Smackdown

Smackdown

An unnamed "party insider...with high-level access" floats a modest proposal regarding Ms. Brazille via Kos...

...Donna is to the party what Jesse, her mentor, is to the business community. She knows she can exact whatever she wants. What do we get in exchange? Is she spending a lot of time doing micro-analyses of the turnout and performance of minority districts? Is she developing messages to communicate to the emerging black middle class, many of whom were born after the civil rights movement and are increasingly receptive to Republican messages? Aside from the chuckles she gets at public events from her practiced good-ole-girl adages, she's not pushing forward the discussion, not offering solutions, not innovating. She's not even that good at taking Bay Buchanan or Jonah Goldberg to the woodshed when she's on CNN.

Speaking of Mr. Jackson, for years now he has repeated in his speeches that there are hundreds of thousands of African Americans who, if they turned out in states with large black populations, would make it impossible for Republicans to have a majority in Congress. (Or at least the Senate, where they can't be gerrymandered.) He's right. But ask yourself: Is Donna working to fix this problem? She's the highest-ranking black campaign manager in American history, but frankly, she can't deliver a pizza. She hurts the party and, therefore, isn't doing much good for the black community she derives her political power from. She's also one of the few Democrats who chats periodically with Karl Rove. Here's an familiar aphorism for you, Donna: That dog won't hunt.

Don't be fooled by her love letters, Dr. Dean. This is Donna's way of saying she plans to be on the payroll if you win, now that she can read the writing on the political wall (her one great skill). If you win, you should work hard to figure out ways to be inclusive, encourage black turnout, and continue some of the DNC's ambitious efforts to raise money from younger, upscale African Americans. The party is guilty of turning to blacks only when it comes time to vote, and you can help end that practice.

But the first "reform" action you ought to take is to show Donna the door.

Her 'Sister Soulja' moment is long overdue.

As the liklihood of Dean's election as DNC chair seems to increase day by day, so will the volume of advice he'll receive. He won't receive better advice than this.

It's good advice for Simon, too, who's still in the hunt for DNC votes.