Via Kos: Charlie Cook's Cook Report backs Dean and 50 State Strategy.

Markos has reprinted the column with permission from the subscription site.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/10/15241/7822



He tells of meeting a DNC hired organizer in MS who was from OK. He mentions it is new to him to see Democratic organizers in that state.



And he urges Howard Dean to stick to his guns, for the DSCC and DCCC and DLCC to do their jobs, and for him to rebuild.

:thumbsup:

for so many years in even so many electorally important states is beyond me.

I'm behind Dean on this - but still would never trust Charlie Cook - he's still a GOP shill, even when he offers something logical. Beware of his intent.

The reason the repukes are where they are is, in part, because of grassroots organization. We need to have a Democratic candidate for every partisan elected position.

I think today at Bernie Sanders rally, which I thank him for doing...but I did not really like what he said.

He was asked about Dean, he said Dean had brought a lot of enthusiasm, but that we needed the short term strategy. That seems to be the talking point.

DNC raised more in January, I think, than the DSCC and DCCC did. Maybe they need to get on the ball as well and fix their own "short term strategy."

Dems and voting machine fraud.

People like Obama need to let Dean attack what needs to be attacked and build what needs to be built. I dislike this trend of lawmakers distancing themselves from Dean - that's stupid and COUNTER-productive to 2006 and 2008 goals.

Should Dean speak out and "make it about himself." That is the newest approach. I have seen several instances on this the last week. In other words how to hush up the ones speaking out...tell them not to make it about them. That one is eluding me. Here is one example from Colmes, but some Democrats find this one useful as well:

March 2 interview:



This one seems to work well when someone speaks unpleasant truths.

the media, too.

If the media's dumping on Dean, they'll dump on him. Media's dumping on Kerry, they'll dump om him. They don't even wait and hear the full position first and media interviewers make sure of it with their ambush style questions.

some of the retired repug moderates to assist us in building the structure.

It took the repugs about 15 years to build their party structure. Now that the repug party has been taken over by the christian-taliban and the decent/moderate repugs are out of work we should hire them. They just need a paycheck.

Dean always said that we were not building our grassroots pool. Cook mentions that as well.

More from the Cook Report:

"The Democratic congressional leaders' shortsighted, penny-wise/pound-foolish complaints show why their party has become bicoastal. Congressional Democrats have trouble winning in many interior states, in part because leaders like Reid and Pelosi have failed to appreciate the importance of maintaining a strong national party apparatus. The Democrats' inability to consistently win elections in places where gun shops outnumber Starbucks is a big reason the party controls neither the House nor the Senate.

Right now, one of the biggest obstacles to Democrats' taking the House back is their failure to recruit strong candidates in many Republican-held districts that ought to be in play. Party building means lining up a solid team -- organizing and winning lower-level offices that give the party a talented bench from which to draw for higher contests."

The Democratic Party does not cease to exist once a body gets outside DC. And, shocking as it is, there are also some brains outside the beltway. Dean is doing the right thing. This party can become a truly national party again.