Continuing her all-out effort to shit all over every Wisconsin Democrat, the brain trust at the top of the DNC continues to say idiotic and demoralizing things:
Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Sunday classified Democratic efforts in the Wisconsin recall election as a “test run” for the presidential race.
“It’s given the Obama for America operation an opportunity to do the dry run we need of our massive, significant dynamic grassroots presidential campaign,” the Florida representative said of the battleground state on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Wasserman Schultz, who is scheduled to campaign with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on Tuesday, said he has a “real opportunity” to oust incumbent Republican Gov. Scott Walker in the June 5 election. But she was quick to add it will also test the Obama re-election campaign and the grassroots operation in the state.
You’re just the guinea pigs, guys. This is a test run. A rehearsal. Sure, you have an “opportunity” to win, but what really matters is the big show.
Can someone make her stop talking about Wisconsin, please?
karen
I understand what she’s doing, trying to lessen the damage…but all she’s doing is showing people why you can’t depend on the Democratic party…
Marcellus Shale, Public Dick
oh i believe the grass roots in wisconsin is pretty strong and battle tested. those kids might have a future.
Ruckus
Look at the bright side. You no longer have to decide if DWS is an idiot. You have proof.
The problem is what do do about it.
Villago Delenda Est
Didn’t someone say that DWS was Looserman with tits?
She’s proving it with this crap right now.
boss bitch
Oh right, DWS is now an idiot. I recall the blogosphere singing her praises not too long ago.
fasteddie9318
This seems like fairly standard expectations managing, if maybe somewhat ineptly done, in advance of what may very likely be a Walker victory. I’m not sure what people want her to say. Nothing? Maybe nothing would be better, but you have to know that every media outlet in the country has a tidal wave of “zOMG DEMOCRAPS SUKZZORS PRESIDENT OBLACKGUY IS DOOOOOMED!” stories ready to go as soon as the results are called Tuesday night. She’s trying, however lamely or poorly, to get the party’s narrative out ahead of that storm.
If this is about what the DNC has done, rather than what the DNC head has said, that’s a fairer and more important criticism. Although, frankly, if a majority of WI voters are stupid enough or right-wing enough (but I repeat myself) to keep this man in office despite everything that’s happened in the past year, I’m not sure how much help some extra DNC-paid ads are going to be.
Tony J
OFFS!
Last night I read here that DWS’s previous comments on Wisconsin were perfectly understandable and sensible because the DNC didn’t want to have its fingerprints all over the recall election, as that would nationalise a state contest and give Walker a ‘Both Sides Do It!’ defence against – accurate – Democratic accusations of his being a tool of out-of-state anti-Obama interests.
You know what? I was convinced by this argument. It made sense and it won me over.
This statement kind of kicks that entire theory in the bubble-sack, though, doesn’t it?
I officially find your Colonial politics bizarre and odd. Have at it.
some guy
maybe Little Debbie should think about spending more time with her family?
Schlemizel
Back in the 60’s I read a story about a group of guys who called themselves “The Minutemen”. One of their stated goals was to get moles into the Dem organization. They wanted people in position to insult donors or demoralize volunteers.
Over the last 20 some years I have come to believe they have been successful. Beyond their pathetic dreams.
FlipYrWhig
Wait — what? What is the matter with you, John? How can you possibly object to both this statement AND the last one? Is this a Daily Howler thing where there’s just one magic phrase she has to say, and until she does she’s a grave disappointment to the public discourse?
lamh35
why is no one mentioning that the Koch Bros and the GOP Citizens United groups have been pouring buttloads of money into this recall election. The figure I heard was at least 25 mill so far. What exactly is the DNC supposed to do in this case, empty it’s coffers in WI and then what?
From what I hear, on the ground, OfA has been working int WI for awhile and are supplying its resources to get people out to vote and getting people ready to get to the polls. All we are hearing are from national figures, but local activiist are on the ground and working their butts off.
All I’m saying is that DNC funds is no match to the Citzens United clubs out there?
FlipYrWhig
She is answering a different question than you think she is. She keeps providing answers about the connection between this recall election and the November election. What do you think that connection is, and how should she characterize it?
Hill Dweller
DWS can say stupid shit till she is blue in the face(which seems like her goal at this point), but at the end of the day, if Wisconsin voters don’t realize Walker is a scumbag at this point, they deserve him.
boss bitch
You guys are fucking crazy. So far she’s an idiot, Looserman with tits and a mole. Any other insults for someone trying to lessen the blowback from an election where a fucking criminal is about to win a recall?
Raven
@Schlemizel: They sent postcards to “activists” in Champaign-Urbana that said “The Crosshairs Are On Your Back”. I was amazed when it was recounted in Nixonland.
tBoy
She’s a metaphor.
boss bitch
@lamh35:
You’re not hearing it because well, its easier to blame The Democratic Establishment than to realize what we are up against.
4tehlulz
Context::
>> CROWLEY: If the Republican governor should retain his seat up there, what will it say about the power of unions who have been fighting him and what will it say about putting Wisconsin in play this fall?
>> WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, I am going there Tuesday to campaign with Mayor Barrett. I think that he has a real opportunity to win. We have put our considerable grassroots resources behind him. All of the Obama for America and state party resources, our grassroots network is fully…
>> CROWLEY: But are there national implications?
>> WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: … engaged. And – well, I think what’s going to happen is that because of our on-the-ground operation, we have had an opportunity in this election, because especially given that Wisconsin is a battleground state, just like we did in the recall elections a year ago, to give this a test run.
>> And so what I think the implications will be is that ultimately I think Tom Barrett will pull this out, but regardless it has given the Obama for America operation an opportunity to do…
>> CROWLEY: Test run it.
