E.J. Dionne Jr.: 'The Left' Moves Front and Center (WaPo)

[marmar]

'The Left' Moves Front and Center
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, June 22, 2007; Page A19


JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Why can't the left get any respect?

Whenever you use the word "left" in American politics, you feel almost compelled to add quotation marks. Today's left is not talking about nationalizing industry, abolishing capitalism or destroying the rich. What passes for "left" in American politics is quite moderate by historical standards.

Still, cliches die hard, so you hear such 20-year-old questions as: "Are Democrats moving too far to the left?" or "Will Democrats abandon the center?"

This approach is about abstractions, not concrete political problems, and it misses the dynamic in American public life, which is the move away from the right and a discrediting of the conservative era. The political "center" of today is not where the "center" was even five years ago.

That's why every leading Democratic candidate for president chose to appear at this week's "Take Back America" conference organized by the Campaign for America's Future, the leading group on the party's progressive end. This included Hillary Clinton, whose roots in the centrist politics of the Democratic Leadership Council run deep. Clinton not only knows how much political energy there is on the left; she also knows where public opinion has moved, particularly on the Iraq war.

Clinton was booed at last year's Take Back America conference when she said it was not "smart strategy" to set a date certain for withdrawing from Iraq. She was much better received this week for a tougher stand against the war.

Clinton was not just playing internal party politics. A large majority of the country has now decided that the establishment was wrong to support the war, and that those who opposed it -- including the left -- were right. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/21/AR2007062101860.html

[Captain Hilts]

1. Except here at DU. A good article that lays out the big picture. nt

[marmar]

3. Sorry I forgot the link....Now added!

n/t

[bluerum]

2. The "left" in the US would be considered solidly center in Europe. eom

[Captain Hilts]

4. Yes, Ted Kennedy would be a middling laborite in Australia, for example. nt