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Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Trippi Endorses Rosenberg for Chair

On the day that Howard Dean officially declared his candidacy for Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Joe Trippi endorsed Simon Rosenberg for the same post.

If our party is to win in the 21st century, we have to have a strategist who knows how to practice 21st century politics. That means expanding participation, embracing technology, and building an apparatus that can counter the Republican machine.

Simon Rosenberg was among the first in politics to acknowledge the power of the movement we built with Dean for America and he wasn’t afraid to speak up about how we were fundamentally changing politics. He knows that in the age of the Internet, our politics must be interactive and participatory to engage citizens.

He knows the Internet is not just an ATM for candidates and parties, but a tool for bringing in millions of Americans who want to be a part of the political process. For Simon, building a new progressive politics for our time is not just lip service, it is a passion backed up by his record. I’m backing Simon for chair because I know I can work with him to help build a modern, winning Democratic party.

Posted at 08:24 PM in DNC Chair | Technorati

Comments

Doesn't this endorsement - which speaks to the importance of the netroots - implicitly mean that Dean isn't the guy to harness that power... and that Trippi, who was the architect of Dean's netroots vision, consequently must not have done a very good job? (I suppose Trippi could be blaming Dean for not carrying out Trippi's vision properly, but I still think this endorsement doesn't reflect well on Trippi.)

Posted by: DavidNYC at January 11, 2005 11:00 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

My understanding from firends who were Dean campaign volunteers is that is was Trippi who sank Dean's chances by having Dean, a pragmatic moderate or a progressive, however you want to define that, portrayed as ultra-liberal. I've also read that Dean and Trippi barely spoke to each other. The netroots was good but the people who came to Iowa were often out of touch with Iowa democrats AND not very knowledgeable about issues. They tended to project their own political beliefs onto Dean. I remember a Trippi quote after Dean's Iowa loss to the effect of, "We're right where we want to be, man. We're an insurgency." I don't know much about Rosenberg, but Trippi's endorsement seems a negative to me. Trippi doesn't seem to understand that as powerful as netroots are, there's a lot more to setting up good communication and a message and winning an election. I don't see why Democratic party insiders, including Kerry, embrace advisors who have lost campaign after campaign.

Posted by: Marc Cittone at January 12, 2005 02:24 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I agree. Why would any advisor that ran either Al Gore's, Kerry's or Dean's campaign be taken seriously when it comes to choosing a DNC chair? I never understood the reason Dean allowed himself to be painted as left of liberal when many of his campaign views were middle of the road. If it was Trippi that allowed Dean to be portrayed as such in the media, then that is a major fault. The democrats have been playing not to lose and it is about time they play to win. I say pick a chairman that is willing to go out swinging. If the democrats are going to lose, at least they can go out fighting instead of playing it safe with such candidates as John Kerry. In basketball terms, I would rather go out shooting the final shot then hoping my opponent misses their opportunity. I say, GO DEAN and I hope if he losses he goes out screaming loud enough to hear him in California.

Posted by: Jonathan at January 12, 2005 02:40 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

A weasel I say that Mr. Trippi has became.

Posted by: Aaron at January 12, 2005 04:33 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I am for Dean. If Dean isn't the DNC CHair I am leaving he party for good and will endose

Posted by: annabell at January 12, 2005 06:51 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I know the DNC chair has no influence over policy, but I hope someone in such a powerful organizational position could shake things up and make the insiders realize they need to change the message and appraoches to policies. Here in Colorado, we won with populist candidates but not with lobbyists. We need to be the party of the middle class and anyone who shares our values.

Posted by: Marc at January 13, 2005 02:13 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

It sounds to me like if Rosenberg gets the nod, Trippi and he have a deal where Trippi comes back to do more consulting work. Reference his last statement and see if you get that feeling too.

Posted by: Flowergirl at January 18, 2005 02:36 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment