DDU Alumni Update

March 25, 2011

Another DDU Alum Leaves Public Service: Updates from the DC Alumni Assoc. Chapter
After pushing through Congress numerous reckless tax-and-spend policies that have left middle-class families under a mountain of debt and have skyrocketed the unemployment rate, defeated Democrats from 2010 are looking to find new employment and, unlike most Americans, they are being rewarded with top jobs: “The group, which includes members who lost their re-election bids as well as those who retired last cycle, first met during last year’s lame-duck session of Congress. They now huddle by phone once or twice a month with Israel and DCCC recruiting chair Allyson Schwartz (Pa.) leading the chat. Roughly 90 percent of the Democrats who lost in 2010 participate.” (Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake, “Steve Israel’s alumni association,” Washington Post‘s The Fix Blog, 2/16/11)

Ron Klein (Big Government Studies, ‘10) Heads to Law School
After losing his seat in 2010, former-Rep. Ron Klein has decided to join a private law firm, which makes yet another rejection from a defeated Dem for Steve Israel: “‘I’ve joined the Holland & Knight law firm, and I’ve been doing this [running for office] 18 years, and discussed it with my wife.’ … U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has been trying to find a good candidate to challenge West, and Klein said Israel asked him to run. ‘He wants me to run. But I told him, as I’ve told you, I think I’m ready to try something different. I’m looking forward to the private sector.'” (Anthony Man, “Former Congressman Ron Klein won’t challenge Allen West in next year’s election,” South Florida Sun Sentinel‘s Broward Politics Blog, 3/24/11)

Steve Driehaus (Deficit Engineering, ’10) Joins the Peace Corps
Driehaus is also taking a pass this week on trying to win back House seats for the battered House Democrats. Driehaus, a candidate who first won in an Obama election year, sees the writing on the wall that Chabot will be in a position of strength after redistricting and decided to uproot his family to Africa instead of challenge Chabot in 2012: “Steve Driehaus, the West Price Hill Democrat who lost his bid for a second term in Congress last fall, will leave the U.S. in June to become the Peace Corps’ director of HIV and AIDS education in the south African nation of Swaziland, the country with the worst HIV problem in the world.” (Howard Wilkinson, “Driehaus moving to Africa,” Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/24/11)

And Their Classmates Continue to Leave Public Office in Droves
Many of the defeated Dems have decided to go into lobbying, as the House Democrats continue to alienate moderates and push their liberal agenda: “With more Blue Dogs out of Congress than in, the power center of the moderate Democratic coalition has shifted from under the Capitol Dome to downtown Washington, D.C. … While still in office during the lame-duck session last year, then-Rep. Earl Pomeroy (N.D.) noted that at a Blue Dog Christmas party, there were more members departing Congress than returning.” (Kate Ackley and Anna Palmer, “Blue Dog Power Moves Downtown,” Roll Call, 3/7/11)

Steve Israel gets rejected by more Defeated Dem Alum http://ow.ly/4mwmO