The DLC must really hate Dean

[La_Serpiente]

They had some choice words for him recently:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

DLC | New Dem Daily | November 6, 2003
The Right Way to Go South

Not so long ago, the South looked like one of the great comeback stories for Democrats. After Republicans swept the region in 1984 and 1988, Bill Clinton and Al Gore carried five southern states in 1992 and 1996. And even though Bush ran the table in the South in 2000, Democrats until recently were within striking distance of holding every southern governorship from Richmond to Baton Rouge.

<snip>

Howard Dean has shown exactly the wrong way to restore a Southern Democratic majority, with statements about "guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks" that managed to offend everybody, from millions of Americans of every race and region who view the Confederate flag as a symbol of racial oppression to southerners who resent being inaccurately and condescendingly stereotyped. The modern South is not The Dukes of Hazzard.

As dozens of DLC elected officials have shown, the right way for Democrats to win a majority in the South is build a durable biracial majority. No doubt the GOP is still willing to play the race card whenever it can get away with it. But most Southern voters are repulsed by those tactics.

<snip>

So far there's not a lot about the Dean campaign that shows any understanding of the need for values centrism as a way to make sure people are willing to listen to Democrats' arguments about everything else. That's unfortunate, because no candidate for president is likely to win the nomination, much less beat George W. Bush, if his support is limited to a golden ghetto of white, upscale, culturally liberal, antiwar voters.

[robsul82]

1. I sure hope the doctor...

...rubs it in behind closed doors when they have to nominate him.

Later.

RJS

[asjr]

5. DLC

But will they nominate him? If 3/4 of the country wants him to be the nominee, how much clout does the DLC have? This is insane. I don't know much about the DLC except what I have read on DU, but aren't they acting like the RNC?

[Code_Name_D]

21. There is a resone for that.

Becase the DLC was actualy modled after the RNC. Monkey see, monkey do.

[caledesi]

2. Who do you think orchestrated the en-masse assault on HD during

the Rock the Vote? DLC? That would be my guess.

[ShaneGR]

6. No, it was natural that happened

Dean is the frontrunner. He is going to be called out on his statements. Here's the thing, I like Dean, but can he stand up to the pressure. Trust me, this is a small percentage of what will happen to Dean during a General election. He is an insurgent candidate. He needs to show he can take the heat.

[zeemike]

11. I’m with you

I happen to think the attack on Dean at Rock the vote was a good thing. It shows he can take it and that he is not trying to slip out of it in some bullshit way.
Something that I saw that was telling was his answer about the Gay question he said that at first he was uncomfortable with them, an honest admission that most strait people would have to admit to. I think it is good not to bullshit people but to say it honestly, and he did that.

[blm]

30. Sharpton is DLC?

That's a new one.

[ShaneGR]

3. Damn, that's harsh language

Too harsh.

[sfecap]

4. The DLC must really like bush.

n/t

[w4rma]

7. The DLC won those past two governors' races didn't they? Nope.

Dean Statement in Response to DLC's Charge that Public Servants are "Fringe Activists"

“Once again, the DLC has chosen to put their own political agenda ahead of the progress needed to unite the Democratic Party. This election has barely begun, and the DLC has repeatedly dismissed people who attend caucuses, who get out the vote, and now the 1.3 million members of AFSCME as ‘fringe activists’ who do not reflect ‘the mainstream values, national pride and the economic aspirations of middle-class and working people.’

“The DLC staff can say what they want about me, but they owe an apology to the 1.3 million members of AFSCME. Our teachers, our health care workers, and our state and local public servants don't need a lesson from Washington insiders about the needs and concerns of middle- and working-class families. What they need is a Democratic Party that will stand up for them.”

Posted by Mathew Gross at 04:27 PM
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000206.html

Tell From and Reed of the DLC What You Think
Click here to sign a letter to the Democratic Leadership Council telling them that you're an active Democrat who supports Howard Dean. You can tell your friends about the link, too: www.deanforamerica.com/DLC

Posted by Mathew Gross at 01:29 AM
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000240.html

Fineman on the DLC Memo
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000213.html

Former DNC-Chief Steve Grossman to DLC: "Creating Conflict is Not Leadership."
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000225.html

Liberal Oasis on Howard Dean and the DLC
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000226.html

Will the Real DLC Please Stand Up?
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000228.html

Congressional Members Call on DLC to Stop Divisive Tactics
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000238.html

Activists Are Out of Step
By Al From and Bruce Reed
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251866&kaid=85&subid=65

The Real Soul of the Democratic Party
By Al From and Bruce Reed
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251690&kaid=127&subid=900056

[JNelson6563]

9. Rock on Dean!

Screw the DLC.

Julie

[caledesi]

10. We (the people) have the power. F*ck the DLC!

Sorry to "candy-coat" it. LOL!

[illini]

8. Screw thel DLC.

Like they have been doing a great job for the last 4 years.

[Cha]

12. They are scared of their future with

Dean and the Power of the People in Control. :scared:

[polpilot]

20. They have no future with Dean at the helm. Chimpy may hire them.

Dean '04...

