Bob Brigham's Crusade

Not cool, Jesse.

Matt - several days ago you received an email from me with links to the FEC reports. Bob received that same email, and since then has been quoted several times using a much lower figure.

I know that you find it funny that somebody is being quoted and doing everything they can to declare us irrelevant. I don't. I, as well as the other 70 people or so I work with here and love pour our hearts and souls into this job, up to and including Rahm Emanuel and John Lapp. It is insulting to all of us personally, and nothing I've written here comes anywhere close to what Bob has said about us.

Had we declared blogs irrelevant after the dkos 12 went belly up, you would have fried us. It wouldn't have been cool and you would have been right.

That is how I feel about Bob's comments. He and everybody else has a right to disagree, but not to spread falsehoods this way. I got Bob's email that led you to this post, and his victimhood in framing it is frankly absurd given the the extreme abuse he has sent our way. Again, I felt compelled to correct the ongoing misconception he was spreading, only doing so publicly after he said it on national television. I did so privately several days ago. The idea that it was out of line to do so doesn't make sense to me.

I hate to see this. I like what the DCCC has been doing lately. I also understand the need to target dollars--personally, I think that the DCCC acted correctly in regard to the Hackett campaign. They sat back and waited to see what the netroots could do and then gave the campaign a bump at the end.

At the same time, I worry that the DCCC has not shed it's old ways completely. I wonder if they're still a bit too relunctent to fight for traditional Democratic principles and too easily influenced by the right's propaganda. It troubles me when the democratic establishment attacks the progressive wing of the party.

I've worked hard for the party for twenty-five years. I can't count the number of thirty-six hour days I've put in doing the one little thing that I think will bring our candidates victory.

That said, it was more often or not, a soul draining exercise, because I was working for candidates and party that had abandoned many of my core beliefs. But I clung to the planks and positions that remained and fought hard nonetheless.

The rise of the netroots changed that. Once again, I was working to aide a great cause, a cause that I was proud to be a part of. I owe that to Moveon, Dean for America, Atrios, Kos, MyDD and Bob Brigham. My loyalty and respect lies with them. I think there are a lot of us who feel that way. Many, like me, are old hands, but many others are new. We're revitalizing the Democratic Party together.

If you have a problem with Bob or Moveon or anyone else, sit down and talk to them. By attacking them you alienate the most motivated sector of the party.

Actually, Wes Clark sent an e-mail to his list in Ohio and put up a note on his website asking his folks to donate to Hackett and it went through ActBlue. John Glenn sent one to the John Kerry list. They also asked volunteers to go to Ohio and help on the ground as did the various Dem. groups in Ohio. The blogs did great things. The DCCC came in for the "almost" knockout punch. It's called being a team and maligning each other is really bad form. Paul Hackett isn't maligning anyone. It was his race. He is a mench. Bob could take lessons from Paul. We all could. Bob needs to contact CNN and make some sort of on the air apology to the DCCC.

Thanks ljm, and I agree. JC - I suspect you also found this through Bob's email, which in addition to painting him as a victim, implied I was attacking some larger group of people.

Read the post again. Where do I criticize MoveOn or anybody else on any issue having to do with ideology or any such thing? I don't, and this has nothing to do with right or left whatsoever. It has to do with Bob trying to discredit us with everything he's got, and using inaccurate statements to do so.

JC - I am not regularly in touch with you, but if you ask around to some of your fellow bloggers you will find that the idea that I am anti-grassroots or anti-blogger or anti-progressive just doesn't hold water.

The "old ways" of the DCCC may have something to do with the fact that it's essentially a Member services organization. To the extent that it helps Members -- who now pay anywhere from $100,000 to $600,000 just to stay in good standing with the DCCC, by the way -- to win more seats, it pursues that goal the best way it knows how.

The "netroots," however you define them, clearly have their own agenda. And that's fine. And they should spend their money accordingly. But why they feel justified in also insisting that they be able to dictate how the DCCC spends other people's money, I haven't yet heard.

