DGA

New DGA Video: Let's Be Like Bluto From Animal House (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | July 22, 2010, 11:24AM

The Democratic Governors Association launched a new web video today as part of a "grassroots" effort to rally Democrats to "Fight The Right" ahead of November.

The video is called "Never Surrender," and it wants Dems to know that they're in the company of such luminaries as Bluto from Animal House and Aragorn from Lord Of The Rings, who both also vowed to "never give up."

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2010 elections

DGA: Last Night Proves The GOP Is Out Of Touch

Evan McMorris-Santoro | June 9, 2010, 1:06PM

California gubernational candidate Meg Whitman (R-CA)

Democratic Governor's Association executive director Nathan Daschle told reporters this morning that the slate of Republican gubernatorial nominees chosen by voters in last night's primaries show that the GOP is moving too far to the right to be competitive in the fall.

"If you peel back the layer you're going to see this is a very bruised and damaged brand," Daschle said of the GOP. He said that all across the country, Republican candidates had been forced to run far to the right to keep the tea partiers happy, increasing the chances for Democrats to snag independent and moderate voters in November.

One prime example of the shift right, according to Daschle is California, where GOP nominee Meg Whitman was forced to take strong anti-immigration positions to secure her party's nod against the more conservative Steve Poizner. Daschle said the primary had damaged Whitman's chances in the general election against the Democratic nominee, Attorney General Jerry Brown.

"The Meg Whitman that emerged from the primary is not the Meg Whitman who started out the campaign," Daschle said.

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CA-GOV

Big Money To The Rescue! Nat'l Dems Bolstering Brown In CA-Gov

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 11, 2010, 12:36PM

CA Atty. General Jerry Brown (D)

National Democrats are trying hard to see to it that supporters of Jerry Brown never have to sing "if I had billion dollars" in the California gubernatorial race. Brown, the likely Democratic nominee, will face off against one of two Republican billionaires currently vying for their party's nomination, and Democrats are already trying to mitigate Brown's cash disadvantage.

Today, the DGA and a California group launched the "California Accountability Project," which they say will fact-check ads and statements coming from GOP candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner on the primary campaign trail. Meanwhile, unions and well-heeled national Democratic donors have launched their own campaign to balance the large personal fortunes of both Republicans, a plan they call "Level the Playing Field 2010."

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2010 elections

DGA Hunkers Down For '10 Battle As Leaders Warn Democrats To Keep Races Local

Christina Bellantoni | November 4, 2009, 6:18PM

Democratic candidates for governor in 2010 need to avoided being baited by Republicans on national issues such as health care or climate change, Democratic officials said today in the wake of two big losses in New Jersey and Virginia.

Nathan Daschle, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, told reporters the 37 races they have on the map next year will be tough. He advised that candidates talk about jobs, the party's ability to govern and local issues.

"Republicans are going to try to use federal issues to box in Democrats and we can't fall for that," he said. "We need to demonstrate our capacity to govern and our capacity to get results."

Daschle said candidates "cannot fall for the trap" of federal issues, saying that if GOP rivals are pushing on health care or climate change they probably don't know about state issues.

TPMDC asked Daschle about candidates getting pushed on health care, especially whether they would "opt-out" of the public option in its current form. It's an issue that hurt Creigh Deeds (D) in Virginia as liberals felt like he was moving too far to the right by saying he would likely opt-out.

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VA-GOV

DGA To Deeds: You Can't Beat Fate

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 3, 2009, 9:19PM

VA-Gov. candidate Creigh Deeds (D)

The Democratic Governors Association just offered its condolences to Creigh Deeds, who just went down in a landslide to Republican Bob McDonnell in Virgina. The DGA suggested that Deeds' defeat wasn't a failure for Democrats, but was instead the GOP just doing "what every opposition party has done for the past 36 years" -- win VA-Gov.

From DGA executive director Nathan Daschle's statement tonight:

"With the worst recession since the Great Depression and history favoring the other side, we knew this race would be difficult. Sen. Deeds ran a strong campaign, despite all the headwinds he faced. Sen. Deeds is a bipartisan leader whose work has helped countless Virginians get a better education and created economic opportunity in every corner of the state. Unfortunately, he couldn't overcome the major obstacles to victory."

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