. And that means, in a very real sense, we can kiss our country goodbye. Because without a Democratic majority to counter it, the deliberate destruction of our government will continue. The fatally shortsighted GOP has shown no real signs of either the desire or ability to prevent it.
Our problem. Our responsibility. OUR CHOICE.
20Hillary Victory Fund: Joint Fundraising Committee Summary | OpenSecrets
https://www.opensecrets.org/jfc/summary.php?id=C00586537
Democratic Party of Texas D P $2,993,000
21R, you do understand that the Texas Democratic Party did not get to keep one dime of that money, right? It was funneled to the DNC and then given to Hillary. It was a way for her supporters to get around the donations limits set by people who think campaign finance reform is a good thing.
22Davebo, I refuse to discuss Hillary vs. Bernie. I voted and it’s over. I am highly concerned about changing the rules of the Democratic National Committee and closing the loophole that allows campaign donation limits to be meaningless.
23