More on Nachbar, endorsements, situational decisions and having it both ways
If the committee wishes to proceed with the meeting for the purpose of considering an endorsement, then I will have to decline the invitation. I hope that everyone will understand that this is a deeply held personal principle.
Well, you’re going to have to read this lengthy post to see where the quote comes from!
There seems to be some discussion over the value of early endorsements….
Let’s understand the Monroe County Democratic rules: designations can’t occur until 75 days before an election. So no one in Monroe County will be designating candidates, be they Presidential, Congressional, or dog catcher.
However, a committee can endorse a candidate. Show a candidate that all things considered it supports their run for office. That it stands behind a particular candidate. That is what each town in Monroe County that is part of the 29th did.
Are they valuable? Well, you be the judge.
Eric Massa believes they are and has actively pursued endorsements from each committee (County or Town) in the 29th. Why? Because he wants to show that he has powerful support of local grassroots supporters as well as a powerful army of foot soldiers who will actually help him in the campaign. A core group of passionate, knowledgeable, committed experienced campaign workers that will aid him in defeating Randy Kuhl in the 2008. For Eric, it is as simple as that.
Enter David Nachbar. It doesn’t make sense for him to seek early endorsements, because, frankly, that is Massa’s strength. The committees already know what Massa stands for — and they like him. So what would be a viable strategy to pursue for Mr Nachbar? Denigrate the early endorsement process. Claim it doesn’t matter, that it’s silly, refuse to participate in the whole process.
In fact — send out notes like this (a snip from a David Nachbar email to the Brighton Democratic Committee):
If the committee wishes to proceed with the meeting for the purpose of considering an endorsement, then I will have to decline the invitation. I hope that everyone will understand that this is a deeply held personal principle.
OK, but what happened last Monday evening? Mr Nachbar attended the Brighton meeting, knowing what would occur — that a motion was on the table to consider an early endorsement for a candidate.
Maybe Mr Nachbar didn’t realize this was an endorsement meeting and was misled by the BDC as to what would happen at the meeting. If that is the case, then shame on the Brighton committee. Having spoken to the Brighton town chair I have been assured that is not the case.
So then it is back to the email. Seems someone changed their mind based on the situation.
So much for deeply held principles.
Related posts:
Yup. Easy to discount the significance of endorsements if you claim you could have sought them, but chose not to, because you consider them unimportant. Easier yet to discount them when you’ve got no chance of getting any. But in the end pretty stupid to insult the very base that you need in order to have any hope of success in a primary. Maybe success for this guy is defined differently.
Nachbar’s first stop was a visit to the power brokers of the DCCC…NOT the people of the 29th.
Nachbar just doesn’t seem interested in representing the PEOPLE of the 29th.
To be fair, I don’t think that’s something to be censured. If you want to run for office, it makes logical sense to get in touch with the organization that has competence and experience helping you do that.
On the other hand, that implies he decided to run without talking to his would-be constituents (that we know of). Make of that what you will.
It’s really revealing that Nachbar doesn’t feel that he needs to get any support from the community. It is obvious that he has contempt for the Democrats of this district who worked so hard to take back this district in 06 and hopefully enough of us will be able to see through this for Massa to sweep the primary. But if the Dems were actually serious about taking back this seat, they’d make sure that there wasn’t a primary. They’re losing sight of the bigger picture, which is that Kuhl does not represent the people of this district and that must change.
When your first stop are the suits in Washington and they fund you, you know that someone owns you.
When your first stop are the suits in Washington and they fund you, you know that someone owns you.
I stand by what I said. All politics are local. If you start a campaign away from your constituents, I’m not interested in you!
[...] suggested in an earlier post the importance and strategies of the endorsement [...]
[...] at FireDogLake. David Nachbar was running for the 29th congressional district and might have been looking for endorsements even though he said he wasn’t. There was a growing chorus of progressives asking for him to [...]