Which Dems are DLC Approved?

[UnityDem]

In light of the DLC meeting in Nashville that none of the Dem prez candidates are attending this year, I am wondering which of our candidates would carry favor with the DLC and which would not?
I have my own opinion, but wanted to see what some of you think.
Ranking them from 1st thru 8th, what would the DLC choose from (listed alphabetically - Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Gravel, Kucinich, Obama, Richardson).
to make it easier for you, you can just use initials (B,C,D,E,G,K,O,R).

extra credit question: What would the DLC think of the "new" more populist Al Gore?

[LynneSin]

1. Before anyone says otherwise - BIDEN IS NOT DLC!!!!

Just clearing that one up before this flame war gets started. The only delaware dem in DLC is Tom Carper

[seasat]

8. Here's Biden's speech to the DLC in 2005 when he recieved thier Truman award.

Every list I've ever seen of the Senate New Democratic Coalition has listed Joe Biden as a member. Those lists are kind of hard to find since the DLC is now out of favor. Biden gave http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Democrat#Members_of_the_Senate_New_Democratic_Coalition">this speech in 2005 to the DLC conference.

In January, in his second inaugural address, President Bush spoke with great eloquence about expanding freedom.

I was a little frustrated by some of my Democratic colleagues and some of our friends around the world. Here's the headline from the leading Green newspaper in Germany, and I quote the headline: "Bush threatens more freedom." It seemed to me that distaste for the messenger has obscured the truth of his message.

Clearly the President's speech struck a chord with the American people.

The benefits of freedom and the desire to share them with others go to the essence of who we are as a people, how we see ourselves, and our own national experience.

Dodd, Gravel, Kucinich, and Obama are the only candidates that are not now nor have ever been associated with the DLC.

[LynneSin]

10. Biden is not DLC

That doesn't mean he won't speak at their meetings but the guy is not a member of the DLC. John Kerry; however, has been a member of the DLC.

http://www.nndb.com/group/269/000093987/

Here's the membership list - where is Biden's name on it.

Stop spreading the lies - he was not nor was he ever a member of their organization. But hell, if you sleep better at night with your delusions then that's all fine with me

BTW:

Blue Dog Dems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Democrats

Another DLC list of members:
http://illinois062006.mydd.com/story/2006/5/27/55951/1586

[wyldwolf]

15. LynneSin, people just don't understand the concept

One can be a moderate centrist Democrat, vote the third-way, attend DLC meetings, etc., and NOT be a member of the DLC. It's the dues you pay that make you a DLC member.

[leftofthedial]

17. in which case, it doesn't matter whether or not they are a "member."

does it?

[wyldwolf]

19. nope. There is a third-way "New Democrat" philosophy...

... read the first few chapters of Obama's book and you'll see it all in a nutshell.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

27. Exactly nt

[seasat]

22. Actually DLC membership doesn't really bother me.

Bill Clinton's presidency is what drew me into the Democratic Party in the first place. I also agree with some of the DLC's policy positions such as importance of deficit reduction and increasing government efficiency. The DLC were the king makers in the 90s and many Democrats of a variety of different political leanings joined the group. Being a member of the DLC doesn't mean that they follow Al From's or Bruce Reed's policy recommendations to the letter. I find it more useful to compare a candidates past and present positions, voting record, effectiveness in their elective position, campaigning ability, and other real factors instead of a litmus test based on membership in a group. For instance, if you compare John Kerry and Ben Nelson, you see a wide gap in ideology even though they are both DLC members.

According to LynneSin's list, Hillary is the only current member and Edwards is the only former member of the DLC. However, as one can see from the MYDD blog Lynnesin linked to, finding the list of actual card carrying members of the DLC is kind of difficult now. Biden has given several speeches to the DLC and participated in Progressive Policy Institute panels. It's not clear if he is a card carrying member, but he is definitely associated with the group. With that much involvement, it would make sense if he's a member. However, it doesn't matter to me if he paid their dues or just works with them a lot, I'll judge him based on other factors.

IMHO, the only candidate that will actually benefit from association with the DLC is Hillary Clinton. I imagine that whatever association the other candidates have had with it, they're going to move away from it to appeal to other groups. Since Clinton is an officer in the DLC, she likely has much of its membership behind her. That is probably one of the unspoken reasons why the candidates did not attend the DLC meeting. If Hillary wasn't running, probably several candidates would have attended to woo the moderate crowd.

[jillan]

28. Thank you Lynne for knowing that.

As soon as I read the title of this thread, I knew Biden was going to be attacked first.

And the funny thing is, look down further in this thread and someone is saying Biden.
Does that drive you crazy when you post facts, and people don't bother to read it??

It does me.

[billyoc]

2. Clinton and Richardson are the only two. n/t

[wyldwolf]

3. ...who are actual members...

Edwards is a former member, and Biden is certainly a Democrat in the third-way tradition.

[UnityDem]

5. correct if I'm wrong, but

I believe that Gore is also former DLC. However, I believe that the current DLC would no longer approve of Gore or Edwards' messages.

[wyldwolf]

16. ok..

I have no first hand knowledge of the DLC's current view of John Edwards... but Gore, I do.

Columnist Salena Zito wrote a piece on Al Gore back in March in which she quoted Simon Rosenberg, head of the New Democratic Network, as saying: "As a member of the Democratic Leadership Council he (Gore) has centrist credentials without forsaking his leftist credentials."

I noticed right away that was said in the present tense so I called Salena who confirmed with me that Rosenberg, indeed, said it.

