The Centrists Didn’t Hold - DLC - NY Times

[groovedaddy]

By NOAM SCHEIBER
Published: July 28, 2007 - NY Times

NOT very long ago, the Democratic Leadership Council was a maker of presidents — or, at least, the maker of a president. In 1991, Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, then the council’s chairman, elucidated the “New Democrat” ethos and previewed the themes of his presidential candidacy (“opportunity, responsibility, community”) with a speech at the centrist group’s annual conference. “It became the blueprint for my campaign message,” Mr. Clinton later wrote in his autobiography. He added, “By embracing ideas and values that were both liberal and conservative, it made voters who had not supported Democratic presidential candidates in years listen to our message.”

But few headlines will be made this weekend at the council’s “National Conversation” in Nashville. The next president of the United States almost certainly won’t be there. Not only are Democratic front-runners like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama planning to skip the conference, but so are the Bill Richardsons and Chris Dodds of the field. That’s probably a good move for the candidates, as the council has become radioactive among Democratic primary voters. But the Democratic Leadership Council’s fading influence is also good news for the entire party.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/28/opinion/28scheiber.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I think all the centrists have gone to Unity08

which is trying to literally forge a ticket with a Republic and a Democrat on it.

I think another reason Democrats are avoiding the DLC are its perceived ties to corporations--Clinton getting NAFTA passed has always been something I felt benefited the corporations rather than the people.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Don't Forget Permanent 'Free' Trade With China

Another DLC gift.

[Cobalt-60]

8. Just like 2000.

[peacetalksforall]

3. The writer is Senior Ediitor at The New Republic - following is one

paragraph from Wikipedia for TNR - as an fyi:

"Domestically, the current version of TNR supports social liberalism with a largely centrist stance on fiscal issues and a left-wing stance of social issues. The magazine's outlook was first associated with the Democratic Leadership Council and "New Democrats" like former President Bill Clinton and Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, who received the magazine's endorsement in the 2004 Democratic primary. These policies, while seeking to achieve the ends of traditional social welfare programs, often use market solutions as their means, and so are often called "business-friendly". Typical of some of the policies supported by both TNR and the DLC during the 1990s were increased funding for the Earned Income Tax Credit program and reform of the Federal welfare system. On social issues, TNR is further to the left. Its support of same-sex marriage, for example, is generally considered left of the Democratic Party. In its March 2007 issue, The New Republic ran an article by Paul Starr (co-funder of the magazine's main rival, The American Prospect) where he defined the type of modern American liberalism in his article War and Liberalism: ... "

[Warpy]

4. Uh, Duh, that's because they were never centrists

but were far to the right of the party rank and file. They did a damned good job of alienating the party base, though, and getting the GOP in for far too many terms.

I'm glad the party is finally waking up. Now if only we can get a president who hasn't been sealed inside the DC bubble for the past few years, maybe we'll get back on track and on message.

[BootinUp]

7. There is more to winning elections, than appealing to the base

I am quite happy that centrism has lost much of its appeal but there is no denying it was a valid strategy for the times when it arose. Basically you have the causes and effects completely upside down and backwards.

[Warpy]

9. No party that ignores its base can win elections

That's just a fact of life.

[BootinUp]

11. No party can win

if its base ignores reality either.

[Warpy]

12. Really? The GOP won all 3 branches by appealing to its base

and one can argue that the GOP base is not reality based in its philosophy.

Again, ignoring the party base led to the Democrats being shut out of all 3 branches of government. I don't want to see that happen, ever again, despite what party conservatives want.

I'm glad the power of conservatives within the party is starting to wane. It needed to.

[BootinUp]

13. reality changes.

I cannot think for you.

[Warpy]

14. Reality is what it is.

Conservatives are the ones trying to change reality to fit their conservative ideologies, and it never works.

[BootinUp]

15. last thought on this

How exactly did a self professed moderate (centrist) win the Democratic nomination in '92 anyway. How does that fit into your version of reality? Seriously, I have no more interest in this thread.

[peacetalksforall]

5. The last sentence is exactly what I wrote in a DU thread four years

ago - during the 2004 primaries - NO LONGER NEEDED - did you hear that Senators Clinton, Dodd, and Biden?

"Democrats should thank the group and then tell it that it’s no longer needed."

Thank you NYT and TNR Senior Editor Scheiber!

[Peace Patriot]

6. The message is the massage. Relax. Feel good. Don't think of consequences.

Global corporate predators will take care of you.

“By embracing ideas and values that were both liberal and conservative, it made voters who had not supported Democratic presidential candidates in years listen to our message.” --Bill Clinton

And don't bother with the fine print. We'll read it FOR you. Rest your eyes. Don't worry. It'll make some of you rich. You may be "the one." There's a lottery ticket waiting just for you. And the peons, and the slave labor, and the cannon fodder, what do they really matter? America, per se, is over. Get used to it. Move along, nothing to see here. War profiteering corporate news monopolies? That's just the "free market" at work. It's a good thing. Hey, look at this new widget--electronic voting! Another bubbly thing. But don't y'all fret about it. We know what's best. Go to sleep, in your mud wrap.

[bluestateguy]

10. When I want a Pepsi, I get the real thing, not a Diet Pepsi

If given the choice between a Republican and a Democrat who talks and acts like a Republican-lite, they will choose the real thing every time.