Dean Answers With a New Money Man

The Democratic National Committee has a new money man.
Carl D. Chidlow, who is currently the finance director for Grassroots Democrats -- a state focused fundraising group -- will take over the DNC's vacant fundraising post at the start of next month, according to party officials and contributors. The DNC finance director position has been vacant since Lindsay Lewis stepped down in September. The hiring of Chidlow is DNC Chairman Howard Dean's answer to critics who suggest he has struggled to court affluent contributors -- the traditional backbone of the DNC's fundraising.

Before his work with Grassroots Democrats, Chidlow served as deputy finance director for Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry's (D) presidential campaign, a post in which he was in charge of the care and feeding of deep-pocketed donors. Chidlow quit the Kerry campaign in November 2003 after the firing of campaign manager Jim Jordan. He worked for Senate campaigns in South Dakota and Washington in the interim.

Alan Solomont, a former DNC finance chairman and influential fundraiser within the party, said he -- as well as a number of other major contributors -- got to know Chidlow during the 2o04 presidential campaign, and those relationships will pay dividends for the DNC in the coming months.

"All politics is local and all fundraising is personal," Solomont said. "It does involve a certain amount of trust and familiarity." Dean, too, has re-dedicated himself to meeting and greeting affluent Democrats over the past several months.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/14/AR2006011400965.html

Bring on the deep pockets guy and let Dean worry about party building in the 50 states. He has enough to do right there.

Of true integrity and indefatigable spirit.

:toast: