The DNC is unhappy with Howard Dean again

Via the Washington Post:

Democratic congressional leaders aren’t happy with the way Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is spending money. At a private meeting last month, they let him know.

Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) challenged the former Vermont governor during a session in Pelosi’s office, according to Democratic sources. The leaders complained about Dean’s priorities — funding organizers for state parties in strongly Republican states such as Mississippi — rather than targeting states with crucial races this fall.

Neither side was willing to give ground, according to several accounts of the meeting. Dean argued that his strategy is designed to rebuild the party across the country, and that he had pledged to do so when he ran for party chairman. Reid and Pelosi countered that if Democrats squander their opportunities this year, longer-term organizing efforts will not matter much.

Democratic congressional leaders are particularly worried because the Republican National Committee holds a huge financial advantage over the DNC. One congressional Democrat complained that Dean has — at an alarming rate — burned through the money the DNC raised, and that Republicans may be able to swamp Democrats in close races with an infusion of RNC money.

I blogged back in January about a related story on the DNC’s displeasure with how the Doctor of Disology had been spending campaign cash. The 2006 elections will be interesting on two fronts: 1) to see whether or not Republicans can withstand the tidal wave of scandals (some worthy of the title of ‘scandal’ – namely the Jack Abramoff brouhaha, while others – like the NSA surveillance program, pLamegate, and the UAE port deal – are not) that have come to light in the last two years and 2) they’ll be a referendum on whether or not Dean’s money-spending strategies that have landed him a few times in hot water with the DNC will pay off big.

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