AFL-CIO Decides not to Endorse in DNC Race

by ByronUT, Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 08:55:05 AM EST

Good news for Dean, bad news for Frost, so most of yall should be happy. I just posted on it on BOR. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

AFL-CIO leaders decided Tuesday not to make an endorsement in the race for Democratic National Committee chairman, a move that could make it harder for any of Howard Dean's rivals to stop his push for the party leadership.

"The AFL-CIO political committee decided Tuesday not to make an endorsement for DNC chair," said Christy Setzer, a spokeswoman for the labor group. [...]

Former Texas Rep. Martin Frost has pushed hard for labor backing that could give him a chance to derail Dean.

Tags: (all tags)

Comments

34 Comments

Sort by

4a2fab88-ed3b-47a4-8f14-3ec8a24504ac_normal

permalink

yea

Toastola for Frost.

by Jerome Armstrong 2005-02-01 09:00AM | 0 recs

permalink

exactly what i said yesterday

i figured if frost didn't get labor, he was done. at this point i think we can stick a fork in him.

sorry, byron, i know you were pulling for the home team! but how does "the honorable senator frost" sound to you? i say he should go for it if kay runs for gov.

by annatopia 2005-02-01 09:08AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: exactly what i said yesterday

well, i'd love it, but Frost has stated that he has no interest in running, and to be perfectly honest, I don't think that Frost is the Democrats best statewide candidate. It might surprise a lot of people on these boards, but in a statewide race, Frost could easily be painted as a liberal.

by ByronUT 2005-02-01 09:15AM | 0 recs

permalink

no interest, really?

too bad, i think he'd made a fantastic senator.

you make a point about him being painted as liberal... the same could be said IMO for anyone the dems run. hell, the GOP's gonna pain kay as a baby killer in their primary if she runs... that's how wacky they are.

oh well. any word on kay for guv yet?

by annatopia 2005-02-01 09:19AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: no interest, really?

kay - give it a few months... pray she runs.. it'll be so much fun to watch the primary :-)

by ByronUT 2005-02-01 09:22AM | 0 recs

permalink

oh yea!

and you know what, with all due respect to my fellow texas dems, if kay runs i am going to volunteer and try to help her make it out of the primary.

i honestly don't think the dems have a shot in hell at winning the pink dome back this time around, and i figure if we have to have a republican then we may as well try and get the LEAST OFFENSIVE one. and while i really don't like kay most of the time, at least she's not an uber-fundie. plus i'll be able to pull out all my old "a woman's place is in the dome" t-shirts and wear them again. ;)

i would love to see kay and goodhair go at it in a primary. you're right - it owuld be a lot of fun to watch. but i think i'll be right there in the middle of it helping kay beat that jackass perry.

by annatopia 2005-02-01 09:32AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: oh yea!

NO! I want Perry to win the primary. We have a shot at beating Perry in a general, but not Kay. That's why I want KBH to run and lose in the primary - then we have a shot at both the guv and senate races

by ByronUT 2005-02-01 10:08AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: oh yea!

Do you think even a conservative Dem could beat a GOPer in Texas? It seems like that state gets redder and redder everytime I look. For those in the state, what is your thought? Does the party have a chance against a Fundie?

by yitbos96bb 2005-02-01 10:32AM | 0 recs

permalink

i would say no

byron might have more insight though. i'd defer to him on most texas-politics-related issues.

by annatopia 2005-02-01 10:55AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: oh yea!

well... everything has to go right. No Democrat would be favored, but the right circumstances could make a Democratic victory possible. And from my perspective, the circumstances most conducive to a Democratic victory anywhere on the ballot is for Kay to run against Perry and lose in the primary.

by ByronUT 2005-02-01 01:45PM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: oh yea!

and even though kay is less offensive than perry, they're both still republicans, and kay would make it harder for us to win back anything for the next 8 years in texas... she might actually make Republicans in Austin look somewhat responsible gasp!

by ByronUT 2005-02-01 10:09AM | 0 recs

permalink

i hear ya

and i figured you'd think i was nuts for saying it. ;)

but i still think that the gop has a lock on texas for the forseeable future. and honestly, can you imagine another term for perry? i don't even wanna think about that.

you make a valid point about how kay might change the perception, but i think it's lost either way. call my cynical, that's fine, but i'm going to push for her over perry. perry's a goddamned nutcase, and even the strongest dem doesn't stand a chance against him IMO. so i figure if it's him or kay, let's please have kay, repercussions be damned.

by annatopia 2005-02-01 10:55AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: i hear ya

i really don't worry too much about rick perry. He's more stupid than anything. I laugh at him more than I fear him. Sure, he makes me embarrassed for our state, but I can live with that.

by ByronUT 2005-02-01 01:47PM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: oh yea!