>>: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: … the dry run that we need of our massive, significant, dynamic grassroots presidential campaign, which can’t really be matched by the Romney campaign or the Republicans because they’ve ignored on the ground operations.
Are we going to link the Washington Times’s analysis next?
Yutsano
@Hill Dweller: The ones that are really pissing me off here are those who are saying they don’t like what Walker is doing but they find the idea of a recall distasteful and either won’t vote or vote for Walker out of spite. Those are the people we should be screaming at. FFS the man lied to get into office but your precious fee-fees about how things should be done are more important. That is a level of stupidity I just can’t understand.
4tehlulz
@lamh35: Shush. We have a narrative that DWS is another Lieberman to sustain.
boss bitch
Wisconsin to Walker: “Please sir, may I have some more”
Jay
I blame Cory Booker.
Anton Sirius
@fasteddie9318:
If that’s what she’s trying to do, she should immediately be sacked. The language on that kind of stuff is pretty rote: you praise the hard work of the folks in the trenches, make some mention of the incumbent advantage, then maybe throw something in about how the team will also be able to learn some things to help in the general so that the efforts put into the recall won’t feel like a total waste if it comes up short.
What she’s doing instead is shitting all over the WI grassroots.
some guy
maybe Little Debbie could ask her close pals Ileana Ros-Lehtenin and Mario Diaz-Balart to pitch in with the Walker recall effort, considering all the support and assistance she has given them?
FlipYrWhig
Here’s the transcript of this interview:
CROWLEY: Let me move you to a couple other questions I have about other subjects. Wisconsin, there’s a recall of the sitting Republican governor, recall movement. He’s now leading in the polls up there. But it’s coming up. You’ve said, look, yes, I don’t think there’s national implications to this, and yet you are going to spend some of your time up there fund-raising for the Democrat who is challenging the sitting Republican governor, campaigning for him.
If the Republican governor should retain his seat up there, what will it say about the power of unions who have been fighting him and what will it say about putting Wisconsin in play this fall?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, I am going there Tuesday to campaign with Mayor Barrett. I think that he has a real opportunity to win. We have put our considerable grassroots resources behind him. All of the Obama for America and state party resources, our grassroots network is fully…
CROWLEY: But are there national implications?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: … engaged. And — well, I think what’s going to happen is that because of our on-the-ground operation, we have had an opportunity in this election, because especially given that Wisconsin is a battleground state, just like we did in the recall elections a year ago, to give this a test run.
And so what I think the implications will be is that ultimately I think Tom Barrett will pull this out, but regardless it has given the Obama for America operation an opportunity to do…
CROWLEY: Test run it.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: … the dry run that we need of our massive, significant, dynamic grassroots presidential campaign, which can’t really be matched by the Romney campaign or the Republicans because they’ve ignored on the ground operations.
FlipYrWhig
@4tehlulz: Ah, you beat me to it!
Hill Dweller
@Yutsano: As I said, I’ll feel bad for the people that voted against Walker, but the rest will get what they deserve.
If Walker does win, hopefully the current criminal investigation will bring him down.
some guy
@4tehlulz:
The worst part about that narrative is the near complete accuracy of the analogy.
Arundel
Also? She really needs to do something about that hair. It distracts me, its awfulness, like she just stepped out of the shower or something. Get with the 90’s, Debbie.
Kane
I suppose you would rather have her blow smoke up your butt and make grand empty declarations. You obviously have some ax to grind with Wasserman Schultz, and that’s fine, but you’re embarrassing yourself as you look for any detail to whine about.
If I didn’t know better, I would swear that you’re on the Walker payroll to help spread dissension amongst the ranks. Divide and conquer and all that.
FlipYrWhig
@Anton Sirius: No, she’s not. Read the fucking interview transcript. She’s being asked SPECIFICALLY about the connection between the recall election and the November election.
John, seriously, times like these you need to take a step back and remember that news organizations snip and spin and generally do an extremely poor job characterizing what happens even within their very own studios. Don’t fall for it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Could she have handled the question better? Sure. But I don’t see how she’s “shitting all over the Wisconsin grassroots.” Does anyone really think that what DWS said on what is, I suspect, the lowest rated (fewer than 500K viewers, according to a quick google) of the low-rated Sunday shows is going to change a single vote?
Baud
Debbie is the new Rahm.
ETA: If Rahm didn’t exist, it would be necessary to invent him.
rikyrah
I said it yesterday and I mean it.
I don’t give a shyt what DWS says about WI.
IF THEY DON’T KNOW THAT THEY NEED TO GET OFF THEIR ASSES AND VOTE…
then fuck ’em .
FlipYrWhig
@Kane: Not to mention that she’s “shitting all over the grassroots” so badly that… she’s making a campaign trip up there to appear with Barrett and rally the troops.
(Which, frankly, I’m surprised to see.)
FlipYrWhig
@Baud: Only Howard Dean can run the DNC! He’s known for always saying the right thing in interviews!
hildebrand
John, do you remember Lou Holtz? Do you remember what he told his team every goddamned week? It didn’t matter who they were playing, could be USC, could be the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople. Didn’t matter, because he told the Irish that they were going to get flattened. Hammered. Waxed. Beaten into the turf by the opposing team’s 10 foot tall, 500 lb running back, and shellacked by the quarterback with four arms and two heads. Why did he say such utterly foolish nonsense? To set expectations and get his team properly ‘motivated’ to get out there and execute.
