DLC is now calling itself "moderate", not centrist.

madfloridian

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Mon Jul-24-06 01:26 PM
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DLC is now calling itself "moderate", not centrist.

They need to make up their minds. I have always called myself "moderate", which to me means open-minded but commonsense. However they are changing the Democratic nomenclature again...and I will have to figure out what to call myself now.

From the DLC conference in Denver today:

Is the DLC Old Wine in a New Bottle?

"A reporter noticed that the DLC seemed not to embrace the word "centrist" anymore.

"The DLC has always believed in furthering the first principles of our party," said DLC founder Al From. "We are about promoting ideas that are progressive and are grounded in traditional Democratic values but offer new ways to further them. If that's called centrist, then we're centrist."

"But the buzzword today isn't centrist -- it's "commonsense." The DLC can't call its agenda centrist or liberal or progressive, whereas Republicans are quite comfortable calling their agendas conservative."

And from the same article, I am not sure what this means...did they or didn't they? Invite the chairman, that is. I remember he was told not to have the ideas, that the congressional Democrats would do that. Dean is really a policy wonk, so this is kind of hard to read.

A reporter pointed out that the DLC usually invites the chair of the party to speak. Said From: "We always invite the chair of the party, but the discussion here is always about ideas...." His voice trailed off.

And the Associated Press is kindly going along with them in calling that group Moderate Democrats. This kind of headline must be confusing to the average person. Is it a Democratic party group or isn't it? Does that make the rest of us radicals? Just thinking out loud.

Moderate Democrats Unveil Economic Agenda

Moderate Democrats think they have the key to winning back power in Washington and across the country _ a package of economic proposals aimed at giving every American a shot at reaching the middle class.

To their credit, the article does clarify that this is a centrist think tank, but not in the headline.

The last paragraphs show the real divisions in the party, the way Reid, Pelosi, Dean are spoken of in the article. There are some good ideas the DLC puts forth, but they tend to get lost in the rhetoric of how they are better than we are.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, his counterpart in the House, Nancy Pelosi of California, and Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean say voters have a clear choice _ more of the same under Republicans or a new direction with Democrats in charge.

But some critics within the party have criticized those leaders in Washington, saying they have failed to articulate a clear and detailed policy platform heading into the midterm elections. Some question whether Democrats need a document like the "Contract with America," which was credited with helping Republicans seize power in 1994.

The DLC's effort to create an economic agenda began a year ago, when Vilsack asked Clinton to lead the charge and solicit ideas from political, business, labor, civic and intellectual leaders across the country. The result is what Al From, the founder of the organization, called "a set of ideas around which Democrats of all stripes can rally as we head into the fall election."

Still, he and other moderates are under no illusions that every part of the party, liberals in particular, will embrace the agenda. Said From, "My guess is that there are some people who will not be happy with the ideas."

If they would decide what to call themselves, then maybe I could start getting settled in as to what to call myself when I am taking a Zogby poll, or in having a discussion.