[paulk]

13. I agree with the first part...

I think Dean has probably hurt himself in the south. His hamfisted attempts at "inclusiveness" have very likely driven away more votes than not. We do need a "durable biracial majority" to win in the south, and Dean is likely going to have to spend some time patching things up with the black vote.

I don't understand the second bit - "if his support is limited to a golden ghetto of white, upscale, culturally liberal, antiwar voters."
I think Dean's support is broader than that. Dean, as a centrist, can appeal to a much wider audience than the DLC seems to realize. His big problem might be in losing some of those white, upscale cultural liberals as they come to understand that Dean is nowhere near the liberal they initially thought.


I've never understood why the DLC went after Dean in the first place. He was looked upon very kindly by them when he was governor.

[ulysses]

14. "golden ghetto"?

What the fuck is a "golden ghetto"?

These people are unreal.

[JohnKleeb]

15. Its the DLC uly

A "golden ghetto" :shrug: you got me.

[ulysses]

16. "activist elites" by any other name

Complete bunch of fucknuts at the DLC - the irony is that those guys with the damned flag are the same guys that the DLC has been fellating for years. If I'm reading Dean right (and I may well not be, but I think I am), the difference is that Al From and His Merry Band want to pander to southern white men culturally, while Dean's had the relatively bright idea of pointing out the (latent, huge) class issues.

[Cocoa]

17. they don't hate Dean

they disagree with the way he's running his campaign, they think it won't work.

[ShaneGR]

18. Yes, they think it won't work, but the 'golden ghetto' comment....

is very out of line. I'm not even a Dean guy, but that last sentence killed their whole memo.

[Cocoa]

19. what's so bad about that comment?

Asking seriously, I don't know what's wrong with it. They're hitting on something that concerns me about the Dean campaign. I don't know if it's accurate, but I perceive his support roughly that way.

[ulysses]

23. then can you explain

what the hell a "golden ghetto" even *is*?

[Cocoa]

26. here's how I took it

the golden ghetto is a demographic niche that isn't integrated with the larger society. This would explain the gaffe, since it could be seen as not understanding how other groups would react to the comment. Again, I don't know if it's true about the demographics of Dean's support, but it kind of seems like it to me, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're on to something.

[Classical_Liberal]

29. Who does the dlc represent?

?

[ulysses]

31. yes, we're all bliss-ninny neophytes.

:eyes:

I'm not all that surprised at the reaction, really. The man said something that wasn't in the script about race. He broke code. Bad Dean! Bad Dean!

[Cocoa]

35. they didn't say anything like that

it wasn't saying Dean supporters are bad, in the way you say or in any other way. It said that they come largely from one group.

[Classical_Liberal]

25. They mischaracterized Deans comments as dividing the

blacks and poor whites. When they know damn well his comments were designed to do the opposite.

[Classical_Liberal]

24. no they think it will work

They hate Dean for his populism, because the DLC means Democrats for the Leasure Class. It wasn't the conferate flag that bothered them. That is the very values moderation they claim to support. It was the health insurance for young people, and the good education system part. It was particularly the fact that Dean owes nothing to the plutocrats they serve. I wish Dean would stop conceding to their artificial shit fits.

[NewJeffCT]

22. Dean a leftist?

I don't get that impression - pro NRA, seems to be big on state's rights.

[Capn Sunshine]

27. but in the DLC

if you're left of Lieberman your're a leftist.

In fact, anybody except Joe is considered an unacceptableleftist, despite the active participation of many DLC members like myself in Howard Dean's campaign.

Someone else posited that the magic mojo DLC ascribed to themselves was actually 100% Clinton. I have to agree with that assessment.

Where they part ways with me is trying to influence things beyond and in spite of their stated goal of "abandonment of left vs. right issues "

That's exactly what the leadership is engaged in , not a neutral business model for the new millenium.

So screw them. They are being left behind by what they do not understand; you can't hang out inside the beltway and "get" Deans campaign.

Yeah, they'll come around. Kicking and screaming. Like many anti-Dean DUers. At least they have THAT in common. :)

[SahaleArm]

34. Dean has the...

liberal activist market cornered in Seattle, even over Kucinich. Based on governing record and prior beliefs, Dean's a moderate democrat. Wasn't he part of the DLC before his run for the presidency?

[EdGy]

28. this is an excellent sign,

and indicates that Dean is doing the right things.

Anything that makes these pseudo-republicans mad like this must be good!

[Woodstock]

32. Link?

Author?

[ulysses]

33. link

http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=131&subid=192&contentid=252174

as per the norm with New Dem Dailies, it's unsigned.

[David Zephyr]

36. They Fear Him.

They didn't just back the wrong horse, they have systematically worked their darndest to destroy any progressive Democrat from rising to leadership positions within the Party for way too long.

Worse for the DLC now is that Howard Dean is about to unhinge his candidacy from the limitations of fundraising and is able to raise tens of millions of dollars without them and thereby robbing them of the only thing they ever had to offer---money.

Howard Dean gets his own money without their strings.

DLC = OBSOLETE.

Here's my cry: "RIP for the DLC."