Too bad you can't get her to defect. Maybe the Texas Dems can do a letter writing campaign. I doubt it would work but you never know. You know the GOP has been doing it to some of our more conservative guys.

by yitbos96bb 2005-02-01 10:33AM | 0 recs

permalink

well, the truth is

that kay is a conservative through and through. she's not a fundie, but there's no way she'd abandon the GOP.

by annatopia 2005-02-01 10:56AM | 0 recs

permalink

That's when you dust off the old commercials

Because the Cult of Bush is strong.

Or move down to Sugarland, and take the Bugman on mano a mano.

Ah, well, a girl can dream...

by boadicea 2005-02-01 10:48AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: exactly what i said yesterday

Labor isn't one solid block anymore.

by Matt Stoller 2005-02-01 10:03AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: yea

yeah, Jerome, I'm afraid that you're right on this one. The non-Dean folks are unorganized and dispassionate. I've said for awhile now that Dean is my third choice, but I'd be perfectly fine with him as chair, and I'd completely support him and the DNC.

I think a lot of others not supporting Dean feel the same way. He's not our first choice, but it's not worth alienating a lot of people to pull off a power play to stop him.

by ByronUT 2005-02-01 09:14AM | 0 recs

permalink

As a member of the file

I'm happy that the AFL-CIO decided to sit on it's hands today. I think that they are still smarting from the Gehphart support.

by NvDem 2005-02-01 09:23AM | 0 recs

permalink

The unions...

Have absolutely nothing to gain from endorsing a candidate for DNC chair, as no DNC members are tied to this endorsement. The AFL-CIO was smart in this case. However, they should have come out and said that any and all candidates would be good for labor (which is true)... and they're looking forward to working with whatever fine candidate gets the nomination.

by NCDem 2005-02-01 09:35AM | 0 recs

permalink

er...

not "nomination"... "job"...

by NCDem 2005-02-01 09:36AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: er...

Very Valid Point.

by yitbos96bb 2005-02-01 10:27AM | 0 recs

permalink

Frost just dropped out

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4771351,00.html

"Frost Drops Out of Race for DNC Chairman

Tuesday February 1, 2005 8:16 PM

By WILL LESTER

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Texas Rep. Martin Frost dropped out of the race for Democratic national chairman on Tuesday, winnowing the field to front-runner Howard Dean and three challengers.

Frost's decision came hours after AFL-CIO leaders decided not to make an endorsement in the race for Democratic National Committee chairman."

by derekcbart 2005-02-01 10:39AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: Frost just dropped out

jinx

by fng 2005-02-01 10:39AM | 0 recs

permalink

Frost Is Out

Here

by fng 2005-02-01 10:39AM | 0 recs

permalink

So that leaves

Dean
Fowler
Rosenberg
Leland
and
Roemer.

Am I missing anybody?

by boadicea 2005-02-01 10:45AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: So that leaves

Leland dropped out today too. Endorsed Dean, not sure who his supporters will endorse.

by fng 2005-02-01 10:50AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: So that leaves

I've read this in a couple of places, but cannot find a link. Do you have one?

by derekcbart 2005-02-01 10:52AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: So that leaves

Here is the AP wire story on Frost. There is one sentence on Leland as well.

by fng 2005-02-01 10:59AM | 0 recs

permalink

Leland's Press Release

Columbus - Energized by the renewed focus of the other candidates on developing a strong grassroots and 50-state party structure, former Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Leland today withdrew from the race for Democratic National Committee chair.

Leland, who had been publicly endorsed by the Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party and others in the 10-member Ohio DNC delegation, said he would encourage these members and his other DNC supporters to vote for Gov. Howard Dean for DNC Chair. "Gov. Dean has demonstrated his ability and commitment to build our party from the grassroots up."

Leland said he was heartened by the commitment and ideas of Democratic Party members around the country. "The regional caucus process over the past four weeks has worked well for Democrats," said Leland. "It was a wonderful experience to interact with hundreds of Democrats from coast-to-coast. It is inspirational to hear the ideas and visions of people throughout the nation, and I come out of this process excited about the energy and enthusiasm contained within the Democratic Party."

"Thank you to all of my supporters and to all of the people who encouraged me to carry my message of a DNC that works locally, 365 days a year."

Leland entered the race January 6, before the first Caucus in Atlanta, and sought to focus the debate on fundamental party building issues.

Leland will return to his duties as National Director of Project Vote which raised $17 million in 2004 for the purpose of registering and mobilizing 1.1 million new voters in 25 states.

by fng 2005-02-01 11:00AM | 0 recs

permalink

link?

is this online anywhere? i can't find anything about leland dropping and endorsing dean.

by annatopia 2005-02-01 11:02AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: link?

"David Leland, former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, dropped out earlier in the day." - from the AP Wire story on Frost.

I haven't seen the Leland piece online other than my inbox, but it had the nice David Leland for DNC Chair logo and everything.

by fng 2005-02-01 11:06AM | 0 recs

permalink

Re: link?

umm, yeah. clarification. when I said 'Leland piece' I meant the press release.

by fng 2005-02-01 11:07AM | 0 recs

permalink

it's all good

i got it, thanks fng!

by annatopia 2005-02-01 11:09AM | 0 recs