Look, guys, we've gotta get over this crap. I'm tired of watching the hostility between groups that should be working on the same goal in tandem. Personal crusades (from folks on both sides of the argument) are pointless because success doen't come from them. The actions we take become futile.

I talked a bit about the conflict in a post on my blog, linked in a trackback above. I hope those reading this will read it and post their comments. Maybe I'm entirely wrong in my judgment and analysis, but help me learn.

I want to win in 2006 and 2008. So do you guys. Let's work together to fix our problems instead of blaming each other.

JesseLee:

You got a problem with Bob within Democratic Party Politics? Take it up with him privately. Don't make a public shooting match out of it and divide the fundraising portions of the Party. But since you have made it public on your side as well....

Here's the quote you don't like:

WaPO by Dan Balz and Thomas B. Edsall "Brigham criticized the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) for not giving Hackett early financial support. "They came in late, and it makes them look irrelevant in everyone's eyes," he said.

DCCC Executive Director John Lapp issued a statement defending the committee. Saying the DCCC would like to fund every House race, he said: "Resources are not infinite. That is why MyDD, the Daily Kos, and the larger blogosphere are so important. You are critical in the effort to expand the playing field well above and beyond the 30 or 40 districts typically in play."

The DCCC did come in late. The DCCC only came in after they saw the possiblity of victory in a District they had given up as hopeless. John Lapp says as much when he praises the Blogs and says form the quote above:
"You are critical in the effort to expand the playing field well above and beyond the 30 or 40 typcially in play"

Where do you think Wes Clark got his mailing list? Or John Kerry? You think it was from direct mail? It was from the same place that DFA got theirs....Candidate Blogs...there's no difference.

With 435 Districts in operation every 2 years, John Lapp, in a moment of pure admirable honesty, admits The DCCC only competes in 30 or 40 of them.

That's why I've started The Insurgent Political Campaign an audio blog for those Democrats stuck in Red Districts where they have NO HOPE of party support. With 5 hours of audio up and running, hopefully it helps create a roadmap on how to start a campaign from scatch knowing upfront you are going to lose. But also with the determination to create more registrations, increase donor and voter communication, database the District (by hand if necessary), perfect a GOTV system and much more...so that in '08/'12 that District can turnout more voters for our Nominee.

And do it all with NO Party support.

Because the Party only competes in 30-40 Districts per cycle per John Lapp.

OH-2 didn't come close only because of the DCCC. But the DCCC was a financial component at the last moment. But it might have come closer if the DCCC had listen a few weeks earlier.

Whether Bob Brigham's right about the arithmetic...I don't know. I just know there little or no way to communicate effectively with the DCCC unless a person is pretty high ranking within the Party. And that's very frustrating to the person on the ground trying to start or run a campaign against the odds who just needs the historic voter rolls for example.

This entire post may be worth exactly what you paid for it...nothing...

But before you think my experience extends all the way back to Feb 2003 like so many these days, my first campaign was for a CA Assemblyman while in high school in 1966. I've earned my stripes.

PS: What the hell kind of blog has the HTML formatting turned off?

BTW: as a PS: you owe Bob an apology for this line:
"Congratulations to Bob Brigham for his first lie on national television."

If he sincerely believes his data, then wouldn't it have been better for Party unity to say, "Bob Brigham expressed his HIGHLY inaccurate opinion using inaccuarate facts this afternoon on national television. And I don't appreciate it one bit!"

You're suppose to be a politician, JesseLee. Actu like it. Especially in public.

Guys

This fighting is not helping anyone beat Bush. It is really painful to read this vituperation between people who believe in the same goals of progressive politics. Let's have the name-calling off-line. My DD, Swing State and Kos brought me to the Hackett race and I contributed through ActBlue. But I've given money to DCCC too because there are many ways to succeed. I was glad to see the DCCC come in at the end and it makes sense to use our combined but limited resources when and where it makes the most sense. On the other hand, the DCCC needs to offer even small support to more candidates. Can't you throw some more support to great candidates running against slimebuckets, like Ann Wolfe in NJ-5 running against Garrett. Work with the DNC on a 50 state strategy. To take from the SAS motto: who dares, wins. Let's work together to think big and act big. Hackett's race showed us we can bring this fight right to them and make 06 like 94 in reverse.

