Are we seeing a DLC feeding frenzy?

[flaminbats]

The irony of course is that Edwards, Dean, Lieberman, and Kerry are all active members of the DLC. New Republic selected their primary candidate for 2004, and not surprisingly it's Joe Lieberman. It is this endorsement which has probably kept him in the race, even after those sorry primary results.

When Democrats controlled the majority in Congress, the DLC played a critical role in developing the policy agenda in 1992...which Dukakis lacked in 1988. They also played a role in giving moderates and conservatives a voice within a party mostly controlled by liberals.

Now the party leadership is dominated by moderates, but Democrats are no longer the majority party they once were. Once the DLC served as a means of coordinating two very different wings of a Congressional Party in a bid to win back the White House. Now this party really has only one wing, this includes the moderate wing in control and those motived by issue-driven voters. But now that the Democratic Party is the party of moderation, it hardly makes sense for those in the DLC to keep pushing harder for us to compromise more and more with shrub. Compromise is logical when the our party has the power to negotiate, but now repukes set the terms and Dino's in Congress always feel free to break ranks regardless of the policy implications.

But those who are rightly concerned about the damage being done have been bringing this up in the primaries, however the DLC feels that we as voters owe them our loyalty..even if it goes against our better interest.

"Paul Tsongas used to point out that Democrats couldn't love jobs but hate employers. It's just as true that Democrats can't love the Clinton years but hate the DLC." Actually I did love Clinton's leadership...although not all of the Clinton years, and I hate this kind of DLC arrogance that says corporate America knows best! One other thing this writer forgot to state was that Tsongas was not a member of the DLC, and most in the DLC hated his plans to hike the gasoline tax by 3-5 cents a gallon. So it is slightly ironic to see them quote a dead man who they worked so hard to defeat in the 1992 primaries. Will they misquote Governor Dean in four or eight years to defeat another "unelectable liberal?"

Will the DLC always oppose anything good proposed by a non-DLC democrat? And can the DLC continue to provide some constructive ideas, or will they merely seek to promote that watered-down alternative to what Shrub wants?

http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=85&subid=65&contentid=252283

[aquart]

1. Any corporation that declares a profit that debits the nation

is a parasitic force, which will eventually destroy the nation.

"The business of America is business." That's fine. That's what we do. We keep busy with business.

But what is the purpose of it? What is the purpose of America?

Are we working to create wealthy CEOs whose children go to luxury colleges that cost $1000 a month for fancy dorms? (Tonight's news.) A school official said students studied better in a better environment. So students in rooms costing less are not expected to do well?

Is that the purpose of America? Is the purpose to ban people from airplanes for belonging to legal political parties, or having a name like someone else, or legally protesting the current administration.

What are we here for? To use more oil than anyone else? To become an empire that rules by force?

What is the purpose of America?

[Cleita]

2. Aren't the DLC actually Republicans who

left the party because they didn't belong to the same club as neo-con extremists who have assumed the leadership of the Republican Party? I personally want to go back to our liberal roots. Screw them and the elephant they rode in on. I guess this is why I have never agreed with Southern Democrats, who are represented politically by Clinton and Edwards. I always thought that the only reason Lieberman was a Democrat was because it was the only way he would get the Jewish vote in his state and I honestly don't know about Kerry.

[flaminbats]

3. interesting question..

Jeffords was a Republican, and now he's supporting Dean. The Heinz was married to a moderate Republican, and now she's married to Kerry. Clark went from being a Republican to Independent to now a Democrat.

But most of these people are not traditionally close with the DLC. The DLC has its roots with people like Sam Nunn, Zell Miller, and Evan Bayh. They started the DLC because they were moderate on the cultural issues and conservative on economics. But many former Republicans have entered our party because they are liberal on economic issues, and are alienated by shrub's cultural positions.

[farmbo]

4. DLC isn't about Policy...it's about Power

...the inside-the-beltway-we-control-the-flow-of-money variety of power.
That is why Dean pissed them off so much. He did'nt have to look to them for money and was not, therefore, beholden to them.

[Iverson]

5. You know how the argument goes.

(paraphrased) Since there has never been a socialist revolutionary elected president, we must therefore be aggressive corporatists, only slightly less virulent than the Republicans. Oh, and we're a big tent. Now get in line.

Given the current situation, accurate depiction of a feeding frenzy is a luxury. When it happens, you will like it. Don't be influenced by left-wing radicals such as Howard Dean or Gerald Ford.

[rpf113]

6. The New Republic endorsed Lieberman?

I have a cut out article written by Peter Beinart endorsing General Clark.

TNR must be handing out endorsements pretty freely.

[dusty64]

7. I really like Tsongas

back then and respected his honesty. The DLC has WAY too much influence over the Democratic party today and desperately needs to get back to its populist roots. We already have one party that solely caters to corporations, we don't need two.