Karl Rove's Genius shown in one paragraph....and how the DLC's support

[KoKo]

helps him continue it. This is why we Democrats need a vibrant, engaged Populist/Progressive Left to counter these tactics, or we will never win an election again, no matter how many scandals erupt they won't get the the heart of the damage Rove's ideas and practices have done because mainstream established Democrats allowed it to go on and flourish. And they are still at it with Will Marshall, Hillary and Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, Lieberman, Bayh and the rest all marching in lock step. From 2003 New Yorker interview with Rove.

.......................................................................

The Controller: Karl Rove is working to get George Bush reelected, but he has bigger plans.
by Nicholas Lemann
"Profiles," The New Yorker Magazine
May 12, 2003

In our last interview, I tried out on Rove a scenario I called "the death of the Democratic Party." The Party has three key funding sources: trial lawyers, Jews, and labor unions. One could systematically disable all three, by passing tort-reform legislation that would cut off the trial lawyers' incomes, by tilting pro-Israel in Middle East policy and thus changing the loyalties of big Jewish contributors, and by trying to shrink the part of the labor force which belongs to the newer, and more Democratic, public-employee unions. And then there are three fundamental services that the Democratic Party is offering to voters: Social Security, Medicare, and public education. Each of these could be peeled away, too: Social Security and Medicare by giving people benefits in the form of individual accounts that they invested in the stock market, and public education by trumping the Democrats on the issue of standards. The Bush Administration has pursued every item on that list. Rove didn't offer any specific objection but, rather, a general caveat that the project might be too ambitious. "Well, I think it's a plausible explanation," he said. "I don't think you ever kill any political party. Political parties kill themselves, or are killed, not by the other political party but by their failure to adapt to new circumstances. But do you weaken a political party, either by turning what they see as assets into liabilities, and/or by taking issues they consider to be theirs, and raiding them?" The thought brought to his round, unlined, guileless face a boyish look of pure delight. "Absolutely!"

http://bnfp.org/neighborhood/Lemann_Rove_NYM.htm

[BillZBubb]

1. Good catch. Too bad we don't have any counter-point.

If only Democrats realized how badly the DLC is killing us longer term. Even Ted Kennedy got sucked in on the "No Child Left Behind" scheme, so it's not just DLC either.

We won't win big until we differentiate our party from theirs in stark terms.

[smoogatz]

6. DLC=Democrats Lose Continually

Nobody wants to vote for Republican Lite, except maybe Joe Lieberman's constituents. Here's what the real, old-school progressive/populist Democratic Party should stand for:

1.Protecting the middle class. The middle class is the heart and soul of America. Right now they're under duress: unfair taxation, confiscatory credit card interest, colossal health care expenses, declining real wages despite working longer and longer hours, job loss, school failure, no child care, and the soaring cost of caring for elderly parents. Under Bushco, millions of Americans have slipped into poverty, lost their health insurance, and been forced into bankruptcy--and now the Republicans have taken away even that last resort. Middle class Americans have a right to expect government to work for them--but Republicans are only interested in working for big contributors and big corporations.

2.Declaring war on al Qaida and withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. It's simple, folks--al Qaida attacked us, Iraq didn't. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, did President Roosevelt declare war on Brazil? We should declare war on al Qaida and its allies, just as President Roosevelt declared war on Japan and its allies after Pearl Harbor. Saddam is no longer in power: time to let the Iraqi people sort out their internal ethnic/religious/political struggle on their own. It's going to happen whether or not we've got 150,000 U.S. troops driving around the country in unarmored Humvees with targets on their backs.

3.Protecting individual liberties. Republicans want to monitor your internet use, your email, and what you read in the library. They don't just want to outlaw abortion--no matter the circumstances--they want to outlaw birth control. They want to return to the days when government could tell even married couples what kind of sex they could and couldn't have in the privacy of their own bedrooms--because Republicans don't believe that you or I have a constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy. Personally, I don't want the Republican party in my bedroom. Americans do have a right to privacy, and the Democratic party should stand in four square support of that right.

4.Republicans are anti-worker. They'd like to stack the federal courts with judges who will roll back the entire catalog of New Deal era worker protections. Republicans would like to do away with everything from the forty-hour work-week (already long gone for many white-collar Americans) to unemployment insurance to OSHA to workmen's compensation to laws that restrict the use of child labor. Republicans believe that corporations should be allowed to use and discard workers any way they see fit. Democrats disagree. That's why we're proposing a worker's bill of rights that would roll back the Republicans' anti-worker initiatives enacted in the past five years.

And so on. That's how framing is done, folks.

[alarcojon]

7. Hear Hear!

I heard somewhere you were running at the mouth again, B.

Good points

[smoogatz]

8. Thanks, G--

Check your messages.

[CWebster]

9. Bleeding heart liberals

Ever notice Democrats are never accused of that anymore?

