What's This? Dirty Tricks at the DNC?

Say it isn't so, Joe:

Former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe left a few surprises for incoming DNC chair Howie Dean. Perhaps the biggest was McAuliffe's decision to give to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) full access to the DNC's donor database known as "Demzilla."

McAuliffe didn't consult with Dean or any of Dean's advisers in giving the two congressional campaign committees access to the list. For years, the RNC has given its party's House and Senate campaign committees access to its version of the data base, but that's partly because both committees help finance the list and its upkeep. Neither Democratic committee will be paying the DNC a dime for what many on Capitol Hill consider a huge windfall to the DCCC and the DSCC.

Dean was not happy when he learned of McAuliffe's decision. "He was pissed," says a former Dean campaign staffer, now at the DNC. "Demzilla is one of the few tools the DNC had that it can leverage for fundraising. The money we raise would then be used to help support Democratic candidates and the party operations. Now everyone has the same list, the same data. The DNC has no chit to play."

According to a senior adviser to House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, McAuliffe was approached about opening up Demzilla during a Democratic retreat after the November elections. New campaign committee chairmen Rep. Rahm Emanuel and Sen. Chuck Schumer, along with Pelosi and Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate minority leader, lobbied McAuliffe for full access. "Each of them made the point that given Dean's background and the doubts Reid and Pelosi had about him, it would be most helpful to give them the same tools the DNC would have. This was a pure power play by Pelosi and Reid, nothing more, and a slap at Dean."

Dean had better watch his back. Not every Democrat is pleased with his ascension.