Good for Begich and the Democrats in Alaska. A shout out to the DNC staffers there as well.

[madfloridian]

Thanks for protecting us for at least a while from Senate run by Sarah Palin.

I was thinking back to two years ago when Matt Bai of the New York Times traveled to Alaska with Howard Dean. He pointed out how there was almost ridicule among Democratic leaders for such expenditures. It was actually a good investment at $35,000 a year for that extra staffer.

It showed the party was serious about winning there, and though I can't prove it I imagine having paid staffers might have helped in some way.

From October 2006

The idea is to hire mostly young, ambitious activists who will go out and build county and precinct organizations to rival Republican machines in every state in the country. “We’re going to be in places where the Democratic Party hasn’t been in 25 years,” Dean likes to say. “If you don’t show up in 60 percent of the country, you don’t win, and that’s not going to happen anymore.”

In paying for two new staffers, Dean had, virtually overnight, doubled the size of Alaska’s beleaguered state party, which used to consist of only an executive director and a part-time fund-raiser. But now, as Dean considered the vastness of the state’s landscape, he decided that one organizer wasn’t enough. “In most states, we have three or four,” Dean said, thinking out loud. “Seems like you should really have more. We should be able to find that money in the budget.”

That night, after meeting with Dean at the sad little storefront office that houses the state party, Alaska’s party chairman, Jake Metcalfe, announced to 400 assembled Democrats at a fund-raiser that Dean had just promised to hire an additional organizer for the state. The ballroom erupted in grateful applause as Dean sat there beaming. The members of his staff, gently rolling their eyes, began calling back to Washington, warning the political staff that they would need to find the money for yet another salary in, of all places, Alaska.

In just a few hours, Dean had nicely demonstrated why so many leading Democrats in Washington wish he would spend even more time in Alaska — preferably hiking the tundra for a few months, without a cellphone. It’s not that Democrats in Congress don’t like the idea of building better organizations in the party’s forgotten rural outposts. Everyone in Democratic politics agrees, in principle, that party organizations in states like Alaska could use help from Washington to become competitive again, as opposed to the rusted-out machines they have become. But doing so, at this particular moment and in this particular way, would seem to suck away critical resources at a time when every close House and Senate race has the potential to decide who will control the nation’s post-election agenda, and when the party should, theoretically, be focused on mobilizing its base voters — the kind of people who live in big cities and listen religiously to Air America.

To the staffers in all the states, now laid off, thanks for your hard work.

[davidinalameda]

1. KEEP HOWARD DEAN AS DNC CHAIRMAN!!!!

he's brought the party back from the wilderness

[BzaDem]

3. He doesn't want it. n/t

[davidinalameda]

8. one can hope though

[ClarkUSA]

4. I hope he runs for Governor again and kicks out the Republican there presently.

Then, he could run for president again in 2016.

[ClarkUSA]

2. Don't forget the Obama volunteers and staffers who've been organizing there since early this year.

Obama never pulled his people from Alaska. The campaign kept the offices open to help the down ticket and encourage
grassroots fervor. And Obama did better by far than any Democratic presidential candidate in decades, despite Mooselini
being on the GOP ticket, so that translated into more votes for Begich, who ran on a strongly pro-Obama "Change"
message.

[madfloridian]

5. Uh, the DNC did not pull staffers from there either.??

It is just that the 50 state strategy staffers are done as of this month.

I was taking nothing away from Obama.

I was giving credit to someone for putting people there to beging with against party wishes.

[ClarkUSA]

6. Of course. I was simply adding to your message.

Barack Obama has always praised Dean's foresight in thinking up the 50-state strategy.

I am sure that the Obama grassroots fervor from the past year will continue on in every state and territory as we look
forward to 2010. I hope the DNC starts raising more money so they can reinstate the 50-state strategy by the end of
2009.

[Cha]

7. Thanks for bringing this on, mad.

It all goes back to Dean and his 50 strategy that only made sense.

Yesterday was his birthday:party:

[Waiting For Everyman]

9. It's poetic justice for Begich to give us one more Senate vote.

Yay Dean! And way to go, Alaskans! :fistbump:

[breadandwine]

10. Unfortunately, this may be the last we get.

The GOP may outspend Franken in the Minnesota recount, and that may enable Coleman to retain his seat. And Chambliss only came in under 50% in Georgia because the Libertarian candidate took some of his votes, but the Libertarian won't be in the runoff so those votes will likely go to Chambliss. It also doesn't look like Obama is going to campaign in the state though some other Dems may. We may be looking at a 58 seat Dem Senate caucus and that's it.