FEELING AT HOME
Sen. John Kerry has solidified his position in New
Hampshire by hiring Ken Robinson, executive
director of the New Hampshire Democratic Party since 1999.
Robinson’s hiring would appear to ensure that Kerry has at least
laid the ground work to line up much of the Democratic
establishment in the state to back him.
Robinson worked on former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen’s
re-election campaign in 1998, then took the party top slot in the
aftermath. Robinson will also bring along Nick
Clemons, another Shaheen staffer. “It goes without saying
that much of the current state party will probably line up behind
Kerry to some degree,” says a Granite State party official.
“They’ll at least try. We’re assuming that at some point Shaheen
will endorse him and help him campaign.”
But for all the talk of New Hampshire being so small, there sure
are a lot of political operatives. Sen. Joe
Lieberman moved quickly to shore up staff for his run. As
reported
by The Prowler last November 26, Lieberman had quietly been asking
former in-state volunteers and staffers from the 2000 presidential
campaign to hold off on committing to another Democratic candidate
until he made a final decision. Quite a few of them did just that.
Lieberman has brought on board several longtime New Hampshire
operatives: Peter Greenberger, who worked for the
state Democratic party.
Some Democratic hopefuls, while not pulling out of New
Hampshire, have already begun sending signals that they are moving
on to the next battleground state now that Kerry is seemingly
big-footing the competition.
The last week has seen Sen. John Edwards, Rep.
Dick Gephardt and Lieberman making noises about
South Carolina’s primary and their chances there.
“I think everyone assumes that Kerry is going to be the clear
favorite in New Hampshire,” says a DNC staffer. “But Lieberman
shouldn’t be overlooked and he won’t allow himself to be
overlooked. But for a lot of the other guys, South Carolina is
going to be the one that maybe shakes out the second tier of
candidates.
Meanwhile Edwards has to be wondering just what he has to do to
get some traction in Iowa. He’s been spending money there, buying
up mailing lists from the state Democratic party, traveling to the
state for speeches at party fundraisers, and still he can’t get his
political team together. “He’s had a tough run of luck,” says the
DNC staffer.
The latest bad news came on Tuesday when the state party’s
executive director, Jean Hessburg, passed on
becoming political director for Edwards’ Iowa campaign. Edwards had
earlier in the week lost out to Gephardt for other talent. Hessburg
had only been on the job since last March, and she said her
decision had nothing to do with Edwards, but party insiders predict
she will end up with someone’s campaign before everything is said
and done.
The fact that Edwards was interested in Hessburg is telling,
given her ultra-liberal background. Prior to landing in Iowa, she
ran the left-wing People for the American Way. “It just shows how
desperate Edwards is to have a top-flight operation there,” says
the DNC-er. “He doesn’t need to win Iowa, he doesn’t need to win
New Hampshire, but he has to have a good showing in both places to
remain viable going into the rest of the campaign season. And in
Iowa, it’s all about your grassroots organization.”
LOOKING FOR MR. BIG MOUTH
The Democratic National Committee has budgeted more than $500,000
to develop an alternative radio voice to Rush
Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. That’s in
addition to a small investment the party made in Democracy Radio, a
private business that is trying to develop “progressive” syndicated
talk radio. Gee, whatever happened to NPR?
“You have to look at the situation from [DNC Chairman
Terry] McAuliffe’s perspective,”
says a DNC staffer. “He’s sitting there and sees Limbaugh and
Hannity and Fox News, and what do we have? Donahue.”
The money that the DNC has set aside, according to the DNC-er,
was intended to develop a radio show, perhaps broadcast from the
DNC, that could be made available either through syndication or
through public broadcasting systems. “This wouldn’t be for profit,
simply for politics,” says the party staffer.
One name bandied about for the radio show, of course, was
McAuliffe pal Bill Clinton. Another possibility
was Jesse Ventura, but he was deemed too
unreliable to tout a progressive message. “We’ll probably have to
go back to Hollywood to see if there’s anybody out there who’d be
interested,” said the DNC aide.
The imagination runs wild with likely names. There’s Barbra and
Alec and Martin and Meathead. In fact, Martin and Meathead has the
ring of an act that could take off.
