Update: Dean Bid for DNC Chair Picking Up Steam!From the Politicalwire:
The New York Post (ack!) reports on rumors "about whether Bill and Hillary Clinton will join the stop-Dean push" as Democrats gather in New York this weekend to jockey for party chairman.
A spokesman for Sen. Clinton says "she 'is neutral in this campaign. She neither supports nor opposes any individual candidate' -- but several Democrats say Clinton allies are trying to find a Dean alternative for the Feb. 12 vote."
The AP confirms the race for Democratic chairman has come down to Howard Dean or the "anti-Dean" candidate.
From the Vermont Guardian
Dean is picking up allies. He has won support from several black DNC members, and he has gained the backing of some key players from the Kerry and Clinton camps.
But perhaps more telling: At a recent Sacramento event, an overflow crowd defied expectations when they jammed the hotel suite where Dean and the other candidates for the DNC leadership were speaking. “No one is as yet clued in enough to the grassroots to anticipate an overflow and set up a TV monitor,” commented one observer.
Down in the trenches, Dean still resonates. Such support, from the ground up, is proof that he can expand the party and attract and hold the diverse constituency Democrats need to bring this country back from the brink.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
Thanks to David Loebsack and Ellen Ballas for contributing this information.
And from Trish, this late night update!
Ex-Clinton Aide Ickes Backs Dean for DNC
By WILL LESTER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Harold Ickes, a leading Democratic activist and former aide to President Clinton, said Friday he is backing Howard Dean to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee - giving a powerful boost to the front-runner.
"I think all the candidates who are running have strong attributes, but Dean has more of the attributes than the others," said Ickes, who considered running for chairman himself before dropping out in early January. "Many people say Howard Dean is a northeastern liberal, he is progressive, but his tenure as governor of Vermont was that of a real moderate."
Ickes, who heads the political action committee of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said the endorsement was his alone and "does not reflect Sen. Clinton's opinion."
While Ickes would not comment on the Clintons' preferences, he is a close ally and would not be endorsing Dean against their strong objections. No one was immediately available in Sen. Clinton's office to comment.
(Source)