I always thought Edwards was green and his support for the Iraq invasion was poor political calculation, but I have to say that I appreciated his plea to recognize the poor and the most vulnerable among us.

That is the heart of Christian charity.

Now that the greedy selfish yuppie corporate party dominates, Democrats can no longer portray the Right as mean-spirited and heartless.

[dmr]

2. Just this morning,

I was at the DLC homepage trying to find out which Dems were DLC. They do not come right out and give that list. How irritating is that? I find it suspicious.

You wouldn't happen to have a DLC'er list, would you?

Thanks for posting this article, it's a good one. I have it on a hard disk along with others I've been archiving for the future when today's history will probably be rewritten to fit the Neo-Con version.

[fooj]

4. LOL!!! I was doing the EXACT same thing yesterday afternoon.

I found the whole website "suspect", as well. I mean...why don't they have a list of members? They have VERY little on anyone, actually.

Peace.

[dmr]

12. Right!

I hate the thought of being suspicious of Dems. Why not come right out and post the names instead of saying they don't have a 'membership structure' - somehow that makes no sense. If DUer Oreo hadn't posted the names today in this thread, I would have eventually looked them all up by using their silly format. Maybe they're banking on people not taking the time. :shrug:

[fooj]

16. I certainly didn't. Take the time, that is.

Peace.

[Oreo]

5. They're on there...

http://www.dlc.org/new_dem_dir.cfm

Max Baucus, U.S. Senator, MT
Evan Bayh, U.S. Senator, IN
Maria Cantwell, U.S. Senator, WA
Tom Carper, U.S. Senator, DE
Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator, NY
Kent Conrad, U.S. Senator, ND
Byron Dorgan, U.S. Senator, ND
Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senator, CA
Tim Johnson, U.S. Senator, SD
John Kerry, U.S. Senator, MA
Herb Kohl, U.S. Senator, WI
Mary Landrieu, U.S. Senator, LA
Joe Lieberman, U.S. Senator, CT
Blanche Lincoln, U.S. Senator, AR
Bill Nelson, U.S. Senator, FL
Ben Nelson, U.S. Senator, NE
Mark Pryor, U.S. Senator, AR
Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Senator, MI

Brian Baird, U.S. Representative, WA
Melissa Bean, United States Representative, IL
Shelley Berkley, U.S. Representative, NV
Lois Capps, U.S. Representative, CA
Russ Carnahan, U.S. Representative, MO
Ed Case, U.S. Representative, HI
Ben Chandler, U.S. Representative, KY
Joseph Crowley, U.S. Representative, NY
Jim Davis, U.S. Representative, FL
Susan Davis, U.S. Representative, CA
Artur Davis, U.S. Representative, AL
Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Representative, IL
Eliot Engel, U.S. Representative, NY
Bob Etheridge, U.S. Representative, NC
Harold Ford, Jr. , U.S. Representative, TN
Charlie Gonzalez, United States Representative, TX
Jane Harman, U.S. Representative, CA
Stephanie Herseth, U.S. Representative, SD
Brian Higgins, U.S. Representative, NY
Rush Holt, U.S. Representative, NJ
Darlene Hooley, U.S. Representative, OR
Jay Inslee, U.S. Representative, WA
Steve Israel, U.S. Representative, NY
Ron Kind, U.S. Representative, WI
Rick Larsen, U.S. Representative, WA
John Larson, U.S. Representative, CT
Carolyn McCarthy, U.S. Representative, NY
Mike McIntyre, U.S. Representative, NC
Gregory Meeks, U.S. Representative, NY
Charlie Melancon, United States Representative, LA
Juanita Millender-McDonald, U.S. Representative, CA
Dennis Moore, U.S. Representative, KS
Jim Moran, U.S. Representative, VA
David Price, U.S. Representative, NC
Loretta Sanchez, U.S. Representative, CA
Adam B. Schiff, U.S. Representative, CA
Allyson Schwartz, U.S. Representative, PA
David Scott, U.S. Representative, GA
Adam Smith, U.S. Representative, WA
Vic Snyder, United States Representative, AR
Ellen Tauscher, U.S. Representative, CA
Tom Udall, U.S. Representative, NM
David Wu, U.S. Representative, OR

[dmr]

10. I saw that

and found it suspicious that you have to 'work' to find out names of the Dems - or am I missing something there?

Thank you!

[bvar22]

11. I go to the NDOL site.

They have a search for members function that works well. I use it all the time.

http://www.dlc.org/new_dem_dir.cfm

[Oreo]

3. Isn't the Dems biggest funding coming from Dean now?

I thought there were more and more small contributions that were surpassing the big contributors?

The evil genius behind the curtain has met his match.. and his name is Fitzgerald.

[SuperWonk]

14. Awesome point...

"If only Democrats realized how badly the DLC is killing us longer term."

