DLC snub not part of a larger trend

July 26, 2007

The AP’s Ron Fournier suggests in his latest piece that the Democratic presidential field is “snub[bing] party moderates.”

Bill Clinton will be there. So will 300 officeholders from more than 45 states. But one thing will be missing when Democrats gather in Tennessee this weekend to discuss how to appeal to moderate, independent-minded voters in 2008: the Democratic presidential field.

Not a single one of the eight presidential candidates plans to attend the Democratic Leadership Council’s summer meeting, a snub that says less about the centrist DLC than it does about a nomination process that rewards candidates who pander to their parties’ hardened cores while ignoring everybody else.

“They have tunnel vision,” DLC founder Al From said of his fellow Democrats.

To hear From tell it, the Democratic field, by steering clear of his event, is failing to take advantage of a golden opportunity to connect with the most important constituency in the country. “Presidents are elected in the middle and they are elected by being bigger than their party. Neither parties’ activists alone can elect somebody president,” From told Fournier. “Democrats have a long history of nominating people, including people who have lost badly. The challenge for Democrats is to nominate somebody who can win the election.”

He added, “They are looking only at the liberal activists in Iowa.”

Now, I appreciate that From is looking at this from a self-serving perspective. The heavy-weights aren’t interested in his soiree, and he’s feeling a little bitter about it. Regrettably, Fournier doesn’t scrutinize this much, leaving the reader with the impression that the Dems really are “snubbing” centrists.

But I think any fair assessment of the race shows otherwise.

Fournier writes, for example, “The DLC would like to help the Democratic candidates, but none are listening.” Listening to what? On what issues are Clinton, Obama, and Edwards, for example, veering to the far-left? Given everything we’ve seen, they’re right smack in the middle of the mainstream on everything from Iraq to healthcare, the environment to taxes, abortion to gay rights.

And given that the DLC’s electoral track record of late — populists won in ’06, DLCers didn’t — it’s not as if the group is in a position to argue it’s on the cutting edge of political strategy right now.

From’s looking for attention, and that’s understandable, but it’s a real stretch to suggest that the Democrats’ top-tier are hard-line liberals interested only in impressing “liberal activists in Iowa.”

Besides, the DLC confab is on the same day as the College Democrats’ national convention. If you’re a Democratic presidential hopeful, where would you rather spend your weekend — with Al From or thousands of energetic, progressive young people ready to do volunteer work in the 2008 cycle?

This isn’t “snubbing” the middle; it’s common sense.

Memo to Al From: don’t go away mad, just go the fuck away.

Memo to Fournier: could you please do some actual research, read some books and stuff, to find out how things are, before you start misleading the public with your moron stupidity on the topic? The fact you went to college is not proof you are intelligent.

  • t the Democrats’ top-tier are hard-line liberals interested only in impressing “liberal activists in Iowa.”

    If Sens Clinton, Obama, and Edwards are top-line liberals, then I’m an Adele penguin.

    Bernie Sanders is a hard line liberal. There are maybe — maybe — six or seven others.

  • I’ve said it before, but why would the New York Yankees take advice from the Tampa Bay Devils Rays on how winning?

  • Screw the DLC. When was the last time a DLC candidate really fired up the base? Do they think we just show up and do all the work no matter which “centrist” they pick for us? Do they think we just want a slightly more liberal version of George W Bush? Do they think we’ve forgotten their support for the Iraq war?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Leadership_Council#2003_invasion_of_Iraq

    The DLC gave strong support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Prior to the war, Will Marshall co-signed a letter to President Bush from the Project for the New American Century endorsing military action against Saddam Hussein. During the 2004 Primary campaign the DLC attacked Presidential candidate Howard Dean as an out-of-touch liberal because of Dean’s position of only pursuing Osama Bin Laden instead of invading Iraq. The DLC dismissed other critics of the Iraq invasion such as filmmaker Michael Moore as “Anti-American” and members of the “loony left” [7]. Even as domestic support for the Iraq War plummeted in 2004 and 2005, Marshall called upon Democrats to balance their criticism of Bush’s handling of the Iraq War with praise for the President’s achievements and cautioned “Democrats need to be choosier about the political company they keep, distancing themselves from the pacifist and anti-American fringe.”

    Jesus Christ these people need to go home and shut the fuck up.

    I think the DLC is stuck in the right lane of the political highway and they’re too myopic to see that everyone’s to the left of them because they’re riding the rail on the right end of the spectrum. They’re kinda like little old people who don’t belong on the road anymore, and should be safe at home watching Matlock reruns.

    Mr From, please take the next exit and call a cab.

  • The DLC are Bill Clinton kind of people – let’s be better moderate Republicans than the moderate Republicans are. These days that’s not hard to do since I think moderate Republicans are officially extinct.

    I do not want moderation, though. I want screaming outrage.

  • With everything going south for us, Mr. From’s self-interest projected in a national daily is merely more obfuscation. Mr. From needs to realize that the center is moving, and the Democratic presidential hopefuls don’t need him anymore to serve as an interpretor for “middle America”. -Kevo

  • It is time that we move the center to the left and stop the left from moving to the center.

  • Gentlemen, gentlemen, the logic flows thusly:

    1. only white men should run for president

    2. neither Clinton nor Obama are white men,

    3. therefore they are not moderates.

    Clear now?

  • One of the strategic Republican narratives of the moment is that the Democratic candidates are to the left — the far left — of the Democratic Party. Whether it is true or not does not matter — it is the meme the plutocrats want out there, so that is the meme that both From and Fournier put out.

    As it happens, it is not true. The leading Democratic candidates are not to the left of the Party, and, even more importantly, the Party is not to the left of the country. Candidates and Party are smack dab in the middle of national sentiment and conviction.

    Someone really should tell the Media. And, when the truth is not reported — when Republican talking points are reported instead — note should be made that Republicans control the corporate, right-wing Media, and something should be done about that, for the sake of the Republic and democracy.

  • The DLC actually plays a useful role in generating some policy arguments from nothing, and rounding out others by framing them in terms of value to the business community and appeal to moderate voters.

    Sadly, they often negate those contributions in the repellent person and spoken flatulence of Al From, that miserable fat fuck. He’s an embarrassment, and is less than useless.

  • Bill Clinton will be there. — Fournier

    Well then, I have a solution to the problem, which should make the 2xF happy: the spouses of all the other Dem Presidential candidates should attend From’s tea party too.

  • Gentlemen, gentlemen, the logic flows thusly:
    1. only white men should run for president
    2. neither Clinton nor Obama are white men,
    3. therefore they are not moderates.
    Clear now?
    Comment by Bud — 7/26/2007 @ 12:05 pm

    But isn’t John Edwards a white man? Oh, never mind, he said the word “poor.”
    .
    But isn’t Dennis Kucinich a white man? Oh, never mind, he said the word “peace.”
    .

  • Somebody ought to remind Al that Gore’s campaign tanked all summer in 2000, not picking up speed until Sept when Gore dumped the DLC consultants he’d been listening to. And that their stranglehold on Kerry’s 2004 campaign is the only thing that kept the election close enough for Bush to steal. He’s not really in a very strong position to claim the DLC knows how to win. Their track record sucks.

  • These poor fucks can’t even get Hillary to show up. That’s gotta hurt.

  • The country is in no mood for moderation. They are mad as hell and not going to take it any more. The candidate who fully understands this, will win . No more excuses, no more lying,, no more deceit, no more telling us that social security and medicare are going broke while you are spending 500 billion dollars on an unnecessary war., killing 3600 of our precious sons and daughters, injuring 27000, and killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraquis.. No one believes you anymore, Mr Bush and Mr. Cheney. You are beyond incompetent. You have made the rich richer and the poor poorer. Your party does not deserve to ever be in charge again for at least a century., and maybe not then. The citizens are not stupid. Did you think we wouldn’t notice? It is going to be a tough job to clean up after these two. I am betting Hillary can do it with 8 years to do the job. It does take a woman sometimes .

  • moderation = triangulation = politcal suicide.

    FINALLY common sense is winning out. the DLC is republican lite and, with all due respect to bill clinton, the american people are SICK of being sold out to the outside interests which the dlc panders to.

    IN= tellng the truth, real accountabiliy,

    OUT= triangulation and anybody standing NEAR james f’ing carville and anybody else who would lick the boots of mary matlin.

    IN= the RAW STORY. FIREDOGLAKE, Crooks & Liars, etc
    OUT= the Politico, the mainstream corporate media and the any crap about family values.

    I am a moderate independant and i am MAD AS HELL. the crickets at the dlc convention is sweet music to my ears!

  • This “centrist” crap and “triangulation” strategies might have made sense when the country was swinging towards the right, but even then it was about getting elected, not about fundamental principles.

    But now that the whole “conservative” movement has been so thoroughly discredited it’s just plain stupid to run for office as “conservative lite.”

    The DLC is not “mainstream,” the only center they are in is the ass-crack of corporate America.

  • What more could Al From possibly want? The top three Democratic candidates ARE DLC. They guy who might come in — Gore — has been the standard-bearer for the DLC forever. The insane guy, Biden, is to the right of the DLC. And of the top three, Obama, is so DLC he’s a conservative Republican, from the religious right.

    I don’t know who this Al From is exactly but whoever he is he should learn to be a graceful winner. Al, you WON. You ALWAYS win. Clinton instead of Brown or Harkin. Gore instead of Bradley. Kerry instead of Dean. For 2008 you’ve got the entire field. Why are you acting like a cry-baby? What exactly would make you happy? That they all go and kiss your ass? Even Obama and Biden aren’t that crazy and they’re stark raving loonies with monstrous, hideous egos.

    Joe Lieberman is not getting the nomnation. Deal with it.

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