Wellington Webb

Association of State Democratic Chairs – Membership Meeting
Wyndham Palace Resort & Spa
Orlando, Florida
December 11, 2004

 

My name is Wellington Webb. I am a candidate for the chairperson of the Democratic National Committee.  I am running because I believe this historic election for chair will determine the future of our party.
 
We must solidify our base as we look to expand.
 
Some of the problems: 28 percent of African Americans in Oklahoma voted for Bush. More than 50 percent of Hispanics voted for Bush in Florida.
 
This again demonstrates that we cannot take our own base for granted.
 
Several states face obstacles to victory.
 
In Nebraska, you need staff to help for four years not just two years. You had a good candidate but you had no money.
 
In West Virginia, you need a candidate who understands the “GGG Issues” _ God, Guns and Gays.
 
In Alaska, you need support for a new gas line that will create more jobs..
 
In South Dakota, you need support to pay off a $350,000 coordinated campaign debt.
 
In Utah and Idaho, your concerns are unfunded mandates such as, “No Child Left Behind.”
 
In Georgia, you received only $5,000 to the state party.
 
In California, you want some of the money you raise to stay in California.
 
In Florida, you want some money to stay in your state – as well – to work with your seniors and growing Hispanic population.
 
In North Carolina, you’re concerned about developing a “southern message.”
 
In New Mexico, you lost some counties because everything had to be vetted in Washington, D.C.
 
In Nevada, you share the political damage of Republican Spanish language ads.
 
We also need a small-town USA strategy for rural America to compete against Republicans.
 
I am a Westerner. Our values are plain. When you give your word, you keep it. When you get knocked down you brush yourself off and get up. When you make a mistake, you admit it and then keep on stepping.
 
We don’t have pedigree or entitlement. We have a pioneer worth ethic.
 
The next chairperson has to have grassroots political experience.
 
I have been a Democratic committee man and a District Captain. As a young adult, I directed the Carter Campaign for Colorado in 1976.
 
For the 1980 Carter re-election campaign, I was the Deputy Campaign Director for Illinois.
 
Three times I was elected as a Colorado State Representative. In 1987, I was elected Denver city auditor.
 
I served three terms as mayor of Denver with no city manager.
 
The new chairperson should come from outside the Washington Beltway.
 
The state parties need to be built from the ground up as we wage battle in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. This can be done through some revenue sharing.
 
You build a home from the ground up, not from the second story down.
 
We need a party that campaigns in fifty states and not twenty. Those are casino odds. You can’t run the table at a casino.
 
We need a coordinated, tested message. It comes down to message, mechanics and a communicator.
 
We need a party that understands we are a constituency party with a big tent of governors, seniors, veterans, members of Congress, mayors, state and local elected officials.
 
We must stand for knowledge with character; business with morality; science with humanity; pleasure with conscious; and politics with principle.