Shockingly, politicians do similar things. They set expectations. They try to motivate their people. Some are better at it than others. DWS is no Lou Holtz, but good god, man, she is not throwing the entire state out with the bath water under the bus either. The most she is guilty of is artlessness. Beyond that, she hasn’t said a word that doesn’t actually make sense when looking at the politics of the race. That she is hauling herself up there is a good sign – maybe they need to roll out some larger Democratic guns to get the people to realize just how big this is, and how connected it is to the larger goal of electing Democrats and getting rid of the tea-party clowns, and stopping Mitt and the Donald from looting the country. I am glad that the DNC is finally waking up. If I mad about anything, it is that they have been so slow out of the gate – but now that they are actually moving, lets cut a little slack, eh?
Hill Dweller
Speaking of the rotund hack at CNN, I saw a clip of her interview with Trump during the Republican primary, where he accused Romney of making money by firing people. She interrupts him and said Willard did create jobs. If you closed your eyes, you’d think it was two surrogates arguing with one another, as opposed to a purported journalist conducting an interview.
The media has been in the tank for Willard all along. They are going to do whatever they can to help him win in November.
4tehlulz
So when do we start shitting on Barrett for being a tool of the DNC?
Lojasmo
@Villago Delenda Est:
Pretty sure loser man has tits.
Kane
It’s a sad state of affairs here at BJ when the readers have to provide a transcript to an interview to show that the author has once again taken things out of context to form to his disingenuous and intellectually dishonest rant.
Lol
Jesus, John, this hyperventilating and parsing of every remark in a desperate attempt to find a reason to be outraged is why I stopped reading DailyKos et al.
Anton Sirius
@FlipYrWhig: I did. And she did.
Maude
@rikyrah:
Thank you.
JGabriel
CNN:
Really wishing Howard Dean was still in charge of the DNC. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we took over the House, Senate, and WH during his reign.
.
hildebrand
@4tehlulz: That happened in John’s previous thread wailing about DWS. Or at least the whine was already started that he wasn’t the purest of the pure Democrats in the race – so BARRETT IS WORSE THAN WALKER!
piratedan
as if…. she may not be Howard Dean but I found the answer to be reasonable when taken in context…. christ what is she supposed to say… hey we’re all in, this election is a referendum on Republicans across the nation and if we shit the bed here we should just pack it up and go home.
This is Wisconsin’s election, it’s obvious that they’re getting help but for fuck’s sake is there anything from Barrett or Wisc Dems stating that they wish the DNC had played their hand differently? All the polling is from the usual suspects. I gotta believe that all that anger that transpired to make the recall happen is still out there and the rest of this shit is the usual smoke screen to discourage turnout amongst emoprog Dems
Baud
@FlipYrWhig:
IT’S A TRAP! She’s going there to make an inartful response to a direct question in person.
4tehlulz
@Kane: It’s worse when commenters
act Republicaninsist that CNN is being honest.Thor Heyerdahl
@tBoy: Nah – she’s not the metaphor – Senator Brea’s nephew is though (classic Rowan Atkinson skit)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HtjR-uZNI4w#t=251s
piratedan
@JGabriel: and he had Bush to run against…. just sayin’. These Rethugs have the media in damn near full accomplice mode so they can sell their “horse race” meme for revenue purposes.
FlipYrWhig
@Anton Sirius: Your reasoning is impeccable.
gogol's wife
I assume this is the same Monica Crowley who was “mentored” by Richard Nixon.
I just read the NYTimes and came here expecting to see the latest flame war about Austrian warmbloods. They have a great front page story that goes into all the gory details about Ann’s hobby — how has this not been noticed?
Odie Hugh Manatee
Gotta soften the hard landing if Walker wins, she doesn’t want to upset the DNC coffee cups.
The DNC, once again, is working hard to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
lamh35
Question: Was Howard Dean the BEST DNC CHAIR EVER??? I’m just asking because the wishes for Dean to be back at the head of DNC is becoming very Kanye West-esque, i.e. “DWS, I’ma let u finish, but Howard Dean was the best DNC Chair ever…!”
Anton Sirius
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Then why did she bother to say it?
One of her main jobs, and certainly her most important public one, is to say things that will directly or indirectly sway votes the DNC’s way. Saying “Yeah, I’m going out there to help out, but this is really just a dry run for November” does nothing of the sort.
I get that the DNC made a defensible strategic decision not to spend money on the recall. But DWS needs to be doing a hell of a lot better in the moral support department, no matter what the venue of the size of the audience.
FlipYrWhig
So, if Elizabeth Warren loses to Scott Brown, whose fault will that be?
JGabriel
@Hill Dweller:
If Walker wins, he’ll characterize the investigation as an attempt to override the will of the people, expressed twice now via the recall, with the politics of destruction.
And Walker will try to shut it down, since it’s still a state-level investigation, as far as I know.
.
rikyrah
and, if you wanna blame someone for Wisconsin, my vote is for Russell ‘ Purity’ Feingold, who didn’t get off his ass and get into this and run for the job. I have to believe that Feingold would have been a better candidate, but he was too fucking busy being so damn ‘ pure’, and whining about the system.
piratedan
@lamh35: good question… was Dean that good of a DNC chair or was Bush The Younger just that bad of a President?
Linnaeus
Eh, I can’t get upset about this comment. She’s trying to walk a fine line here between emphasizing that this recall is important while at the same time not wanting it to be an early referendum on the president.
4tehlulz
@FlipYrWhig: Rahm’s, obvs.
FlipYrWhig
@Anton Sirius: She’s responding to the specific question about how much the recall results reveal about how Wisconsin will go in the presidential contest this November. So she answers by saying that no matter how this election goes, they’re going to be ready and amped up for November. Why this is remotely objectionable to anyone is mysterious beyond measure.
