I'm on deadline at the moment, but I want to bring you this much anticipated news: erstwhile state Treasurer candidate Andrei Cherny just called me to tell me he formally putting two feet in the river, and making a bid for Don Bivens' post as Arizona State Democratic Party Chairman.This bring to a close weeks of speculation/anticipation and sets up a race for the top spot in the ADP between Cherny, the 2010 Democratic nominee for Arizona State Treasurer, and Rodney Glassman, the 2010 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.
In a blog post yesterday, I reported that Cherny was still strongly considering the run, though was holding off for an official announcement. But it seems the pro-Cherny chorus is growing in Democratic ranks, and he can wait no longer.
"We need in this era a strong transition and a strong messenger," Cherny explained. "One who'll really be able to make the case to Arizonans why Democrats have the right ideas for the state's economy and all the other challenges that face us."
At least one Democratic elected official has already endorsed Cherny, with State Sen.-elect Kyrsten Sinema doing so on her Facebook page.
Kyrsten Sinema I'm proud to endorse Andrei Cherny for State Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party!...I haven't heard of anyone else who is going to throw his/her hat in the ring and will update if any do so...
1 comment:
Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that Cherny is pursuing this position. He apparently thinks that he has a secret supply of mojo that he can add to the water supply in Arizona that will counteract the bitterness that many Arizona voters taste when presented with the option of voting for Democratic Party candidates.
His 2010 campaign for state treasurer pivoted on the idea that voters should vote for the "New" Democrat who is not the same as the old Democrat. That proposition was an electoral loser when the rubber hit the road.
Doug Ducey won after a season full of polished and aggressive attacks by Cherny because he used the shield of "prudent banker" over and over again. Cherny lost because he said he was going to expand the duties and responsibilities of the Treasurer and add an extra variable to Arizona government investing.
Cherny (or Glassman or Bivens) needs to realize that voters want positions they can believe in (that work). Democrats currently don't have any. I'll offer a suggestion to Cherny and any other Democrats who wants to win in 2012. Call the Goldwater Institute and make an appointment with their staff to discuss how many of the 100 ideas in 100 days (from Goldwater Institute) they can embrace. Cherny and the Democrats think they Hope that they can sell Arizona voters with another iteration of the "New" Democrat paint job on their old Democrat jalopy. That just isn't going to work in 2012.
They currently have no policies that anybody outside the Democratic Party believes in. Did they advocate for Proposition 203 last election cycle? No. Now 1 month after the election the Department of Health Services is totally on track to government regulated marijuana sales. More private sector Arizona jobs will result. Might the AZ DOC loose some jobs while AZ Health Services picks up a few? Very possibly. Net win for Brewer and the Republicans. They didn't endorse 203 but they aren't torpedoing it either.
The Democrats really need to add some new ideas to their inbred and increasingly infirm ideological gene pool. On the state level the only groups that offer them are the Goldwater Institute and the Marijuana Policy Project.
On the federal level there are only a few positions out there that would motivate voters to vote in favor of team Blue. So far only Grijalva has adopted the twin winner ideas of get the US out of Iraq/Afghanistan and audit the Fed. I am not sure that Pastor and Giffords are willing to endorse the idea of ending these overseas occupations but it is indeed possible that the next wave of challenger candidates in 2012 will.
It is going to take some game changing positions to lure voters into considering voting Democratic in 2012. The (no ideas) No Labels movement and the (decaffeinated) Coffee Party don't have the energy needed to tip any election in favor of Democrats because neither of them have ideas much less ideas that Americans believe in.
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