This post irritates me. It shows that nothing DNC does will satisfy..

[madfloridian]

activists in the area of voting rights. It irritates me to death that the more the DNC tries to do, the more they get critized for not doing anything. So why should they bother? This is in regard to the voting protections, but the same thing goes in every category.

None of our very few resources on the left presents what is going on, they just don't cover it. And the ones who are now mostly related to the same old ways, such as TNR for example...don't say much at all.

No one wants to give money, yet they expect the DNC to pull it out of their who know what and provide all 50 states with election protection in the snap of a finger.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3176

Here's the press release.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=70229

This is tiring. Sometimes it is baby steps unless all of us want to step and fund it. i don't see a rush.

I say good for the DNC for doing what they can with the money they have, while having Rahm nipping at their heels, having to support state level candidates and fund party resources.

One of Dean's goals is to take over the state houses so the other side won't have anymore Blackwells and Harrises in charge of elections in crucial states.

But nothing is ever enough.

Edit to add main provisions:

In addition to the national voter protection hotline, the DNC's voter protection strategy for 2006 includes:

-- COORDINATING NATIONAL ELECTION PROTECTION STRATEGY: At the DNC's Summer Meeting in Chicago, the DNC Voting Rights Institute and the National Lawyers Council will meet with the leadership of every state party to lay out their step by step plans for protecting voters at the polls at every level;

-- PROVIDING ELECTION PROTECTION STAFF: The DNC will place election protection staff in 15 key states and provide training and step-by-step Election Protection manuals to other states.

-- RECRUITING LEGAL ASSISTANCE ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY: The National Lawyers Council is recruiting 7,500 pro-bono lawyers and law students to support the DNC's election protection program. These lawyers will be placed in precincts to augment voter protection efforts at every level-including not just statewide office and Congressional races, but local and county races as well. These offices from state representatives to county sheriffs and judges will have a profound impact on the lives of real citizens throughout the year.

-- ADVANCING LEGISLATION FOR VERIFIED VOTING: The DNC will continue working with Congressional leaders, grassroots activists and state parties to build support for federal legislation to mandate a verified voting paper trail for voting machines that has been proven as the best method of securing votes.

-- FILING LITIGATION TO BLOCK LEGISLATION: The DNC will work with state parties to file litigation to prevent imposition of egregious photo ID and other Republican sponsored legislation that disenfranchise voters. This follows the successful partnership the DNC has undertaken with state parties pursuing legal challenges to, for example, Indiana's voter ID law and to the effort to investigate the criminal phone-jamming scheme in New Hampshire.

-- MONITORING STATE LEGISLATION: The National Lawyers Council and the Voting Rights Institute will continue to meet with top election law attorneys and monitor state legislative initiatives that have the potential to dilute the voting rights of key constituency voters. They are also updating manuals from the last election cycle to reflect new changes in election laws across the country.

---

[madfloridian]

1. Oh, and PS...the Busby race was mentioned...

Dean already spoke on that for in the fall. But since I posted the interview he gave in San Diego here, and it did not get coverage elsewhere, no one paid attention.

[napi21]

2. HERE HERE!!!! That's absolutely right!

I realize both Emanuel and Dean have a job to do. What I'm having a really difficult time with is, with all the connections Emanuel has, why can't he just damn do HIS part and leave Dean alone to do HIS!

[madfloridian]

4. Exactly.. If folks want the DNC to do it all...then donate. Link.

http://www.democrats.org/page/contribute?source=NETA454

Rahm and Chuck are not going to do anything about voting machines, they are not thinking that way for right now. They have their jobs, Dean has his.

And the DNC has limited resources with everyone wanting their money. And no one covers the good things they do, they just gripe.

[OzarkDem]

3. I agree, Dems in Ohio are working on it, too

but money is a problem - how to pay for it? I'm also uncomfortable with so many groups from outside of our state raising funds and making promises to work a clean election in Ohio. They often don't coordinate w/ state Dem leaders.

[LoZoccolo]

5. DUers are seldom doers.

It's easy to complain, more difficult to give time or money.

