Many of you have probably noticed the unbelievably virulent civil war that's developing between James Carville and the major progressive blogs. The short version: earlier today, Carville trashed Dean's chairmanship and suggested replacing him with Harold Ford. In response, the major progressive blogs are threatening civil war, with Kos literally calling for a war and Matt Stoller at MyDD threatening to have the netroots pull all funding from the Democratic Party.
Seriously? I mean, seriously? We just scored the biggest political victory for the Democratic Party in a generation. Let's be honest-- for all the media drama about a war between Dean, Rahm, and Schumer, all three did a phenomenal job this cycle. I know people who say Dean sucked, and I know people who say Rahm and Schumer sucked. I like all three. At the end of the day, these three people waged the most successful Democratic campaign of my lifetime.
Carville and the blogs have different ideas of how to win elections; that's fine. I have my own ideas, too. We can and should debate which strategy will carry the party forward. But the absolute last thing we need right now is a civil war in the Democratic party over such a non-issue as who James Carville thinks should chair the DNC. I love James Carville, but he made his reputation in politics by making various inflammatory statements to the media. It's won him a lot of elections-- some would say he single-handedly got Clinton out of the draft-dodging hole that threatened his primary campaign by vigorously fighting the allegations on camera. But is an inflammatory Carville statement really the best reason to launch a Democratic civil war? Come on. Dean won't be replaced as DNC chair; he's done a damn good job, and most of the party realizes that. The blogs need to calm down.
On a related note, Lieberman today reassured reporters that he's still committed to voting with the Democrats. I'm as loyal a Democrat as they come; I supported Lieberman in the primary and Lamont in the general election. Unfortunately, we lost in Connecticut-- but I'd have rather lost that seat than any other Senate election this cycle. Regardless of our problems with Joe, he's going to vote on our side and he's going to give us a Democratic majority. Let's welcome him back (if not with open arms) and move on to dealing with what really matters: implementing Democratic policy and keeping the Senate blue for years to come.
Okay, I know I've earned some flames. I'm ready.
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Friday, November 10, 2006
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4 comments:
flames? there aren't enough commenters here for there to be flames...
I largely agree with you though, except I would argue that Carville has no legitimacy to be casting stones - he's nothing but a CNN commentator now.
Additionally, he leaked Kerry post-election strategy to Bush in 2004, so I don't know that I trust him, regardless of past successes.
I think Rahm and Schumer did a good job, with the exception of Schumer's tacit endorsement of Lieberman post-primary.
But I think Dean's job is to build a national party, and that is exactly what he is doing.
Fair point about the commentators, except that I was mainly referring to flames from Adam Feiler :P. I'm still waiting!
Or, I don't known what you're talking about, I completely agree with you on this issue. When I saw kos and Stoller talking about civil war, I thought that was the most absurd thing I have ever seen on either blog. However, I'm upset with Harry Reid. If Joe Lieberman gets his seniority back for leaving the party, then my beloved Senator Frank Lautenberg, should get his seniority back after it was taken away when he retired and then came back two years later.
Great post, Or. I agree with you wholeheartedly on the absurdity of this Democratic civil war. I'm all for a big tent, but there's no point in burning it down, either.
One thing worth noting: Carville comment was completely unsolicited by the press. He called; not the other way around. Inside-the-Beltwayers should read this as positioning on the part of the Clinton establishment (think Paul Begala, Mark Penn) positioning themselves to play a little game of kingmaker within the Committee; Many have speculated that the return of Dean's predecessor, Terry McAuliffe (the most prolific fundraiser ever in his position and a close Clinton confidante) is imminent, foreshadowing a Hillary run.
Time will tell...
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