PurpleGirl
Haven’t read the thread yet…
But if she thinks the recall is a test run for the presidential campaign, then wtf aren’t they giving the Dems in Wisconsin money support? Grassroots campaign or not, the Dems need money to do things. Argh!!!
David Koch
39% of union households plan to vote for a guy who strips them of their rights, cuts their wages, and demonizes them.
yet, instead of focusing on the glaring problem, the lameO’sphere would rather beat their chests about a florida politician.
classic LameO’sphere — whining that if so-and-so only said a specific set of words, magical ponies would fall from the air.
No wonder you guys love BVS, you really believe in incantations.
gluon1
@gogol’s wife: It’s perhaps reassuring to hear that this is Candy Crowley of CNN, rather than Monica Crowley of Fox.
FlipYrWhig
@piratedan: Am I misremembering, or hasn’t Kay said many times that she has not noticed a dramatic difference at the state or precinct level whenever the DNC has changed leadership?
FlipYrWhig
@PurpleGirl: They ARE giving them monetary support. See this WaPo report from weeks ago. This is a zombie lie eating all of our faces.
piratedan
@FlipYrWhig: can’t speak to that specifically, I keep taking away from Kay’s post is that the staff at the national level do change, but the local folks do tend to stay the same. A few new faces each time are to be expected. It seems to matter more on where the cash is spent for media focus
Anton Sirius
@FlipYrWhig:
So you’re saying she’s the only politician in captivity who actually responds to a question asked of her by Candy Crowley, instead of using it as a springboard to stay on message?
lamh35
@FlipYrWhig: I remember reading about the monetary support from DNC. But there is no way DNC can compete against the Citizen United SuperPACs, that’s why I asked up thread, why no one mentions that the opposition is pouring beaucoup money into this thing.
If people won’t admit how this affects the election in WI, then what the hell are we gonna do during the general. Are we gonna be blaming OfA and DNC then too, completely ignoring the SuperPAC?
Corner Stone
This may be the most heart breaking 60 Minutes I’ve ever seen.
FlipYrWhig
@Anton Sirius: The entire interview is about the closeness of the presidential race, so, yes, that’s what she’s addressing, and it is, in fact, on message. It’s neck and neck, but we’ve got a great organization, the Republicans are disastrous to the middle class, Obama has accomplished a lot, and we’re ready to go. A question about the recall and only the recall might have a different answer. A question about the recall and its relation to a close presidential race seems like it has the answer she gave.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Anton Sirius: I already said it wasn’t a great answer, but no one has shown me how it was “shitting all over the grassroots in Wisconsin.” She should have said something about Walker’s dishonest initial campaign, his out-of-state fundraising, his confessed-to-on-video confession that his goal is to turn Wisconsin fully red. But guess what: Every single fucking voter in Wisconsin either knows this, or doesn’t give a fuck about politics, or some combination thereof. I look at TPM’s round-up of WI polling, and Walker’s approval rating is pretty steady at around fifty per cent for the last month. Hard to get that guy recalled no matter what Debbie Wasserman-Schultz says on the Sunday morning of Memorial Day week-end two days before the election.
Smiling Mortician
Ah, shit. This again? This thread is proof, if any were needed, that John Cole doesn’t read the comments in response to his own posts.
Remember when it was just the right-wingers who took stuff out of context, willfully ignored all attempts to provide said context, and went bug-nutty with it? Good times, good times.
@PurpleGirl:
They are. Read yesterday’s DWS thread.
ETA: FlipYrWhig got there first, I see.
FlipYrWhig
@lamh35: What the DNC says in public doesn’t necessarily reflect what the DNC plans behind closed doors. Both parties go through this dance where a win in a local race has national import and a loss in a local race is an anomaly.
For example, when Mark Critz (D) beat Tim Burns [R] in a special election in May 2010, DNC chair Tim Kaine said: “The Republican Party’s failure to take a seat that they themselves said was tailor made for them to win is a significant blow and shows that while conventional wisdom holds that this will be a tough year for Democrats, the final chapter of this year’s elections is far from written.”
Davis X. Machina
@Smiling Mortician:
Yeah, but only because, we, the netroots, the real Democrats, the true base of the party, shamed her into it.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
FlipYrWhig
@Smiling Mortician: I think he’s just doing that thing where he digs in hard. Like in the Libya threads, or any Greenwald-approved subject. But, yeah, this one is wholly reliant on swallowing the report of an interview rather than watching or reading the transcript of the actual interview, which would take all of 5 minutes tops.
FlipYrWhig
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
In an interview dedicated to the WI recall, sure, but this was an interview about why the presidential election was shaping up to be so close. WI only got folded into that because Crowley wanted to discuss it as a battleground state in the presidential race.
Frankensteinbeck
@4tehlulz: and @FlipYrWhig:
I thank you both. Context is everything, and I like to hear the full story.
Anton Sirius
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
How would you characterize the idea that all the people busting their asses in WI right now are just practicing for the real thing?
Baud
@Anton Sirius:
Where did she use that word?
Mnemosyne
@Anton Sirius:
Why will this lie not go away? What do we need to do to shoot it in the head and make it stop?
Mnemosyne
The VERY FIRST PARAGRAPH of the WaPo story:
Will people please please please stop spreading the lie that the DNC has not spent any money in Wisconsin in support of the recall? Pretty please? With sugar on top?
dww44
@boss bitch: I’ve never believed that Wasserman-Schultz was a literate spokesperson for the Democratic party. She is a centrist, after all. However, I was not impressed with her predecessor either. The ONLY real DNC chair of late was Howard Dean, plain and honestly spoken. Please bring him back.