[madfloridian]

6. And this statement is totally unfair....

From the BradBlog.

"The DNC Media Office released information on their planned "Expanded National Voter Protection Effort" today. I'll avoid my knee-jerk reaction to say "Expanded" from what?!"

And from me:

UH, expanded from zero under the previous chair. The chores of the DNC are many...try to win statehouses back, build the party, build a small donor base (that takes money...more than just sitting and yakking with lobbyists), and more.

The committees have raised far more...yet they have only one job description.

Yet one of them is threatening to bypass the DNC and form their own GOTV (can you say form their own party?).

And the activists in all areas on the left don't give a break at all.

The Nation has turned to constantly harping on Dean, Dean, Dean...the TNR is having the DLC give out free subscriptions to their magazine.

And while we are fighting among us because the DNC is the one being blamed, I begin to agree with Howard Dean much more on a statement in a recent interview with Matt Bai:

"Dean says he wants to put in a real long term business plan for success, win the 2006 elections so at least we can stop the hemorrhaging that is going on in the country and build a base from there.

He then says that if we succeed (in 06), which he has every intention of doing is that it is harder to change an institution which is in power than one which is out of power. But he doesn't think the American people can afford to have a weak Democratic party anymore.

The fear is they would say ok now we are back in power, things are ok. His 2nd greatest fear after not winning is that if we do we fail to get health care, we fail to raise the minimum wage, fail to start to balance the budget.."

We are going to fight amongst ourselves, bash the only real hope of changing things, and lose anyway.

[madfloridian]

7. Another statement also bothers because there is no money tree for the DNC.

This worries me a lot that some don't have a clue about the funding, and where it will come from. Dean has doubled the hard money dollars from 2000-2003...can't count 2004. He has more in the bank, than Terry did, but doesn't even get credit for that. But please be aware of his job description...it is like being in charge of winning back state houses, hiring state workers, etc. Here is the job description of all the groups. Maybe they could all share in the effort, that would be more cost effective.

http://www.democrats.org/a/party/ourorganization.html

"To that end, and by way of example, we could also use their help in dealing with issues like the Busby/Bilbray U.S. House special election in CA50 now if they are serious about protecting the ballot box in November everwhere! (An essay I posted some weeks ago describing how what happens now in CA50 affects the vote everywhere this November is right here: "A Line in the Sand")"

Dean and the DNC did speak up about that race, but I realize that some think the DNC should fund it. Maybe it will, I have not heard.

But they are most definitely looking ahead at the CA 50 race in November. I posted an interview here at DU earlier, it mostly got ignored. Dean spoke about her race in San Diego on PBS. I saw no other blog or forum that covered it at all. No one. If the left blogs don't cover stuff there is no one to do it.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/168

I sometimes wish our left-leaning blogs would start saying some good things about our party. There is no one else to do it. There really is not. Not the main TV channels, not the print media. We have to take up for our own, and we are not.

[madfloridian]

8. Dean gets blasted by a left blog for spending 10 times more on this...

than his predecessor. In my book that is just not fair.

It is not even mentioned at Daily Kos, nor at MyDD, and for sure not at Booman Tribune. I haven't seen it anywhere on the news, nor do I expect to do so.

Just silence. I searched others. Nothing.

From the press release, this is amazing with all the people withholding funds....

"Under his (Dean's) leadership, the DNC has committed $12 million to help elect Democrats at every level in 38 states across America--roughly 10 times the hard money the DNC spent four years ago for coordinated campaigns."

Now I wish more people cared that the efforts are being putdown at the link I posted, and that the comments are getting more heated. But they don't apparently.

It is sign that we are not paying attention. Our blogs are not helping to spread things like this.

That leaves us no one. I have had people here make fun of me for standing up for the DNC under his leadership. I have been taunted, I just don't care.

If Dean is spending 10 times more on this issue, then he just plain deserves credit, NOT scorn like is at the link at the OP.

And where are all the people asking the DSCC and DCCC and DGA to step up and help fund things? Could it be because they don't care?