I can't even begin to tell you how tired I am of this. Attacking our own people is just plain stupid and very counter productive. I've voiced my displeasure with Bob and wish that this post was not made. However I understand why it was made. When attacked you have two choices. We've all seen how well one of those choices worked out.

I am pleased that John Lapp posted that diary yesterday. The chance for all of us, institutional and netroot, to work together should be embraced fully. We should be using the internet the way the GOP uses talk radio. But first we need to get past this petty bs. We need to talk to, not at each other. And we need to work together to achieve the goals that we all want in the end.

Stop the bickering.

I'm with Jesse.

The Brighams, Sirotas, Kos' and sundry other supposed hotshots of the blogosphere have their own ads to sell, consultancies to build, ads to sell, etc., etc., so I suppose they're going to write and say whatever they think they need to to accomplish those goals, but that's got nothing to do with Democratic victory, and when the methods they use involve denigrating, often dishonestly, our Party institutions, well, they just might have more than a little to do with Democratic defeat.

Sure, the DCCC may only target 30 or 40 challenger races. That's hardly all they do - not even most of it. Having managed non-targetted campaigns, I sure would have like to have seen some big checks from DC rolling in, but I was very happy to have access to tens of thousands of dollars worth of polling we couldn't have done, and various other kinds of help that came our way as well.

Of course, the DCCC isn't the Democratic Party. It's just a small piece, really. There's the Senate side, of course, and the DNC, and the state parties, and a whole network of local operations and Democratic clubs, etc., etc. In addition, there are our allies, whether it's COPE or the 527s or whoever. Viable candidacies get support from some of these, sometimes from all of these.

Meahwhile, the DCCC is busy with a lot more than 30 or 40 challengers. There's the little matter of the actual members of the caucus they're organized to assist. Sirota's latest tack seems to be a call to heed those who've 'actually won elections,' making his own great victory as a campaign staffer in Montana the measure of all things.

Well, the Montana governorship ain't beanbag, I suppose, but it ain't exactly the World Series in Yankee Stadium, either. Last time I checked, the DCCC had a hand in over 200 Democratic victories in the last cycle. That's playing in the bigs, folks.

The DCCC's been the Party organization I've invested most of my efforts in at Upper Left because, as I've written elsewhere, they've made it easy, with tools, tactics and open communication. Along the way, I've watched them silently suffer all kinds of unwarranted grief, often from those who argue that they should be more attuned to 'fighting back.

Jesse didn't pick this fight, but frankly, I'm pleased he chose to engage his more persistent antagonists.

Calling someone a liar is no small thing. It's got to hurt. Of course, it's entirely preventable.

Just stop lying. After all, the facts about the DCCC contributions to Hackett are a matter of public record. If Brigham didn't know, he shouldn't have said anything. But he should have known.

People who denigrate my Party's organizations and lie about their efforts are the ones with relevancy problems, as far as this Democrat's concerned, and I'm pretty darn near as netroots as they come.

JeeseLee,
You actually write a blog that isn't simply copying press statements or posting carefully crafted messages from your communications department, and for that I respect you and the DCCC.

You're going to get angry; you're going to make mistakes. Every single blogger who is not some campaign machine tool will do that.

The NRCC blog is a freaking press clippings service. I'm glad to have a party that at least tries to engage the people online, even if the netroots don't always appreciate that.

I think Bob meant DLC. [/snark]

Come on, folks. As much ass as there is that needs kicking, we have to kick it in unison, not kick each others'.

Bob did something, DCCC did something, Netroots did something - and all together we almost put that piece of Schmidt out to pasture. People want credit for what they did, and are trying to sell the point. Some rhetorical overheat is expected since we've been on the receiving end of ass-kickings for 5+ years now.

At the end of the day, we all know what needs to be done, excepting, of course, the DLC.

I know that you find it funny that somebody is being quoted and doing everything they can to declare us irrelevant. I don't. I, as well as the other 70 people or so I work with here and love pour our hearts and souls into this job, up to and including Rahm Emanuel and John Lapp. It is insulting to all of us personally, and nothing I've written here comes anywhere close to what Bob has said about us.

Jesse,

For the record, I don't find any of this funny. I do think it's good - the fighting is real and so is the honest discussion and real emotion. We don't have enough of that in the party, and I appreciate that you and John Lapp put yourselves out there.

Nevertheless, these things should not be personal, and I'm glad you made up with Bob.

I don't know why all of the DCCC types are sniveling over a little bit of good old fashioned Democratic fratricide. Jesselee and the DCCC have a few lessons to learn. The grass/netroots is not going to be denied or talked down to. The grass/netroots is not going to be lectured to or taken for granted. The grass/netroots is not going to be your congenial ATM that you discard at the end of the election cycle.

Jesselee and the DCCC apparatchiks want respect, but are not willing to grant respect. It doesn't work that way.You all seem to consider yourselves Democratic saints who are above criticism. Joe Biden had the same bizarre expectation when he or his staff put up a diary at MyDD. MBNA Joe Biden seems to think we have forgotten his lead role in passing the bankruptcy bill or his criticism of Howard Dean.

Jesselee and the DCCC apparatchiks want to be judged on their own merits, with no blowback from the comments Will Marshall and Peter Ross Range made last week. It's not going to happen. When DLC spokesholes shoot their mouth off, it's going to reflect on all Democratic Party organizations. That may not be fair, but it is what it is.

Jesselee seems to think he can attack one part of the grass/netroots without offending other segments. If you think DFA and the grass/netroots are entirely separate groups, you don't get it. It doesn't work that way. When you attack Bob Brigham, you attack us all. You attack everyone who worked with Bob Brigham and There Is No Crisis to preserve Social Security, when some of the DLC types like Joe Lieberman, Bob Wexler and Bill Clinton where all making public statements of appeasement.

Maybe I'm misreading Jesselee's token apology incorrectly. Maybe I missed the part of the feud where Bob Brigham made a personal attack on the level of publicly calling someone a liar. Maybe I'm misreading Jesselee's new frame accusing Bob Brigham of absurd victimhood. I don't think Jesselee gets it and his apology does not strike me as being sincere.

Let me ask you a question Jesselee. Where you offended by Will Marshall's article or Peter Ross Range's article? Or is the DCCC position kind of like Boeing's position that they are not responsible for the dirt poor wages of their janitors because they subcontract janitorial work? The DLC has declared war on the progressive wing of the Democratic party. Until a few things are settled there is going to be serious blowback against every Democratic organization.

Don't expect an era of good will in the Democratic Party as long as the DLC spokesholes are taking public shots at DFA or the netroots. If the DLC wants to treat us like the enemy, that is how we will react. If you and the DCCC experience a little collateral damage you should not be surprised.

You'll have to excuse me. I see Jerome just posted a smackdown on Rahm Emmanuel. Rahm seems to be confused about what the difference is between exurbs and rural areas. Time for another little skirmish.

Jesse Lee,

Here's a chance for the DCCC to "redeem" itself. We had a great candidate to run against Bill Thomas in CA-22. The only district in CA where Dems did not field a candidate last time. Thought to be hopeless, right?

Along comes a woman who is the "complete package." She goes out to test the waters, forges alliances with Democrats across the district, raises their hopes for the first time in years, makes them feel pride again. Everyone's ready to go. This early.

Then she gets cold-shouldered by the DNC, the DCCC, the state apparatus. "Show us the money" first, they say, before we'll even talk to you.

With this kind of treatment, she figured it really is hopeless, and withdrew. She could be encouraged to come back. Her candidacy would make Thomas actually fight in his district, divert funds, time, energy, etc.

E-mail me, Jesse Lee, for more details. And to discuss how to get the DCCC involved, NOW. You make that happen and I promise I'll have the blogosphere eating out of your hand.

Can someone give me a timeline for the DLC takeover of the DCCC? It's a shocking development that I was completely unaware of.

Maybe every group with a D and a C in it's name should change them so this type of thing doesn't happen anymore.

Clearly the Democratic party and all it's enclaves of disparate groups are not one big homogeneous family working and coordinating together.

I don't suppose anything i write here is going to radically change that over night. Indeed I am beginning to suspect, absent some miraculous leadership from somewhere that the Democratic party is going to have to fight itself, ala the Republican moderate purges, before it can begin to fight the Republicans. I hope this isn't true.

I had perceived that the OH-2 campaign was back water until the netroots pilled on, and from there it seems to me like a great coordination and team effort, so this disintegration and credit claims and counter claims is disappointing.

I don't ask for much from the DCCC, the DNC the DSCC the DLC or the net roots. All i ask is fight hard, fight tough, don't ever back down - and always aim the firepower at the GOP.

the DLC constantly fails to do this. The DCCC doesn't but neither will it fight in every district, still stuck with the targeted mindset and that everything must revolve around money.

I disagreed with Bobs call for a financial boycott of the DCCC - but i also said the DCCC had to demonstrate it was willing to listen and adapt to modern political warfare and face the fact that the battle field isn't 30 or 40 districts, but all of them every election cycle - and with that I stand with Bob and the DNC and DFA and the netroots.

I hope we can avoid intercine warfare. Activists and Democrats aren't asking for much. Stop attacking Other Dems. Stand up and fight for your principles. Do that all over the country. Do it as hard as you possible can every hour of every day.

Everything else is just BS.

Ellen,

With all due respect, if your candidate wasn't willing to do fundraising on her own, I don't know that the D-Trip--or EMILY'S List, for that matter--would be willing to step in.

Then again, I don't have any of the details for that particular candidacy.

Jesse,

I, for one, want to thank you and the DCCC for all you do. I've been rather disgusted at all the chest beating going on in certain quarters.

Working on a congressional race that has national implications, we KNOW that we have to do certain things to get DCCC support. We intend to earn that support, just as we intend to earn the support of the netroots. The two are certainly not mutually exclusive.

Again, thank you.

Paul

A little perspective here, please. The Democrats have been trying to retake the House unsuccessfully since 1995. In every cycle the DCCC has adopted fundamentally the same political strategy: target the same subset of "competitive" districts.

Maybe, just maybe, this strategy is flawed. Maybe the DCCC ought to look at its own record and change course. (Some humility would help, too. This donor isn't wild about pouring good money after bad with little expectation that the recipient knows they're doing badly and need to change.)

I happen to think 2006 is shaping up to be a "big wave" election, much like 1994. The only question is whether Democrats will put enough seats into play to take advantage of the wave. (Yes, Paul Hackett and the netroots deserve tons of credit for giving everyone an early clue.) How about a 50 state strategy this time? It is, after all, what Chairman Dean recommends. You know, the head of the Party. (Memo to John Lapp: you might not want to mention that old 30 to 50 target seat strategy until you check with Chairman Dean.)

Bob Brigham may not be diplomatic, but the gist of his message happens to be correct. The DCCC really *is* becoming less and less relevant unless it comes on board with the new Democratic Party strategy. And did I mention humility? DCCC personnel ought to be saying "thank you" and "that's a good point" and "here's what we intend to do differently" instead of "here's one Democrat who's full of crap."

There's another thing Paul Hackett showed: Democrats can and must talk about the Iraq War directly and succinctly. It's stupid to think Democratic candidates can simply change the subject. (Voters' BS detectors are set to maximum, and no politician is going to win votes if those detectors are going off.) I'm hoping the DCCC has got that message by now. With 20+ Ohio soldiers coming back in one set of body bags, this issue isn't going away. It really isn't a hard issue. Start with "the President is wrong" (and yes, some Democrats were wrong/lied to) and go from there.

One of the many weirdities of DC culture is this out of scale reaction to criticism among people who suck at their jobs - it's common in the press and the DC democractic establishment. Oddly enough, the Republicans, who actually WIN, are very tolerant of internal criticism of competence or strategy and take outside the beltway comments very seriously instead of seeing them at lese majesty. Here's a tip: until there is a Democratic majority, DCCC staff should fake humility and try to learn from everyone else instead of expecting homage.

By the way: everybody works hard. Most Americans have much harder jobs than you do - if the worthless DC Dems would worry about the issues of those people instead of playing tough guy in Georgetown e.g. "being realistic" about Social Security or Iraq, maybe we'd WIN AN ELECTION NOW AND THEN. The very fact that you can get all defensive about how much you struggle to chat on the phone and write memos and sometimes go all the way to SE for a meeting, is an illustration of why the DCCC raises the hackles of so many people. If your job is so effin hard, let's find someone from OK or Detroit who will be willing to fill in. The nation is stuffed with talented and hard working people who would love to do that job. It's impossible to even imagine LBJ, who actually won elections, tolerating let alone saying something so cluelessly effete. Shit, and I sent you money last year. What a fool.

"Actually, Wes Clark sent an e-mail to his list in Ohio and put up a note on his website asking his folks to donate to Hackett and it went through ActBlue. John Glenn sent one to the John Kerry list. They also asked volunteers to go to Ohio and help on the ground as did the various Dem. groups in Ohio. The blogs did great things. The DCCC came in for the 'almost' knockout punch."

Exactly. The attempt by any one person or group to claim they did everything is out of line. No one owns the grassroots -- either online or off.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This is extremely discouraging. It is very important to me that the Democrats re-take the House in 2006. I have contributed to the DCCC before, and it's not clear to me at this point whether it would be best to give to the DCCC, or to other organizations. You folks aren't exactly inspiring my confidence here.

Those of you who consider yourselves old pros: you've lost the last 6 times; a certain amount of humility is appropriate. We desperately need a majority; merely picking up a few seats won't do.
Contesting only 30 or 40 close seats won't do.

Let's not worry at this point about scarcity: not enough money to contest a larger number of races. With a big enough vision, we can raise the money; I could put up a couple of thou, but I want to make sure that the money is well spent (and I'd need to see more evidence that the DCCC has a workable plan as to how to run a campaign). Hint: "We're like the Republicans, only somewhat more moderate" is not a big vision.

I thought I'd just add my 2 cents as a real live Republican (no joke) who makes a daily round reading progblogs, though I half expect to be censored.

Seriously guys:

(1) As your man Carville says, "the purpose of a political party in a democracy is to win elections." You are very unlikely to beat us if you continue to argue amongst yourselves (in public no less!) like 3 year olds. This is perfectly fine with me as a Republican, but as an American I would prefer my party rule while faced at least with a loyal, effective opposition. You're never going to become even that while you engage in this undisciplined, petty nonsense. And on CNN for the love of GOD!

(2)In the unlikely event you actually manage to win an election in this condition (and politics is full of surprises): when the newspapers get finished celebrating your remarkable genius in winning, how on EARTH are you going to manage to rule? Do you have any idea how difficult ruling the United States really is? You can't deal with North Korea, China, Iraq, Iran, trade, the environment, etc. while acting like the people who run my local health food store! If your President bombs Iran, are the left blogs going to go on CNN and disown him/her? You will have really tough decisions to make; right or wrong (and you won't know in advance) you have to stick with each other once you make them - or we will ALL fail.

I hate to break this to you, but right now you can't even stick together enough to beat with us. And we're just other Americans! We're your neighbors! We smile at you in the checkout line before we beat you at the polls. They don't do that over in Teheran.

Get it together; start by washing your laundry at home.