But I do hate it when Democratic officials,elected or not,waffle.And she waffles. That’s simply WEAK. We do not need WEAK.
stinkbait
Wasn’t she your hero like last week. You firebaggers are all the same. All experts at self marginalization and don’t understand why nobody takes you seriously anymore.
Why not stick with what you know Cole. Cooking and dog puke.
Anton Sirius
@FlipYrWhig:
Again, if that was her intent, she screwed the pooch with her actual answer rather than your sanitized paraphrase of it.
Even if the DNC is seeing the recall as a “dry run” for November, the people on the ground in WI sure as hell aren’t.
Anton Sirius
@Baud:
Fine then. How would you characterize the idea that all the people busting their asses in WI are participating in a dry run for November?
Baud
@Anton Sirius:
It’s called experience. You do something, you get better at it for the next time.
Mnemosyne
@Anton Sirius:
Because, despite what you seem to think, a lot of the people busting their asses in Wisconsin right now WORK FOR THE DNC. They work for OFA. So, unless you’ve bought into the zombie lie that the DNC has done absolutely nothing to support the recall effort, it makes sense for DWS to talk about how the DNC and OFA workers who have been busting their asses during the recall effort consider it a dry run for the election in November.
kay
@Anton Sirius:
I guess I see it differently. Crowley asked her if this meant unions had no power, and she didn’t want to answer that ( a loss is a huge blow to labor) so she took it to OFA. She’s giving the loss to OFA, if they lose. I saw it as protecting labor.
Robert Reich said the exact same thing.
Anton Sirius
@Mnemosyne:
A bigger gun? I take full responsibility for being dumb on that one.
kay
@Mnemosyne:
The DGA put more money into the recall than they have ever spent on a governor’s race in Wisconsin.
We are talking about 1 million voters. That’s it. They have 40 offices and 4 million dollars to turn out one million voters.
There is something amiss with this story :)
Clime Acts
Jesus, what a twit this woman is.
Perfect leader for the DNC.
lol
@lamh35:
To be honest, most of Dean’s fans in blogosphere don’t have a fucking clue what he did as chair. Not a single fucking clue. It’s amazing that fuckwits like Bowers and Kos are paraded around as knowledgeable about politics when they’re so spectacularly wrong about this stuff.
Dean was a good chair. He modernized a lot of the DNC’s infrastructure (infrastructure which is *still in use* and *still in place*) and he redirected the fundraising focus from soft money to small donors.
That said, the main piece of the “50 State Strategy” was better on paper than in practice. All the 50SS was, in reality, was throwing a hundred grand or so at every state party to hire staff. How and on who the money was spent was entirely up to the locals.
Thus, the results varied according to the competency of the state party. Some states used the money to hire their first permanent staff in decades, some states used it to hire more people, some states used it to pay for staff they already had on board, some states used it to hire incompetent local party hacks. The positions hired ranged from executive directors and press secretaries to field organizers and new media types.
Let’s be clear about this: there was no strategy behind the 50 State Strategy. There were no goals and no accountability.
That’s not to say the idea wasn’t good – this was the first steps towards building a permanent grassroots infrastructure. But honestly, it didn’t really affect anything. The competent parties put them to good use, the incompetent ones wasted the money.
That’s why, when Obama took office, he killed the program and replaced it with OFA 2.0 – the DNC filled specific positions in every single state with people the *DNC* specifically picked. The staffers report to the *DNC* and are accountability for specific goals to the *DNC*.
In every single way, shape, and form OFA 2.0 is superior to the 50SS.
Of course, the blogosphere know-nothings just saw “Obama killed the 50SS” and didn’t think twice about what the 50SS was or what it was replaced with.
Anton Sirius
@Mnemosyne:
No, sorry, that’s crap. Calling it a dry run directly says that the recall is not an end unto itself. And it sure as hell is.
Again – if her intention was to talk about lessons learned as part of the recall that can be used to strengthen the efforts in November, then she should have said that. She didn’t.
Mnemosyne
@Anton Sirius:
If it was just you, I would be less frustrated, but there are people like our bloghost who are buying into these lies and turning their frustration on the DNC despite the money and manpower the DNC has poured into Wisconsin.
This is starting to seem like classic Rovian ratfucking. Now I’m starting to wonder who the first person to make the claim that the DNC was holding themselves aloof was, and what their motivation would be to propagate and spread this lie.
kay
Seems like a reasonable thing to say. True, too.
David Koch
Dolchstoßlegende
We would have won Wisconsin, but DWS stabbed the blogosphere in the back.
lol
@Anton Sirius:
You people will find any reason to be outraged.
kay
@lol:
Forget it. It’s reached mythical status.
The 50 state strategy to us here meant one organizer who arrived every three months and gave us long, complicated Power Point assignments. It was FINE but it was NOT this magic formula, and it isn’t even NEW. Everyone always says “we’re going to compete in every race”. It’s like boilerplate.
Every single person I have ever met who worked for the now-mythical 50 state strategy in Ohio either works for the state Party or works for OFA. Some of them go back and forth! They work for the state Party then they work on a campaign and then they’re back at OFA!
They’re the same godammned people.
Mr Stagger Lee
@lol: Okay Mr Axelrod or is it Mr Plouffe, can you explain to me WTF happen in 2010. Do you think the Democrats can win back the House and strengthen its numbers in the Senate? Cause frankly here in Washington State, after attending some of the Democratic Party conventions and caucuses, I’m not seeing it. Oh by the way the Republicans here are out for bear in numbers.
kay
@Mnemosyne:
It originated with a Sargent piece with no names. “Wisconsin Dems” said this or that.
Smiling Mortician
@Anton Sirius: Context really does help. She was talking specifically about Obama for America — saying that the OFA organization specifically could view the Wisconsin race as a precursor to the nationwide efforts for November — because the November election is ultimately OFA’s job. And, as Kay pointed out, she was talking about OFA in order to pivot away from Crowley’s question about whether unions would be perceived as weak if Walker wins. And it worked — the conversation left the issue of Wisconsin unions so that everyone could bitch about OFA and the DNC.
Anton Sirius
@kay:
I can see that. That part of Crowley’s question she spun away from. I still don’t see how you get from “this is on OfA, win or lose” to “dry run” though and think that’s a good message to send.
kay
Davis X Machina uses the word “overdetermined” to describe things like crediting the 50 state strategy with every Dem win (or loss) and I love that, because I needed a word.
Stop overdetermining.
Mnemosyne
@kay:
Given that Sargent’s own newspaper was reporting differently, one hopes that he will be going back to those “Wisconsin Democrats” to find out why they lied to him. Is it ass-covering by local party officials trying to deflect the blame or something worse?
4tehlulz
@kay: Politico?
Smiling Mortician
@Mr Stagger Lee: Sort of curious about why the directors of the president’s campaign are responsible for the results of midterm elections . . .
ETA: Oh wait. You’re referring to lol as Axelrod/Plouffe. I missed your funny.
kay
@Anton Sirius:
I’ll just go ahead and give you my take. This is a very heavy lift. There are three groups who have an interest here, the state party, the national party, and labor. The polls are close or Walker is ahead, and they are spinning.
I read it as DWS taking what may be a fall for labor, which I agree with. This is HUGE for labor. They can’t take the hit. Obama can.
I am honestly confused, though, because in Ohio, w/Issue Two, labor outspent Kasich 4 to 1. They POURED money into Ohio. Labor spent 30 million dollars.
So, I don’t know who is spinning what, but someone is spinning, because it doesn’t make sense to me.
The numbers don’t even make sense. They have 4 million dollars and 40 offices. They can’t get 1 million voters out? That doesn’t make sense.
kay
@Mnemosyne:
I think it’s probably state party people AND labor. Labor will be the big loser, though. That’s legit. They’ll really lose. The state party? Probably no one gives a shit if they lose face, except them.
Kane
“I’m Scott Walker, and I approved this post.”
kay
@Mnemosyne:
I think The Fix got it right. They said it’s spin. Sargent went with “exclusive!”
brantl
@FlipYrWhig: She’s managed to diss it in two diametrically opposed ways, what don’t you get, flip? Problems with english?
Davis X. Machina
@kay:
@lol:
s/Howard_Dean/John_Frum
kay
@lamh35:
Well, but think about that. Walker is getting tons of money. Kasich didn’t. Labor spent tons of money in Ohio. It (looks like) they’re not spending as much in Wisconsin. Ohio is twice as big as Wisconsin, so take that into account, but labor spent 30 million dollars in Ohio.
The recall was a huge risk. Walker is not that unpopular. I have no interest in second-guessing the plan or anything like that, I want them to win and I hate that after the fact “analysis” but the money is an indication of the difficulty of the race. That’s just the reality.
4tehlulz
@kay: So, is labor just being satisfied with getting the recall but not going all out to win?
Davis X. Machina
@kay: This is why most sportswriting sucks. There are always way more causes out there to choose from than the limited number (win, loss) of observable outcomes.
JoyfulA
@kay: Under the 50 State Strategy, central PA was allocated a DNC organizer from Texas who was fabulous: A stream of e-mails and phone calls about working on a canvass, be a backdrop for a speech, work on a mailing, convoy upstate to support a D, always something to do to help the party.
It could have just been the high quality of that one person, but I’ve never seen or heard from anyone from the DNC before then or since.
lol
@Mr Stagger Lee:
What happened is that *like every mid-term election before it*, the Democrat base failed to turn out. The sad fact is that our base only turns out for Presidential elections. We can change that but it’ll take time.
Do you think the Democrats can win back the House and strengthen its numbers in the Senate? Cause frankly here in Washington State, after attending some of the Democratic Party conventions and caucuses, I’m not seeing it. Oh by the way the Republicans here are out for bear in numbers.
I was always optimistic about holding the Senate… now I see the potential for gaining seats thanks to the teatards opening up more opportunities.
I think Dems did poorly in redistricting efforts, mainly because the GOP took so much in the mid-terms. So we probably won’t win back the House.
Pretty much the last place you should be looking for enthusiasm is the conventions and caucuses. The WA Dems are packed with entitled whiners and prima donnas.
Redistricting plus Inslee/Dicks has set off a chain reaction of people moving for different seats that I think it going to drive enthusiasm on our side. That said, Inslee is underperforming and McKenna is about as perfect a candidate as the Republicans could hope for.
Looking to the future, the WA GOP has pretty much no one left on their bench after McKenna. Maybe Cathy McMorris-Rodgers? I think she’d go down as well as Linda Smith did.
In the end, Obama’s going to drag Inslee’s ass over the finish line and McKenna can decide whether to become the next Dino Rossi or retire to the wingnut speech circuit.
Mike
OFA has been mixed in Wisconsin. This from Dan Balz of all people has a good take, pointing out that the national Democratic party has been a dog on the recall from day one, advising against it (like my union did). People on the ground ignored them.
The OFA chapter on one side of me organized the recall in their neighborhood, collecting thousands of signatures. The OFA chapter on the other side did what they could to sink the recall, bloviating interminably about voter ID when we were at the height of signature collection. Guess which chapter is thriving.
Kay
@4tehlulz:
There are other outcomes that are possible. They could get a majority in the Senate, which would help.
David Koch
@Mr Stagger Lee:
you mean you don’t remember how the vaunted blogosphere said “stay home, don’t vote, teach obama a lesson”?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@kay: Best spin I can put on those numbers, the people who support Walker most likely include a lot of people who are following that closely, whereas the people who want him out, really want him out. The intensity gap may favor us this time. He typed hopefully.
lol
@4tehlulz:
It wouldn’t be the first time they blew millions simply to make a point. They threw a ton of money behind Halter with every intention of ditching him for the general election.
So why spend the money if it wasn’t actually going to change things?
Anton Sirius
@Mnemosyne:
It’s a frustrating time. We’re fighting against misanthropic regressive assholes, and it sometimes seems like nobody else notices they are misanthropic regressive assholes, even when it’s screamingly obvious.
I think it was Jim upthread who said what DWS said isn’t going to cost a vote. I’d say that logic applies exponentially more to a comment thread like this. Me railing against what I think was a boneheaded thing said by DWS doesn’t reduce my enthusiasm or cloud my focus or whatever, and wouldn’t think it would put a dent in anybody else’s commitment either.
I mean, if you’re even reading and commenting on BJ you’re either on board or trolling. Me venting and blowing off steam in DWS’ direction isn’t going to make someone re-consider a donation to the campaign.
Kay
@JoyfulA:
I’m not really talking about the individuals. Our OFA ’08 organizer sucked, and all I heard was how great Obama’s team was. He was horrible.
I’m talking about this “infrastructure” I keep hearing about, that Obama “dismantled”.
I don’t think the Dean 50 state strategy was solely responsible for Democratic wins in that period. It was a good run for Democrats. I can attribute that to a lot of things. I say this all the time, so forgive me if I’ve said it to you, but John Kerry’s campaign was actually enormously helpful to us here, after the loss, because it was the first time we developed lists and were taught to use a tracking program. John Kerry’s losing and generally inept campaign paid local dividends.
So, my one and only point is, it’s complicated.
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I wrote this last night, but public sector unions are different than private sector unions. They’re browner, and more female.
So. That’s what I’m counting on (as USUAL). Women.
I’ve decided men are unreliable voters. Skittish. Running off every which way. Moody :)
4tehlulz
@Kay: And show up on election day.
Kay
@4tehlulz:
Right. I don’t know, too, in Wisconsin if private sector unions are as close with public sector unions as they are in Ohio. They were genuinely working together, and they honestly have little or nothing in common other than union membership.
Is that true in Wisconsin? Because I’m wondering about the “39% of union households for Walker”. Are those private sector union members? Did his fucking “divide and conquer” thing WORK?
Mike
@Kay: I sincerely doubt that 39% of union households are voting for Walker. Even in 2010, it was somewhat less than that. In my public workplace, it is considerably less than 10%. And about 50% of the labor movement in Wisconsin is public employees.
ruemara
@PurpleGirl: They’ve gotten millions from the Dems. This narrative that the Democratic party has not sent any real money has got to stop.
And, seriously JC, do you not have anything better to freak out about?
SiubhanDuinne
@Villago Delenda Est: @boss bitch:
This has nothing to do with her performance as DNC chair, or what she says about WI, but I am a little uncomfortable with this kind of comment given that she has undergone seven breast cancer surgeries. Any chance we can restrict our criticisms to the actual job she’s doing?
Kay
@Mike:
But what is the situation with private sector unions? I’m asking. I don’t know.
Is there a huge private sector union presence there? Because we had that in Ohio. The main drivers in this county were Teamsters and Steelworkers. Public sector union members did all the grunt work, but the “leaders” were private sector union employees. We had a national AFL CIO guy here, and there are only 30k people in this county.
JoyfulA
@Kay: It’s very complicated.
Overall, the grassroots here see the hierarchy, especially the DNC, as always interfering (as in presenting 80-year-old Republican Specter, who could not have won in either party, as our D Senate candidate) and never supporting. The exception is the Dean DNC years, which is probably why they glow for us.
Mike
@Kay: The labor movement in Wisconsin is 50% public employees and there is no huge divide between public and private workers. Many unions have both – the Teamsters are a good example of that, and they have been as good as anyone on the recall.
DougW
DWS shouldn’t be counting chickens at this point… Just keep on working… Keep working the base, and don’t do anything to disturb that sleeping bear….
schrodinger's cat
@FlipYrWhig: Obama’s. Don’t you know everything is his fault. Ask Tom Friedman.
FlipYrWhig
@brantl: Read the transcript then show me the would-be diss. The whole interview is about the closeness of the presidential race. She brings up Wisconsin as a battleground state where O looks good in the polls. Crowley asks whether a loss in the recall has “implications” for November. Wasserman Schultz proceeds to say that no matter how it turns out, and of course they fully expect to win, (1) it’s chiefly a local race, but (2) it’ll provide valuable experience for the November effort. There’s no way that’s disrespectful of anyone’s work. It’s a cogent answer to the question of what the recall election portends vis a vis the Obama vs. Romney race. Meanwhile she gets in all the scripted points about Romney and Republicans being disastrous for the middle class. There’s no there there. Complain about how the DNC should have provided more resources, fine. But there are no grounds for bellyaching over what she said.
Clime Acts
@Schlemizel:
Seriously, this would explain a LOT.
Especially if Obama is one of the moles.
Clime Acts
@kay:
Your perspective on politics is so warped by your insidery insiderness as to be useless.
But I know it’s your hobby, so carry on…
FlipYrWhig
@Clime Acts: Yeah, how dare she “work” on “politics,” instead of running down everyone for ever-shifting rationales.
