By The Prowler on 4.3.06 @ 12:09AM
DNC chairman Dean thinks he has Bill Clinton in his corner.
It appears that Democrat National Committee chairman
Howard Dean has put his critics in a corner. Last
week, Dean is said by DNC sources to have met with House and Senate
Democrat leaders, including Sen. Harry Reid and
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, as well as Sen. Chuck
Schumer and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the last
two being the key congressional campaign recruiters for Dems.
Dean opened the meeting by announcing that he had gained former
President Bill Clinton's support, and that the
former president would be top-lining a DNC event in mid-April.
Dean's gloating came after several meetings at which Reid,
Schumer, and Emanuel had ridiculed Dean for what they saw as
profligate spending by the party for state-based programs that Dean
claimed were critical to the party's future success. The party has
raised more money under Dean recently, but has been spending it as
fast as it has been coming in.
Reid has been particularly critical, in demanding that Dean
transfer millions of party money to the Senate Democrat campaign
committee. Reid believes that the Republican National Committee
will be transferring as much as $40 million of its war chest to the
Republican Senate campaign committee, wiping out any cash advantage
Schumer has built up in the past year.
Dean has thus far refused to make any such commitment to Schumer
or Emanuel.
To buttress his point, Dean quietly flew up to New York and met
with Clinton to discuss his DNC troubles and seek his support.
"Dean made it clear that any support Clinton could give him would
pay off two-fold," says a DNC source. "First, it was an opportunity
to re-engage in the national party operations. Second, it would
help with whatever he [Clinton] or Senator
[Hillary] Clinton wanted to do
down the road."
Clinton, according to sources, remains dubious of Dean's
national agenda for the DNC, but likes his commitment to buildup
state operations, something Clinton believes the party has failed
to do in the past eight years.
topics:
Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Bill Clinton, NATO
