Daily Kos :: We Stand with Obama: DLC Exodus
I'm not sure why lefties expend so much energy against the DLC. There are many better targets that have actually wronged folks. The DLC and PPI do believe in a progressive agenda and while I don't always agree with them, they do get the job done. The rise of the bloggeratti and the Net have changed things, but the work that the DLC does is different. They are not designed to be a membership group that puts boots on the ground on election day. They have always been about DC insiders and the folks that want to be there.
Not to say that the DLC leadership aren't hardcore Dems. They have worked in campaigns, Capital Hill and the White House. Most importantly, the have fought losing battles where Dems lost 49 states and gotten creamed in other races. They come from Red states and were sick of the culture of liberal losing (we may have lost in a landslide, but we stuck by our principles, except when our VP was found out to be crazy). That's the foundation of the DLC and what they want. Their tactics are sound if you don't have a lot of money. It has worked in the past and they feel that it can work in the future.
The strategy of the "Third Way" was one to fight for the independents and moderates and not let the GOP win in the middle. The logic being that one voter for the Dems, was one less for the Reps. Pretty basic Poli Sci 101 stuff, but almost revolutionary to the party of Mondale (Principle is what we need, and truth about Dems raising taxes!). Get these voters through the Sister Souljah speech, 100,000 Cops, AmeriCorps, and welfare reform. Change the model into one where the GOP is the reactionary party of "NO!" and the Dems are reforming what's wrong with the country.
The vessel for all this was Bill Clinton. He understood the need for reform (or at least the appearance) and was also a fantastic politcian. He lucked out with Perot, but was still smart enough to co-opt some of his ideas (reduction of the National debt). He did make mistakes (Single Payer Healthcare and failing medicare reform) and other folks had influence (Morris), but the ideas of the DLC (Community, Opportunity, Responsibility) led to victory.
A bigger threat to the DLC theory of the "Third Way" or centrism is the rise of Karl Rove and how Bush 2004 was able to minimize the influence of independents and moderates. The split in the country among the different groups is wider than in many generations. It is time for progressives to realize that their has always been more of them than us. The moments that the progressive movement have held national office have been few. Lots of stuff happens in a few years (TR's Trust Busting, Pure Food and Drug Act; FDR's New Deal, and LBJ's Great Society) are followed by decades of repeals and conservativism. It's happened that way in the past and will continue to repeat itself. Rove's ability to exploit this divide will haunt Dems if they continue to shoot themselves in the foot with infighting and rejecting moderation.
