Howard Dean is no Karl Rove as this Drudge Report item makes clear:
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) secretly placed political operatives in the city of New Orleans to work against the reelection efforts of incumbent Democrat Mayor Ray Nagin, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean made the decision himself to back mayoral candidate and sitting Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu (D-LA), sources reveal.
Dean came to the decision to back the white challenger, over the African-American incumbent Nagin, despite concerns amongst senior black officials in the Party that the DNC should stay neutral.
The DNC teams actively worked to defeat Nagin under the auspice of the committee's voting rights program. The party's field efforts also coincided with a national effort by Democrat contributors to support Landrieu.
Landrieu had outraised Nagin by a wide margin - $3.3 million to $541,980. Preliminary campaign finance reports indicate many of Landrieu's contributions came from out of state white Democrat leaders and financiers, including a $1,000 contribution from Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-NE) PAC.
The defeat of Mitch Landrieu is the latest setback for Dean's often criticized field operation. In his victory speech late Saturday night, Nagin praised President Bush.
"You and I have probably been the most vilified politicians in the country. But I want to thank you for moving that promise that you made in Jackson Square forward," Nagin said.
Republican candidates can take some measure of comfort in the thought that Mr. Dean is trying to do to them what he did to Ray Nagin. Meanwhile, we wonder how the media would play this story were the principals Republicans. If the RNC tried to undermine the candidacy of a black Republican mayor in order to get a white candidate elected the media would be in a frenzy. As it is there's scarcely a ripple of interest.
UPDATE: People at the DNC are claiming that Drudge's report is false. We'll see.
