Fighting the Conventional Insider Wisdom

Howard Dean.

Mr. Begala:

"What he has spent it on, apparently, is just hiring a bunch of staff people to wander around Utah and Mississippi and pick their nose." -- Dem strategist Paul Begala on DNC Chair Howard Dean's spending, CNN, 5/11

This statement hitting on the eve of our convention, where we are about to nominate Congressman Jim Matheson for re-election, is not helpful. And, the "pick their nose" comment is hurtful to Democrats who are truly on the frontline. An apology to my hardworking staff is in order.

By leaving the GOP unopposed in places like Utah, it frees them up to concentrate on making inroads in marginal districts. Congressmen in tough places deserve support, too. Jim Matheson, Stephanie Herseth (keynote speaker at tonight's pre-convention dinner) and even a potential pick-up like Gary Trauner in Wyoming deserve the support they are getting from the DNC.

...

I wish I had more time today to be thoughtful. But this fight is disheartening, and not productive. Chairman Dean is not going to change what he has started. Too many DNC members appreciate it. (And, they are Dean's electorate.) I encourage you and Congressman Rahm Emmanuel to move on, and find a way to make it work for the DCCC.

We will win not by fighting in an ever-narrowing middle, but by being competitive everywhere, all the time. Unlike all the gatekeepers of the inside-the-beltway wisdom, Dean fully understands this where they do not. This is the way to prove to people all over the country that we care about all of them and all of their support - not by only appealing to a small percentage of them a small percentage of the time.

The insiders can act all offended because Dean has ruffled their feathers by rejecting their way - and therefore implicitly, them - but it is not going to solve anything. If they want to publicly disagree with Dean, fine, let them, because their words cannot affect Dean and his strategy. But to take shots at individual states and organizations is unnecessary and unproductive, like the head of Utah's Democratic party remarks above.