DAYS OF OUR DEMS

There is mutiny in the Democratic Party. It's a family feud. It's a soap opera. It's a mess.

Hillary has her hands in George's pockets, and the DNC isn't happy about it.

Dr. Dean must be having a fit. I hope he doesn't start drinking again.

The Washington Post's Thomas B. Edsall writes:
A group of well-connected Democrats led by a former top aide to Bill Clinton is raising millions of dollars to start a private firm that plans to compile huge amounts of data on Americans to identify Democratic voters and blunt what has been a clear Republican lead in using technology for political advantage.

Hmmm. Data mining.
Weren't Dems bent out of shape about that sort of thing? Haven't they been whining about the government snooping into the private lives of Americans?

THIS SOUNDS LIKE A DOMESTIC SPY PROGRAM!!!

What a headline! -- "HILLARY ERODES CIVIL RIGHTS IN POWER GRAB"

The effort by Harold Ickes, a deputy chief of staff in the Clinton White House and an adviser to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), is prompting intense behind-the-scenes debate in Democratic circles. Officials at the Democratic National Committee think that creating a modern database is their job, and they say that a competing for-profit entity could divert energy and money that should instead be invested with the national party.



Icky certainly knows how to stir things up.

Ickes and others involved in the effort acknowledge that their activities are in part a vote of no confidence that the DNC under Chairman Howard Dean is ready to compete with Republicans on the technological front. "The Republicans have developed a cadre of people who appreciate databases and know how to use them, and we are way behind the march," said Ickes, whose political technology venture is being backed by financier George Soros.

It's only early 2006 and Soros is already pouring millions into an effort to take the White House away from the Republicans in 2008.

That's not surprising. Soros is obsessed with trying to buy defeat for Republicans.

What's significant is that Moneybags Soros has been courted by Icky to sidestep the inept Democratic National Committee.

The Clinton Machine is chugging away and leaving Dr. Dean in the dust. Icky is even willing to admit that his private plans for a data mining scheme are in motion because the mad Dr. can't be trusted to deliver for the Dems.

What intrigue!
...Ickes's effort is drawing particular notice among Washington operatives who know about it because of speculation that he is acting to build a campaign resource for a possible 2008 presidential run by Hillary Clinton. She has long been concerned, advisers say, that Democrats and liberals lack the political infrastructure of Republicans and their conservative allies. Ickes said his new venture, Data Warehouse, will at first seek to sell its targeting information to politically active unions and liberal interest groups, rather than campaigns.

"Washington operatives who know about it"?

Now, everybody knows about it. I guess the Post will need to publish more chapters in this drama.

It's clear that Hillary is calling the shots. She snaps her fingers and the Clintonistas carry out her wishes.

I bet Kerry and Gore are fuming. Gore is probably also foaming.
As it stands now, the DNC and Data Warehouse, created by Ickes and Democratic operative Laura Quinn, will separately try to build vast and detailed voter lists -- each effort requiring sophisticated expertise and costing well over $10 million.

"From an institutional standpoint, this is one of the most important things the DNC can and should do. Building this voter file is part of our job," Communications Director Karen Finney said. "We believe this is something we have to do at the DNC. Our job is to build the infrastructure of the party."

Finney should be ticked off. The Clinton Machine and the DNC will be competing. It's not supposed to work that way.

Hillary doesn't seem to understand the concept of "divide and conquer." She's dividing her own Party.
...Ickes has quietly raised an estimated $7.5 million in start-up money for Data Warehouse. A prospectus said the company will need at least $11.5 million in initial capital.

In addition to Soros, Ickes and Quinn have the financial backing from some of the wealthy participants in a new fundraising group called the Democracy Alliance. He and Quinn, who will be chief executive of Data Warehouse, have hired technology specialists from internet retailer Amazon.com and a Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology computer project.

Quinn had worked on the voter file program under McAuliffe, but he brought in his own people after Dean took over in early 2005. These included former Dean presidential campaign workers who formed a company called Blue State Digital, now under contract with the DNC.

Huh?

Someone explain that last paragraph to me. When did Quinn part ways with the DNC? Are the former Dean campaign workers still under contract with the DNC?

That's not clear. Typical Washington Post stuff. No matter.

What matters is that Hillary and Co. have initiated a schism in the Democratic Party.

I question Hillary's wisdom in alienating the DNC and Howard Dean. Then again, I often question Hillary's wisdom.

I can't see her getting close to achieving her goal without the Dem base in her corner. Apparently, she believes that Icky and Soros and some well-connected Dems are enough.

This is just another example of Hillary taking the Dems for granted. She assumes that she'll have their support no matter what she says or does.

Disloyalty, selfishness, deceit, and unfaithfulness are Clinton family hallmarks.