I hardily agree... it is high time we starting looking inside the party for problems rather than outside for the 'scapegoats of the week'.

[Nothing Without Hope]

13. LAT: DLC names Hillary Clinton in setting agendas for 2006, 2008 elections

Looks like the DLC is going to try to force Hillary down our throats, why else would they hand her this position? :( The GOP are doubtless delighted, as she's the candidate they most want a chance to defeat, and Hillary is unlikely to come up with platforms that truly threaten them. IMO, this move signals that the DLC still intends to push the policies of the past and appease the GOP rather than going to the public with the truth and aggressively moving FORWARD. And we're supposed to fall all over ourselves with joy.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-dlc26jul26,1,7724361.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
July 26, 2005 latimes.com - THE NATION

Clinton's New Job: Defining the Center

Party moderates pick the New York senator to draft a plan to craft the Democrats' agenda.

By Ronald Brownstein, Times Staff Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Democratic Leadership Council, an organization of influential party moderates, on Monday named Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to direct a new initiative to define a party agenda for the 2006 and 2008 elections.

The appointment solidified the identification of Clinton — once considered a champion of the party's left — with the centrist movement that helped propel her husband to the White House in 1992. It also continued her effort, which has accelerated in recent months, to present herself as a moderate on issues such as national security, immigration and abortion.

In her speech at the group's annual summer meeting, Clinton signaled a desire to retain her independence from any party faction. She called for a truce between the DLC and liberal elements of the party, which have engaged in a ferocious war of words over the Democrats' direction since President Bush won reelection last year.

"Now, I know the DLC has taken some shots from some within our party, and that it has returned fire too," she told the gathering in Columbus. "Well, I think it's high time for a cease-fire — time for all Democrats to work together based on the fundamental values we all share."

(snip)

[rucky]

15. Well this union-card carrying son of a Jewish lawyer

ain't biting.

Rove's problem is he assumes that the people he's vicitimizing are just as unprincipled as he is. If that's possible.

[KoKo]

21. Destroyin g Unions is on his list....Glad you've resisted!

Oh...the help we need...

[kodi]

17. from here on out, the only thing in the middle of the road is road kill.

with bill clinton trying to define the middle we are in for a shift to the right compared to what the rank and file members of the democratic party want.

howard dean got the DP chairmanship for a reason. but it looks like his brand of Democrat scares the hell out of centrist Democratic Senators and Reps.

Dean is attempting to undermine their power in the party by making the decision-making more open. the DLC can not afford that. it will result in a weakening of their power. if you look at the DLC congress (as opposed to non-DLC dems in congress) they profit by large contributions from sources that gain from the losses the rest of us endure.

I look at that list and knowing how they vote, its merely a list of folk who would have been called moderate republicans a generation ago.

yet there is that bandwagon for hillary clinton

[Disturbed]

18. The purge of the Progressives is at hand.

During the Dem Convention the Progressives were forced to go along with the Pro-Iraqi War because the major weakness J. Kerry had was the stupid "War On Terror". On all other indicators, Kerry was strong, so the Dem leaders decided to go with Kerry the Vietnam Hero scenerio. As we all know that backfired big time. When the Swift Boat Liars emerged the Kerry team decided not to aggressively challenge that onslought until the damage was done.

By going to the "center" the Dems are once again vying for the swing voters and moderate Repubs. Big mistake.

All Progressives should join the Green Party and demand reform of the voting system!

[KoKo]

19. I donated for 2004 Recounts to Green Party. But, they've been quiet

lately...maybe working "behind the scenes?" I was ready to bolt after the latest Dem fiasco. I'm hanging in awhile longer.

I don't see the Dem Party as it now stands as leading us out of the Bush Nightmare. It's US on the Internets. Maybe the Greens down the road will be able to take advantage of the disenfranchised Dems.

The way things are going with the DLC there will be many folks looking for a "new party" that will embrace their ideas rather than the constant attacts we've seen from our DLC/DNC supposed fellows in travel.

If it gets really as bad as I think...then Dean might be able to forge an alliace of his supporters for reform with the Greens and be a REAL FORCE in the 2008 Elections. At least maybe we could get a voice in these scripted Dem Conventions and get back to "brokering deals" the way it was in the old days when there were "smoke filled rooms" with party strategists working hard to get support. We need to build strong unions in the meantime. We need to yell and scream and holler about the right to a living wage and job security against the Robber Barron Corporatists.

There's so much we Dems could be doing but the DLC wants to live in the PAST and make it all about THEM...:-(

[KoKo]

20. Kick!

:kick:

[Guaranteed]

22. Yes, Koko- YOUR analysis is absolutely DEAD-ON.

The only way to beat that is with a populist agenda. We have to win our seats back, through common sense, courage, and a pit-bull attack mentality.