Yutsano
@FlipYrWhig: Remember: only Special Timmeh knows DA TROOF!! and only he is capable of seeing all the connections and conspiracies at all times. We are but slime next to his TROOF!!
Clime Acts
@FlipYrWhig:
Hey dipshit, Kay can work on anything she wants to work on, and apparently she spends most of her free time and emotional energy on Democratic politics. But her perspective is necessarily warped as a result.
Clime Acts
@Yutsano:
If you insist.
FlipYrWhig
@Clime Acts: It would indeed be a pity to go through life with a warped perspective. What do you think that would be like? Can you imagine?
kay
@Clime Acts:
Yeah, well, you read a single article without a single named source and swallowed it whole.
Use your head. It’s a million voters, and they have 4 million dollars for GOTV. How much do you think they pay these people? It’s ten days of phone calls in one state.They’re not building a space station.
cpinva
sorry, but i don’t buy into your denigrating wasserman-schultz. in fact, i think you have it completely ass backwards. she’s right, this is a test run for the national campaign, and the very best kind, one where something tangible is at stake. if that’s above your intellect, the problem lies with you, not her.
the military would literally kill (and has done so) for war games like this. a computer simulation is good, but not nearly as good as the real deal. that’s what she meant, and i shouldn’t have to explain it to you.
and by the way, i happen to like her hair, it looks good on her. if that’s the best you have, it’s pretty damn pathetic.
Pat In Massachusetts
It’s also interesting that the DCCC is still looking for donations from me. Their priorities are totally fucked up and they do not represent true Democratic ideals. Not anymore. Not by a long shot.
It is really amazing how this election has turned into one of absolutely no choices, because if we were all honest here no one would approve of the persecution of whistle blowers (Free Bradley Manning!) or drone warfare in half a dozen Muslim countries if they were carried out by a GOP president. But somehow these two items have become perfectly acceptable to any Democrat I’ve talked to lately. How so, I ask?
We have only the third recall effort going on in all of American history and this Floridian is calling it a “test run” for the President. What is it with this ding bat? Is it the water down there, or too much sun? I’m sorry but the President has already won a presidential election once. I would hardly call running for a SECOND TERM a test run.
Feminists like her really, really, irritate me!
The lack of support the Democratic party as a whole has shown to the state of Wisconsin speaks volumes to me. They may go on the Sunday shows and that liberal mecca, MSNBC and rationalize this all they want. However, it will fall on deaf ears in this household because the only real thing about news these days is what the corporate owners of these outlets want you to hear, and in light of that fact they have become completely unbelievable to me.
I know the number one response to my comment will be that THE ALTERNATIVE IS WORSE! That statement is kind of like saying “better to stick with the bad we are familiar with, rather than have to get used to a worse kind of bad.”
Some may call this a choice. I see it as we are fucked either way.
xian
@Clime Acts: it would explain you
J R
@Anton Sirius:
Your “quote” is not even an accurate paraphrase of what she said, which I know from reading the transcript higher in this thread.
Further, the DNC has not made a strategic decision to not be involved, as you claim. On the contrary!
The DNC has invested over a million dollars, the Dem Governor’s have invested more than in any other race ever, and the grassroot organizers of the Obama campaign are fully involved, which is probably worth the biggest part of what the Rs are spending on TV ads.
I’ve personally contributed money, from a thousand miles away. Evidently, all you’ve done is tear down all the effort being put into this campaign. Thanks! Thanks so much!
@Pat In Massachusetts:
Are you participating in Elizabeth Warren’s campaign? Or just lying about other people’s work in Wisconsin? I’m not contributing to the DCCC, or the Democratic Senatorial group OR the DNC, because I like to send my money to the candidates I support, Like Elizabeth Warren! And the Wisconsin Recall for a second example.
I’ll be contributing to and working for Obama too. And you should get off your dead dumb ass and work for change too, instead of bad-mouthing people who have dedicated their lives to working to better the governance of this country. Wasserman-Schultz is fighting breast cancer while she fights for the country, and you can’t give her the time of day!?!
Yes, things aren’t perfect. Obama has not done things I thought he promised to do, and has done things I didn’t think he would do. That said, he saved the country from the Second Great Depression. He saved GM and Chrysler!
I traveled last winter, and I saw people driving Dodge Ram trucks with Romney and McCain bumper stickers on them, and I thought “Where do they think they would be going for spare parts on that truck without Obama and his hard work?”
You people are swallowing a Big Lie propagated by people working for Right Wing Supremacy without even blinking or exercising critical judgement, and then propagating it again for them!
All branches of the Democratic party are working to recall Walker in WI right now, and you should be building that effort up. Making contributions, volunteering for a phone bank, something!
Instead, you’re blowing up the foundations!
Thanks! Thanks a lot!
Thymezone
DWS approaches national politics from a fully technical point of view, the way a programmer approaches building a website for a dating service. Make sure the respondent checks box A before clicking on button C. Really warm, personal stuff that connects deeply with … robots. Or maybe Google technicians. People who think like Jeff Bezos, calculating … accurately, of course .. the cost of air conditioning his distribution centers located in places where the DCs are ovens in the summertime. Let’s see, 1200 MKWPH divided by the mean cost of power over the peak periods …. hmmm
Let’s cut the crap. DWS is not cut out for the job she is in. She is a nice person, a brave cancer survivor, a good mom probably, maybe even a good legislator. But a DNC chair she is not. Can we get a real one, and move on please?
Final answer? When your press coverage can’t keep up with fucking Rance Priebus, or whatever his name is, you are not getting the job done.