Dem Infighting In Full Swing
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in General Politics, Partisan HacksFirst, we have the “Murtha as Majority Leader” situation. This is a guy with a suspect ethical past and he’s being ushered in as the guy who’ll be 2nd in command of a new, more ethical Democratic Party.
And just to give you some added perspective on this guy, it’s being reported that he’s not too keen on the new ethics legislation Pelosi wants to pass…
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) told a group of Democratic moderates on Tuesday that an ethics and lobbying reform bill being pushed by party leaders was “total crap,� but said that he would work to enact the legislation because Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) supports it.
So yeah, that’s nice.
Then, we’re now presented with the always trustworthy James “Raging Cajun” Carville speaking out about Howard Dean’s supposed incompetence as the head of the DNC.
As most of you are well aware, Carville was one of Bill Clinton’s key campaign aides, a former host of CNN’s long-cancelled Cross*hack*Fire and is still one of the spinniest spinmeisters in all the land. So let that season what you’re about to read.
Here’s more about Carville’s beef with Dean…
Carville, during coffee and rolls with political reporters today, said Democrats could have picked up as many as 50 House seats, instead of the nearly 30 they have so far.The reason they didn’t, he said, is the Democratic National Committee did not spend some $6 million it could have put into so-called “third tier� House races against vulnerable Republicans. [...]
He added, “I think he should be held accountable.� He added, “I would describe his leadership as Rumsfeldian in its competence.�
Well, maybe he’s right that Dean should have let more money go, but Dean’s leadership is “Rumsfeldian in its comptence?” Frankly, I wish Rumsfeld had the type of competence Dean does.
Oh well…and so it goes and so it is…spin, spin, spin…
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 15th, 2006 and is filed under General Politics, Partisan Hacks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 15th, 2006 at 11:11 pm
Ya know, I think it’s actually gonna be fun watching the dems in action now that they’re the boss and all. Walking the talk…implementing all that vison stuff…..oh this is gonna be enjoyable.
November 16th, 2006 at 10:18 am
It seems to me that if Murtha wins for Whip one of his primary responsibilities could be to take responsibility to get an Ethics law passed.
Sort of like “Nixon to China” , what better champion for ethics reform than a chronic abuser.
November 16th, 2006 at 11:15 am
Dean’s election as chairman of the party was one of the top reasons why I left the party. That said, I’d like to know what Carville said initially about Dean’s 50-State idea. Seems to me that at least some of the Dems success this year comes from Dean’s willingness to compete in areas Dems usually just concede. But now Carville is saying that Dean should have done more?? — even though much of the party elders were, just a few months ago, accusing Dean of wasting money on races that couldn’t be won.
Carville probably knows a lot more than I do about the inner-workings of the Dems, but it seems to me that he’s going to have a hard time convincing the party that winning the House and the Senate was somehow an incompetent failure. I disagree with a lot of Dean’s politics, but it’s hard for me to say he’s failed. Maybe he just got lucky, but somehow I doubt it.
November 16th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
Yes, Mr. G; Buckle-up, the ride’s about to start. Note on Mr. Carville: One of the news agencies did a full day @ Dem elect. headqrts with Emanuel and Schumer, I guess it was on election day. They were doing a profile on Emanuel’s management style and all day Carville kept calling, to the point that it was pissin them off. Coments like ‘oh no, not Carville again. Don’t answer, tell em I’m not here, that SOB, why can’t he leave us alone… etc.
These people must be like old growth in the forest, blockin the light from young upstart seedlings. I’m not sure senority means that much in that field, esp when you’re not being asked for your opinion. I’m more interested in that ethics legislation Pelosi wants to pass. It’s damn important but,year after year it never gets done. Like you once said, Mr Gardner, this nonsence wth Murtha doesn’t seem to get her off to a good start.