Martin
Frost's announcement letter as e-mailed out
From: Martin Frost
[mailto:martinfrost@martinfrost.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 28,
2004 3:49 PM
Subject: DNC Chair
[letterhead graphic] Martin
Frost - 6 E Street, SE - Washington, DC 20003 -
202.547.7610 (p) - 202.547.8258 (f)
Dear Fellow Democrat,
The
decision on who will serve as Chair of the Democratic National
Committee is critical not only to the future of our party, but to the
future of our country as well. The current GOP leadership in the
White House, Congress and dozens of States is driven by the very worst
influences in public life and dependent upon political choices made out
of fear rather than hope and narrow self interest rather than public
good. Too many times in too many places, we have allowed
Republicans to organize unchallenged, define patriotism and morality on
their own narrow and partisan terms and then dominate the political
exchange at every level.
I
have been honored and gratified by the many calls suggesting that I run
for Chair of the Democratic National Committee. It is an effort
that no one should take lightly. After speaking with many DNC
Members and other party leaders, I have decided to join the race for
DNC Chair. While others of talent and promise are seeking the
post, I believe I am the candidate whose perspective, experience and
abilities combine the most important qualities needed in a new Chair.
First and most important, I believe in, and will fight for, the
fundamental issues that define us as a party and separate us from the
Republicans. I’ve run competitive Congressional races for over 20
years. I’ve gone toe-to-toe with Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay and the
worst the GOP has to offer. And, through it all, I never backed
down in my support for civil rights, a woman’s right to choose,
collective bargaining and workplace rights, access to the civil justice
system or a strong and secure Israel. It would be a fundamental
mistake to turn our backs on our traditional friends. We must
build on the loyalty of traditional Democratic constituencies and reach
out to new voters and those rural and suburban voters who have drifted
away from us in recent years.
In
this connection, we should have a forthright discussion of moral values
vital to our nation and make it clear that there is room for people who
hold differing views under the Democratic tent. Too often, we
have been unwilling to even enter into a dialogue on these issues.
However, some would use the election of DNC Chair as a symbolic gesture
to win non-traditional support. Should we follow that approach,
America will have little more than two Republican Parties, and we would
forfeit our responsibility to be an aggressive, hard-hitting opposition
that speaks to the core values of a majority of the American
people. While our candidates must always be able to run on a
broad and tolerant platform, it is critical that our Party Chair
believe deeply in our party’s basic values. Our party cannot be
adequately led by someone whose primary qualification to serve as Chair
is his opposition to core Democratic beliefs.
The
new Chair of the Democratic National Committee must be someone who can
rebuild the party structure from the ground up in all 50 states,
utilizing the best talents from within both our elected leadership and
our party leadership. He must be able to articulate our views
persuasively, but also understand that there are many strong voices
within our party and that often the best messengers don’t sit in
Washington, DC, but rather live throughout the nation. The new
DNC Chair must have a keen and deep understanding of our party’s base
and its foundation built upon opportunity, fairness, justice and love
of country. There are elections to run and races to be won in
every state. We must challenge Republicans everywhere – even on
their own turf - and never concede the moral high
ground.
I am
the only person seeking the DNC leadership post who has successfully
chaired a national party committee. I served as Chair of the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from January 1995 until
December 1998. I took over as Chair just weeks after Democrats
had lost the majority in Congress. Politicians and pundits alike
were predicting even more dramatic losses in the years to come.
However, I refused to accept conventional wisdom and immediately went
about the work of transforming the committee. Both the political
and finance divisions were restructured. For the first time, the
DCCC invested heavily in small donor direct mail, a new national large
donor program was instituted, a new strategic polling program was
implemented and, for the first time ever, the DCCC invested directly in
state party campaign programs designed to maximize minority turnout in
specific congressional districts. Over the four years that I
served as DCCC Chair, Democrats picked up a net total of 14 seats and
raised a then-record $80 million. No subsequent national party
committee has performed as well.
At
home in Texas, I took the lead in working with my state and local
parties to mount multimillion dollar campaigns to hold a narrow
majority in the State House, protect a majority in our Congressional
delegation and hold key State Senate seats. During the height of
the Bush era in Texas, we held our majorities in the House and
Congressional Delegation. In fact, these majorities were lost
only after Tom DeLay’s illegal redistricting scheme that is currently
under criminal investigation and court challenge.
I
have a proven track record of successful party building with mainstream
sensibilities and a deep understanding of the party leaders and
candidates who must run and win in the most challenging areas of our
nation. The DNC must start the rebuilding process at the state
and local levels in every area of the country, rather than focusing on
a narrow scope of battleground states that may or may not determine the
outcome of a Presidential election. Our efforts should be focused
on statewide, legislative, local and Congressional races that will be
held in 2005 and 2006. Winning those races will allow us to go
into 2007 ready to work on the 2008 Presidential race from a position
of strength and with a party strong enough to win elections for the
remainder of the decade.
DNC
Chair is an important job, and I do not enter this race lightly.
I will devote myself full time and all my energy to rebuilding our
party. In doing so, I not only best serve the Democratic Party,
but best serve our country as well. I respectfully ask for your
support and your vote.
Sincerely,
Martin
Frost
Paid for by Frost for DNC Chair Committee