HOW BADLY DID RAHM EMANUEL'S ILLICIT TACTICS AT THE DCCC HURT THE DEMOCRATS' ABILITY TO END THE WAR AND PUT FORWARD PROGRESSIVE POLICIES?

Some of our readers thought DWT wasn't always fair to Rahm Emanuel last year. They wondered why they weren't reading about Emanuel's campaign antics anywhere else. Today Matt Renner published a very serious report at Truthout about Emanuel's Tom DeLay-like tactics in recruiting conservative, anti-grassroots candidates while knifing real Democrats in the process. He was rewarded with the #4 slot in the House Democratic leadership (and the #2 slot for his puppet ally). And, although he is no longer the head of the DCCC, he and his anti-grassroots faction are running the DCCC's recruitment operation.

According to Democratic candidates who ran for House of Representative seats in 2006, Rahm Emanuel, then head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, took sides during the Democratic primary elections, favoring conservative candidates, including former Republicans, and sidelining candidates who were running in favor of withdrawal from Iraq.

...According to his critics, Emanuel played kingmaker by financially supporting his favored candidates during primary contests with other Democrats. His critics say that this interference was in direct contradiction of a DCCC policy to "remain neutral" in party primaries.

Renner examines Emanuel's disastrous and counterproductive interference in IL-06's primary between Christine Cegelis and his own candidate, heavy handed anti-grassroots interference that guaranteed retention of the seat by the GOP. Renner also looked into a similar-- if less well-known-- situations in FL-13 between Jan Schneider and Christine Jennings and in FL-16 between Tim Mahoney and Dave Lutrin. Fortunately Emanuel failed in California where he and Ellen Tauscher tried inserting Steve Filson into the Democratic candidacy instead of eventual Pombo-slayer Jerry McNerney.

While Emanuel is given credit for turning power over to the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives, the majority is fractured.

Many of the candidates that Emanuel helped elect have joined with a group of self-styled conservative Blue Dog Democrats and have cast key votes with Republicans and stymied Democratic efforts to end the occupation of Iraq and the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program.

Thirteen of the Democratic members of the House elected in 2006 joined The Blue Dog Coalition; a group that, according to its spokesperson, has no official stance on withdrawal from Iraq or the president's warrantless wiretapping program. However, 30 out of 47 of the Blue Dog members broke with the majority of Democrats and cast votes in favor of the recent Protect America Act, a bill that greatly expanded the power of the executive branch to spy on Americans. The caucus also broke with the majority of Democrats when 40 of the Blue Dog members voted to continue funding the occupation of Iraq without a timetable for withdrawal.

In an interview shortly after his election, freshman Blue Dog member Tim Mahoney told the Charlotte Sun, a local paper from his district, that he attended a meeting with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and told her "The president should be free to maintain troops in Iraq, if the purpose is to thwart terrorism."