N.Y. Businessman Being Considered to Lead the DNC

WASHINGTON – A Manhattan financier and cable television executive who has raised millions for Democrats nationwide is now considering a run for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.The founder of the sports broadcaster YES Network and chairman of the investment firm HL Capital, Leo Hindery Jr., met with top Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill yesterday to discuss the idea.Speculation over who will replace the outgoing chairman, Terence McAuliffe, has been dominated by a tug-of-war between supporters of a former Vermont governor, Howard Dean, who appeals to the progressive wing of the party, and the moderate Iowa governor, Tom Vilsack.Others potential candidates include a former Clinton aide, Harold Ickes, who founded the anti-Bush group American Coming Together; the mayor of Denver, Wellington Webb; the former governor of New Hampshire, Jeanne Shaheen, who chaired Senator Kerry’s national campaign; and a former Clinton labor secretary, Alexis Herman.Although he has less of a national profile than some of the other potential candidates, Mr. Hindery, 57, enjoys the backing of the outgoing minority leader, Senator Daschle, who has been talking to top Democrats on his behalf.“He is a longtime friend and supporter of Senator Daschle’s, and the senator has encouraged members of the committee to consider Mr. Hindery for the position,” a spokesman for Mr. Daschle, Todd Webster, told The New York Sun.Mr. Daschle is promoting Mr. Hindery as a successful businessman who has contributed generously to social causes, as well as an articulate speaker with a great political network who can move between the various factions of the party.“Leo Hindery has been a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party and is deeply committed to its success, At the urging of party leaders of all levels, including Tom Daschle, he is considering running for the DNC chairmanship,” an associate of Mr. Hindery, Robert Davis, told the Sun.His career at the helm of several technology companies, including AT&T Broadband, and a brief stint as CEO of GlobalCrossing has some Democrats hoping he could raise new money from the high-tech community and expand the use of technology in building the party base.An avid sports car racer who has said he gives away a third of his wealth, Mr. Hindery has donated money to a variety of Democratic campaigns and causes, and he co-chaired the presidential primary campaign of former Rep. Richard Gephardt. Mr. Hindery is also the finance chairman of the mayoral campaign of a former Bronx borough president, Fernando Ferrer.A graduate of Stanford Business School and Seattle University, Mr. Hindery also chairs Teach for America, an initiative that puts college graduates into inner-city schools, and he co-chairs a nonprofit dedicated to fighting AIDS in Russia and the Ukraine.Mr. Hindery was a member of a group of CEOs that campaigned for Senator Kerry’s presidential bid. He lambasted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the pages of the Financial Times for backing President Bush and called for the “saving of capitalism from the capitalists.”Several Democrats said privately that his candidacy would be a long shot, but they would not rule out a scenario in which a high-profile politician such as Mr. Vilsack co-chaired the party together with an operations-minded partner such as Mr. Hindery or Mr. Ickes.The arrangement would not be without precedent. Several of Mr. McAuliffe’s predecessors served as “general chairs” together with “national chairs.” Whoever takes the job will face the task of unifying the party in the aftermath of this month’s election.“We need to find somebody who can continue the excitement that came from the left in the party – the extraordinary numbers of new activists, small- and medium-dollar givers, and voters – and at the same time reach out to the center, the swing-voters who went for Bush,” said a Democratic consultant, Steven Rabinowitz.The choice of Mr. Hindery would be “a little bit of a gamble because he’s not a known entity, though there are people who think we need to take a gamble,” he said.According to party rules, anyone may run to become the chairman by submitting a nominating petition with the signatures of 20 members. The chairman is elected by a majority vote of 447 members of the DNC in an election to be held before March 1.

N.Y. Businessman Being Considered to Lead the DNC

N.Y. Businessman Being Considered to Lead the DNC

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