Sunday, December 26, 2004

Over the long weekend...

A lot of things happened over the long weekend.

Kerry's E-Mail List a Valuable Resource
according to the Washington Post. What makes it valuable? There were Democrats and Republicans that signed up for it.
The former Democratic presidential candidate built, over the course of his two-year campaign, one of the biggest e-mail lists in his party. More than 2.7 million supporters signed up to receive his campaign e-mails, which his advisers have said were critical to its fundraising success. Now, as Democrats survey the post-election landscape, some are wondering what Kerry might do with all those e-mail addresses.
Renember how the Deaniacs seem large and how MoveOn says they own the party? This gets interesting immediately.
Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, who has held on to the list he developed during his presidential campaign, has since used it to raise money for other candidates. Most recently, his organization, Democracy for America, raised $250,000 to help pay for the recount in Washington's gubernatorial contest. His spokeswoman attributed those donations to solicitations e-mailed to 600,000 of the group's supporters.

Kerry spokesman David Wade said the senator's list stands at 2.7 million, which would mean it dwarfs Dean's and rivals some of the largest lists that Democrats have created. The Democratic National Committee, for example, said it has 4 million addresses. MoveOn.org boasts 2.9 million. America Coming Together, a liberal 527 organization (so called for the section of the tax code that covers it), has 400,000. There is some overlap among the lists, because some people signed up for more than one. It could not be determined whether the DNC and Kerry have shared addresses.
That means that there are 2.1 million people in the DNC list that are not in the MoveOn list. Kerry has a much bigger list than Gov. Howard Dean's folks. I signed up for DFA 2.0 for the mailing list and they never sent me ANYTHING!

The Indianapolis Star reports that for Mayor Bart Peterson is making his wave.After term of ripples, mayor making waves. There is still hope in Indiana for another prominent Democrat to win statewide office. However, I don't think anyone can beat Senator Dick Lugar.
Until this past election, Peterson had the benefit of not only a Democratic administration in the governor's office but also an administration with close ties to one of his mentors, U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh.

From 1989 to 1995, Peterson was a member of the former governor's administration, first as an environmental aide and then as Bayh's chief of staff.

Peterson developed a Bayh-like reputation as a careful, behind-the-scenes leader who doesn't negotiate in public. Now, Peterson is in the unusual position of watching lawmakers and ordinary residents line up to speak loudly against his ideas.

"I just say to myself, 'Well, maybe they're right, and maybe this won't be successful,' " Peterson said.

"But if you believe in something and you have a clear vision of the goal, in this city you can be successful, because this city accomplishes the impossible."
Governor Mitch Daniels has yet to name a single minority in his administration according to The Indianapolis Star.
Last week, Gov.-elect Mitch Daniels named five more men to key positions, including inspector general, Indiana State Police superintendent and Department of Environmental Management commissioner. He's made at least 20 top appointments, and so far, none has been black or Hispanic. A few have been women.
This shall be interesting.

Home-grown leaders ready for challenges. This article by Jay Hein predicts that
Over the next four years, I predict that U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh will rewrite his party's policy platform, and Mitch Daniels will gain status as the nation's most innovative reform governor.
The latest from MyDD.com is dealing with all these supporters of Gov. Dean runnning for state party chairmanships.
Maryland, Terry Lierman, National Finance Co-Chair for Governor Howard Dean's 2004 Presidential Campaign, has replaced Ike Leggett as State Party Chair. In Washington State, Greg Rodriguez, who was backing Dean as far back as I was in the Spring of 2002, is running for the State Party Chair, challenging state party Chairman Paul Berendt; and in Connecticut, Dean-backer Aldon Hynes is considering running for state Party Chair.
I wish them all the best in their pursuit if they decide to run. I wonder who is running in Kentucky or will Interim Chairman Kerry Morgan get re-elected?

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