I called Rosenberg but got connected to Aaron Banks, chief editor of the New Democratic Network. He told me that Gore still holds the same position on most issues he held while Clinton's VP but that his opposition to the Iraq war and his new way of speaking the language of "progressives" have led many to believe he has moved further left.

However, he could not confirm or deny that Gore was still a member of the DLC. Keep in mind, though, that all it takes to join the DLC is pay the yearly dues.

I then e-mailed Donna Brazille who said she wasn't sure of Gore's membership status with the DLC but she, too, reaffirmed that Gore was still essentially the pragmatic New Democrat he'd always been.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

29. Interesting. Thanks for sharing nt

[Totally Committed]

9. Dodd is actually DLC as well.

AT least his name is on the last membership roster they had on their site.

TC

[LynneSin]

11. Dodd not DLC - here's the list

http://www.nndb.com/group/269/000093987/

[Totally Committed]

21. Thanks very much!

The list I have is a bit older than that one. The copyright on this one is 2007, and mine is 2005.

(Completely an aside: I see John Kerry is still listed as a member.)

I am going to save this to a file for future reference. I appreciate your posting it.

Congrats to Dodd for resigning whenever he did between 2005 and 2007. It was the right thing to do.


TC

[Mass]

24. Note this is NOT a DLC list.

[Mass]

23. There is no current list of the DLC. This list does not give its origin.

There used to be a list of those Democratic Senators, Representatives, and others who belonged to the New Democrat caucuses, but the senate list has disappeared, so it is difficult to know who currently belong to the DLC, except for their leadership and those people who tell openly they are part of it.

People as diverse as Dean, Gore, Edwards, Dorgan, Kerry, on one side, and Lieberman, Nelson, Landrieu, on the other side have, at one point or another (and still may, as far as we know), belong to the DLC (or not).

Interestingly, the DLC a few weeks ago crowned Senator WhiteHouse NewDemocrat of the Week. WhiteHouse, whether he belongs to the DLC or not, is one of the most progressive Senator among those who won seats in 2008 (Sanders excepted).

[LWolf]

25. Dodd was on the last list of "new democrats"

I saw on the DLC homepage before they stopped posting lists. Now they have "new democrats of the week," where they will give kudos to congresspeople and governors, but I haven't been able to find an actual list of "new democrats."

I guess they are thinking that transparency won't help them further the cause.

You bring up a point, though. There are actual "new democrats," there are democrats that are not officially annointed "dlc" but who have close, friendly relationships with them, there is a democratic candidate who has publicly denied dlc connections, but who is, for all intents and purposes, a "third-way" politician, and there are democrats that have, for whatever reason, been "dlc" but have begun to distance themselves. And, of course, there are those who have never flirted with the dlc.

For those of us who care whether or not our vote goes to a dlc-supported candidate, or a candidate with a dlc agenda, that means we'll have to sift through available information to decide how strong a candidate's current connections are, and how well their platform matches the dlc agenda, or not.

[Totally Committed]

32. He's definitely on the Master list I have saved to file.

But, as I said, my list was copied from 2005.

I know I'm being redundant, but I really mean it when I say even ONE DLC-er is too much.

TC

[bonito]

4. Some backround information

The DLC's “leadership team” includes Vilsack, chairman; Delaware Sen. Tom Carper, vice-chairman; Senator Clinton, chair of the DLC's American Dream Initiative; Al From, chief executive officer; and Bruce Reed, president. From and Reed, together with Will Marshall of the Progressive Policy Institute, are the main architects of the DLC's center-right political agendas, which are laid out in more detail in the reports of the PPI and in articles in Blueprint and New Dem Dispatch.

more http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1463

[cmkramer]

31. Wrong

The DLC is center-left not center-right.

[UnityDem]

6. Should have included a "codicile"

I see that I stirred some up in another thread.
This was not meant as a "DLC putdown" thread. I have seen many of those and have not participated. But, I can see why some might take it that way.
Just trying to sort through our candidates. And, I do say OUR candidates, I will support our nominee vigorously (DLC "approved" or not - :dem: )

[LynneSin]

13. You can't start a DLC without it being a putdown thread

but I know you meant well - it's just the nature of the folks here at DU

[flpoljunkie]

7. Al From listed "our candidates" as Clinton, Vilsack, Warner and Bayh, on Washington Journal,10/25/05

Hillary Clinton was recently head of the DLC's "American Dream Initiative" and Vilsack resigned as President of the DLC to make his abortive run for the presidency. Hillary Clinton has helped retire his campaign debt.

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=194&contentid=253994

[LynneSin]

12. How silly - we looked it up on the DLC instead of making random accusations

:sarcasm:

Thank you for posting that. I think some people here at DU would rather slap a label on a dem they don't like then to actually get the real information. Nice to see the facts posted here.

[IndianaJones]

14. Biden and Dodd? nt.

[wyldwolf]

18. based on their stated positions, I would venture to say..

..the DLC would support all Dems running with exception of Kucinich and Gravel. And if by some freak of nature one of them secured the nomination, the DLC would probably keep quiet.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

20. Kucinich would be the LAST...

choice for a DLCer -- his anti-corporate stance is 180 of theirs.

[sandnsea]

26. Hillary is on the Leadership Team

The name of the convention is a "National Conversation". Bill is speaking there instead of her.

And you have Biden first???

[Hell Hath No Fury]

30. "Populist" Al Gore ia what...

caused the final split between the DLC and Gore. They cautioned him againt it and railed when he made the move. A few DLC have even had the nerve to claim that is why Gore "lost" the 2000 election. :eyes: