Manchester, NH - Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was milling through the media center ahead of the Democratic presidential debate on Friday. Asked to react to the current state of the Democratic National Committee, he had a long, hearty laugh.
That could have said it all. But we pressed Emanuel, who was also once President Obama's chief of staff, for his specific thoughts on the disastrous Iowa Caucus.
"There's enough blame to go around. But you can't have a poll - CNN poll/Des Moines Register - a technical problem," he said, trailing off. "Let's get our s**t together."
Does getting the Democrats' s**t together include some new leadership? A growing number of Democrats have demanded the resignation of DNC Chair Tom Perez in light of the Iowa debacle.
"Well, I don't know about that," Emanuel said. "But you definitely need discipline."
We're several days out now from the Iowa Caucus, and even though there are 100 percent of precincts recorded, there's still no declared winner. Considering the inconsistencies in the tallies thus far, you can forgive us for not yet trusting the results. As it stands, it's neck-and-neck between former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, with both men having declared victory.
This year the Democrats decided to rely on a mobile phone application to record the results, without anticipating the confusion and technical difficulties that would accompany it. Ask Tom Perez and he'll tell you he's not to blame.
"Well, again, the Iowa Democratic Party runs the caucus," Perez deflected. "Okay? And they - what happened was unacceptable. At the same time we came in there. You know, this was unacceptable. That's why we had people - we still have people on the ground there. We completed the counting last night. And we're going to continue not only to work in Iowa, but also to learn the lessons of Iowa. So moving forward we are - we have caucuses in the remaining states that are - that run smoothly."
Perez said "enough is enough" and that he wants a recanvassing in Iowa. Democrats scoffed at that demand.